Ibm Case Study Essay

1. What factors led to IBMs success during the 1960s and 1970s and its problems during the late 1980s and early nineties? 3 pts. 2. Q What did Gerstner do when he assumed the role of CEO in April 1993? A Gerstner realized that kind of than break up the company, he could turn it around by going to market as wizard IBM. To prevent customers from leaving in droves before he completed the flip-flop, Gerstner called on individually senior executive to go kayoed to a group of customers and bearhug them. He made the executives personally responsible for their assigned customer accounts and accountable for any problems that arose. At the same time, he asked each of the executives to write two papers, one on the executives business and the other on key issues and recommendations for solving problems and pursuing opportunities.Q Evaluate Gerstners approach to crisis management. How soundly did he perform as a turnaround manager? A Id have to give credit to Gerstner. He seemed to know w here the problems lied within the company and viewed himself from a customer standpoint, rectifying customer concerns but from a corporate head standpoint. Based on the following information, this is how he did itThe sales organization, which had been organized by geography and convergence, was reorganized into global sales teams. In response to legion(predicate) customer complaints, a customer relationship manager and a dedicated sales and service team were appointed for each key customer account. These teams were grouped within larger vertical industry teams, and growth specialists were assigned to each.The proceeds specialists served as boundary spanners, moving back and forth between focused product groups and key account teams, taking product knowledge to the field and customer input back to the product groups. Product specialists reported to the product organization, but incentives rewarded increased sales of their products through industry sales teams. It is as if Gerstne r knew the problematic areas that made the company fail to meet satisfactory levels and although it was a tough call, Gerstners turnaround plan seemed a success and as a masterplanQ What challenges did he face as he assay to position the company for growth? 5 pts. A The permutes Gerstner proposed was met by some or much opposition. umpteen that had been around the company for quite some time, felt as though the changes that Gerster was implementing meant the demise of the company that they knew. The methods of which Gerstner was victimisation from a managers standpoint seemed a bit unorthodox and didnt fit well with the IBM culture and business model. Here is what was mentioned as a challenge Gerstner facedOne group of managersthose who ran IBMs country organizationsfound the move to One IBM especially difficult. They believed global managers could not be relied upon to make the duty choices for local markets and that initiatives and instructions from IBM corporate needed to be customized for particular countries. The differences came to a head when Gerstner found out that his notes to employees were being rewritten by country managers to better fit their environment. The senior executive responsible for the country managers was fired, and some country managers resigned. Those who stayed were rapidly elevated to key positions. Despite pockets of resistance, Gerstner was impressed by employees capacity to absorb changeSo based off the3. Why do large established companies, like IBM, find it so difficult to build successful and sustainable new businesses? 3 pts. 4. Evaluate IBMs approach to tether mature, high growth, and emerging business opportunities. What are the organization design and leadership models required to manage each type of business? How should a company like IBM (or AT & T, for example) manage the innovation process? 7 pts. 5. What challenges did Sam Palmisano face as he assumed control of IBM in March 2002? Can a company like IBM (or AT & T) be organized for both innovation and efficient operation washstand it be both big and small? What advice would you give Palmisano at the end of the casing? 7 pts. poster You must respond to these questions in your own words i.e. do not copy straight from the case study provide your interpretation and analysis.