...worst year in its history. A lot of people chalk that up to the recession and the “dot-com bubble.” They seem to believe that when the economies of the world recover, life in the information technology industry will get back to normal. In my view, nothing could be further from the truth. Lou Gerstner, IBM Annual Report, 2001 In 1990, IBM was the second-most-profitable company in the world, with net income of $6 billion on revenues of $69 billion, and it was completing a transformation designed to position it for success in the next decade. For the world leader in an industry that expected to keep growing spectacularly, the future looked promising. But all was not well within IBM, and its senior executives realized it. “In 1990, we were feeling pretty good because things seemed to be getting better,” one executive remarked. “But we weren’t feeling great because we knew there were deep structural problems.” Those structural problems revealed themselves sooner than anyone expected and more terribly than anyone feared. Beginning in the first quarter of 1991, IBM began posting substantial losses. Between 1991 and 1993, IBM lost a staggering $16 billion. In April 1992, John Akers, IBM CEO from 1985 to 1993, vented his frustrations during a company training program. His comment, “People don’t realize how much trouble we’re in,” made its way from company bulletin boards to the press, shaking employee and investor confidence. In...
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...MARQUIS ROSABETH MOSS KANTER IBM: The Corporate Service Corps In February of 2009, Kevin Thompson, program manager for the IBM Corporate Services Corps sat down with Stanley Litow, Vice President of Corporate Citizenship and Corporate Affairs, and Robin Willner, Vice President of Global Community Initiatives at IBM. They had recently received the results of an independent evaluation of the first 100 participants in IBM’s new employee leadership development program called the Corporate Service Corps (CSC). The CSC was an international community service assignment for high-potential IBM employees and 2008 was its pilot year. 11 teams of IBM’s best global employees had been deployed to work for local partners, frequently non-governmental organizations (NGOs), in locations such as Ghana, Tanzania, Romania, Philippines and Vietnam. Each team had worked for a month on projects as diverse as digitizing the supply chain of the Ghanaian handicraft sector to establishing a strategic plan for the Davao City Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines that would maximize job creation among locally owned small businesses. IBM had high hopes for this program, both as a way to deliver social value to emerging markets, but also as an important strategic business initiative. As globalization had proceeded, IBM CEO Samuel J. Palmisano had focused extensively on making global integration successful and how the new business environment would require globalizing IBM from the “bottom-up.” The CSC was...
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...1. Case Background International Business Machines (IBM) was founded in 1888 as “Herman Hollerith and the Tabulating Machine Company”. It is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation. It manufactures and markets computer hardware and software. Thirty Six years after, the name of the company was changed to IBM Corporation. IBM was also known as the big blue. It ranked among the “Worldwide Top 20 Semiconductor Sales Leaders”. Some of the awards and recognition received by IBM are the following: 3 Noble Prizes, 4 Turing Awards, 5 National Medals of Technology and 5 Medals of Science. In July 2007, the company dealt with Spanish utility Iberdola, one of the world’s largest producers of renewable energy. The contract w/c amounts to $84.4 million will open an Innovation Center at Iberdola in Salamanca, Spain. The center will develop new information technology and provide services for the utility. Further, IBM will create a Global Center of Excellence for Nuclear Power in France to develop software and consulting services for the design, construction and operation of nuclear power plants. For the quarter ending 30 September 2007, IBM’s revenue increased by 7%. The increase came from Global Technology Services segment and higher sales from Software and Global Business Services segments. 2. 2a. General Environment Analysis: |GENERAL ENVIRONMENT FORCES |OPPORTUNITIES |THREATS ...
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...Abstract IBM is a company that is innovative and strategic; it has had superior success in the computer and electronic industry. The company offers an array of services and products ranging from the sale of computers to business consulting services. Their success over the years can be attributed to their core values and vision. IBM recognized that to remain successful and profitable they would have to make changes and the biggest change would be to add value by having the employees contribute to the changing the values of the company. When employees share the same values, as the company, they are more dedicated to the company. What kept IBM from falling behind is the fact that they developed changed. The purpose of this case analysis is to describe the changes that IBM has made and to discuss the effectiveness of those changes. First we will explain why IBM wanted to make changes and to whom the changes would affect. We will also discuss how the goals has been developed and disseminated within the company, whether it is an effective way to set the stage for external social projects, and lastly, we will make recommendations. IBM Case Study International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a technological company from America that deals with manufacturing and marketing of computers, both hardware and software’s. It also involves itself with other services such as, hosting, consulting services and not forgetting the infrastructure. Having been founded over one hundred years...
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...| | * Introduction This report is a case study on IBM from 1993 to the present. The reporters’ objectives were to define the problems within IBM in 1993; management tools used to remedy these problems; if these solutions will lead to a sustainable competitive advantage; and what kind of innovators IBM is and what streams of innovation IBM is involved with today. This report is from a managerial science perspective, with a focus on innovation. * * (Executive Summary This case involves IBM, an international computer hardware, software and services company. The head of this organization in 1993, since 1985, was John Akers. Akers was replaced that year by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. During Akers’ reign, the company had gone from a workforce of 407, 000 in 1986 to 300, 000 in 1992 ; the stock had dropped from a peak in 1987 of $1757/8 to $25 (split adjusted) in 1993 ; and a loss of $2.8 billion in 1991 to be followed by a loss of $8 billion in 1993 . Akers’ effect on the structure of the company resulted in, among other things, two outcomes; 13 highly defined divisions that were theoretically autonomous from one another and many job losses. Gerstner was brought in to remedy IBM’s fiscal situation and bring IBM back into the black and back on top of their industry. Problems within IBM in 1993 Focus One of the most notable problems within IBM was their focus. It seemed that inter-politics within the organization overshadowed what should have been their prime directive: the customer...
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...| | |IBM’s Decade of Transformation: Turnaround to Growth | |Team 5 Case Analysis | | | | | | | |“More importantly, the passion that had come from surviving its ‘near-death experience’ and then riding the wave of what many in the company | |were beginning to call the ‘next big thing’ captured the imagination and focused the energy of a demoralized workforce looking for a reason to| |reengage in building for the future.”—Lou Gerstner | | | | ...
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...IBM Case Study 1. What factors led to IBM’s success during the 1960s and 1970s and its problems during the late 1980s and early 1990s? Watson Jr. hit a home run when he invested $5 billion to develop the System/360 computer family, which utilized an integrated semiconductor chip and modular components. Taking full advantage of this innovative momentum, IBM debuted other products during that time which enabled the company to rise to the top of the IT industry. These products included hard and floppy disks, a new computer language and the company’s first personal computer. In the mid 1980s, IBM started to run into trouble when its returns and market share began to slide. Customer needs were changing and emerging technologies led to the demise of IBM’s main product focus—the mainframe. Customers were looking for interconnected mainframes and mobile personal computers with distributed data sources and applications. Instead of devising a strategy to satisfy customer demands and set itself apart from competitors, IBM chose to transition from a lease oriented business to a sales oriented business. This lack of customer focus was coupled with an inefficiently designed workforce that would rather fight with each other than work together. Additionally, the company was so successful in the past that no attempt was made to cut costs/expenses and identify/correct inefficiencies. Adding more salt to the wound was the fact that top level executives were so far removed from daily operations...
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...Busmente, Dianne P. 4BSAcT International Business Machines Point of View: CEO of the company. Problem: How can the company maintain its financial and operational standing despite of changing/repositioning their main business from a computer company to an IT services company? SWOT Analysis Alternative courses of actions: Product development Since IBM does spend for their research and development, they should continue it to invent and discover more useful software that will be used by majority of the people. By redesigning and improving their products and services, there would be a huge possibility that they will uphold their growing revenues and making their name even more known as one of the best IT companies by the public. Market Penetration/Market Development IBM should consider the different kind of people ideal to be their customers, by having their present and continuous developing products, they should continue and learn to penetrate their market, such as building and erecting more offices and branches from different part of the globe, though this may cause myriad of dollars and money for them, they can get it all back for the benefit will exceed the cost. The company will have a chance to cater more services and sell more of its products to different countries to different kind of people. Recommendation: Product Development They should maintain its unique way of doing their research and development, like the way they have done their innovation...
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...Front cover Advanced Case Management with IBM Case Manager Introducing case management and IBM Case Manager Building IBM Case Manager solutions with use case example Covering customization, rules, deployment, and more Wei-Dong Zhu Brian Benoit Bob Jackson Johnson Liu Mike Marin Seema Meena Juan Felipe Ospina Guillermo Rios ibm.com/redbooks International Technical Support Organization Advanced Case Management with IBM Case Manager May 2014 SG24-7929-03 Note: Before using this information and the product it supports, read the information in “Notices” on page xiii. Fourth Edition (May 2014) This edition applies to Version 5.2.0, IBM Case Manager (product number 5725-A15). © Copyright International Business Machines Corporation 2013, 2014. All rights reserved. Note to U.S. Government Users Restricted Rights -- Use, duplication or disclosure restricted by GSA ADP Schedule Contract with IBM Corp. Contents Notices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiv Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv Now you can become a published author, too! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...
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...Global Management Assignment – The IBM Case Please answer the following questions: (1) What global forces drove IBM to become a globally-integrated enterprise? An increasingly global world creates many opportunities – easier and faster communication, more affordable and more refined solutions, as well as a better interconnectivity between customers and suppliers around the globe. As the internet has deeply integrated itself into the economic performance of companies and countries at meso and macro levels, the competition between suppliers is increasing and fostering a more rapid innovation cycle. As new markets open up and offer new profit pools for companies, it is essential for firms such as IBM to be on top of their game. They need to analyze and understand market trends before they are even born and respond with a global solution, which is capable of taking transnational strategies and skillfully translating them for the local market needs. The biggest market for any company might not always be its home market. Free markets around the world create many opportunities for growth. However, if IBM fails to identify these opportunities, it can cost the company its survival, as the competition quickly moves in and takes over. Globalization means more options and power for customers, as all over the world people can virtually connect with companies, goods and services anywhere. Therefore, open markets, new market entries, developing government policies, increased customer...
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...Charles Flint, creates the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company (CTR) on June 16, 1911. CTR is the precursor to IBM. Of the companies merged to form CTR, the most technologically significant was the Tabulating Machine Company, founded by Herman Hollerith, and specialized in the development of punched card data processing equipment. The Tabulating Machine Company originally sold some machines to a railway company. In 1911, Hollerith, sold the business to Flint, who then created CTR. When the diversified businesses of CTR proved difficult to manage, Flint turned for help to the former No. 2 executive at the National Cash Register Company, Thomas J. Watson Sr.. Watson became General Manager of CTR in 1914 and President in 1915. On February 14, 1924, the CTR name was formally changed to International Business Machines Corporation, later to be abbreviated IBM. IBM employs almost 400,000 employees called "IBMers" by IBM in over 170 countries, with occupations including scientists, engineers, consultants, and sales professionals. Its distinctive culture and product branding has given it the nickname Big Blue. Its employees have garnered five Nobel Prizes, four Turing Awards, nine National Medals of Technology, and five National Medals of Science. IBM has often been described as having a sales-centric or sales-oriented business culture. Traditionally, many IBM executives and general...
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...College of Business Administration Florida International University December 6, 2000 IBM Personal Systems Group: Implementing ERP1 There was an eerie quiet in the IBM Personal Systems Group (PSG) plant in Research Triangle Park (RTP), North Carolina. Hundreds of forklifts sat idle in the factory. The shipping docks, usually filled with incoming supplies, were empty. The 2,500 employees who normally worked in the plant each day were gone. The plant, which normally produced 20,000 PCs a week, was shut down. The date was April 6, 1999. On this date, the plant was to ‘go live’ with an implementation of the SAP R/3 system known as Production Release 2 (PR2). As John Corcoran, Director, SAP Production Project, waited for the first transaction to be processed by PR2 on April 6, he reflected on how PSG had come to this milestone event. Several years before, PSG had recognized the need for an integrated system that would allow better management of the supply chain across all of its plants and quicker response to changes in the business environment. Most recently, the success of Dell made clear to PSG the value of creating a CTO (Configure-to-Order) business model in addition to its standard MTM (Machine Type Model) business model. Having a set of autonomous plants, each with a multitude of independent legacy systems that supported different business processes was a significant obstacle to implementing this or any other new business model. On January 1, 1998, the first version of...
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...1. Decompose IBM’s ROE and discuss the factors (and trends) that contribute to Big Blue’s profitability? Answer: Return over equity is a percentage of Net income to shareholder’s equity. ROE = Net Income/Shareholder's Equity In 1996 ROE = 5,864/21,638 =27.11% In 1997 ROE = 6,093/19,951 = 30.53% In 1998 ROE = 6,328/20,109 = 31.46% In 1999 ROE = 7,712/19,756 = 39.03% Factors that contribute to the Big Blue’s profitability are the revenues, Cash, EPS and the gross margins. Revenue: The Company’s revenue generation has been stable since March 98 till March 2000. The company stood at the highest revenue of $ 25,131 for the quarter ended December 98, while the company recorded its lowest revenue of $ 17,308 for the quarter ended March 97. The company’s revenue was dropped by 25%. In December 99 it was $ 24,182 where as in march 2000 it was $ 19,348. Cash: Every year cash play an important role in company’s profitability? If we see the financial year 1999 to 2000 we will find that in every quarter cash is helping out the company’s short term requirements. Although they have fluctuating cash flows. EPS: company has low EPS at the begging of every year but then after it rose to a good level which indicate that company’s earning has increased. Gross margin: The company stood at the highest gross-margin of $ 9,809 for the quarter ended December 98 due to higher revenues in that quarter, while the company recorded its lowest...
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...CASO DE ESTUDIO: STARBUCKS A finales de 2002, Christine Day, vicepresidente de administración de Starbuks para USA, estaba sentada en la sala de conferencia del séptimo piso del edificio de Starbucks en Seattle y bebía su segunda taza de “toffee-nut latte”. La bebida, un café con sabor a nuez acaramelada con crema batida y espolvoreado de caramelo, era la costumbre tradicional de cada tarde para Christine Day desde que se introdujo el producto a principio de año. Mientras esperaba a sus colegas, Christine comenzó a reflexionar sobre la reciente performance de la empresa. Mientras otros negocios se tambaleaban desde la recesión posterior al 11 de Setiembre, Starbucks disfrutaba su undécimo año consecutivo de crecimiento del 5%, que hizo que su fundador y presidente Howard Schultz declarara: “Pienso que hemos demostrado que estamos en presencia de un producto a prueba de recesion”. Christine Day, no obstante, no era tan optimista. En parte porque la reciente investigación de mercado de Starbucks reveló algunos hallazgos no esperados. “Nosotros siempre hemos estado orgullosos en nuestro servicio al cliente”, dijo Christine Day, “Pero de acuerdo a los datos, no siempre conocemos las expectativas de ellos en el área de satisfacción del consumidor”. Como resultado de esta preocupación, Day y sus asociados han diseñado un plan para invertir u$s 40 millones anualmente en las 4500 tiendas de la empresa que implicaría adicionar 20 horas de trabajo por semana por tienda, con la idea...
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...External Environmental Analysis Hofstede’s Dimensions of cultural values | | Japan | USA | Individualism Vs. Collectivism | Collectivism | Individualism | Power Distances | Large power distance | Small power distance | Uncertainty avoidance | Strong uncertainty avoidance | Weak uncertainty avoidance | Masculinity Vs. Femininity | Masculinity | Masculinity | Confucian work dynamism | Long-term oriented | Short-term oriented | *Retrieved from: http://www.geert-hofstede.com Individualism Vs Collectivism: * Japan: it is really important for people in Japan to be a part of a group and to behave as a part of a group. * USA: people in the USA are more concerned about themselves and not that group oriented. They honor more the individual achievement also when they work within a group. Power Distance: * Japan: people in Japan are treated differently because of their different positions in an organization, but anyhow with dignity. Managers for example have to make decisions on their own. * USA: it is usual to treat people in a lower-level as equals. Decision making for example is not only a manager’s exercise. Uncertainty avoidance: * Japan: Japan has more explicit rules and strict laws. People are working more correct and stay in the same company for a long time. * USA: people in the USA are more easy going and flexible, but anyhow competent. Masculinity Vs Femininity: * Japan: is to be said the most masculine country in the...
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