Strategy Evaluation

Strategy Evaluation
Strategic Management is the art and science of formulation, implement and evaluation
cross–functional decisions that enable an organization to achieve its objective. Strategic
Management has changed to meet the challenges of each decade of business development and
has been significantly impacted by globalization. Organizations using strategic management
are more successful than organizations that do not employ this central process.
Strategic Management is often referred to as strategic planning in the business arena,
but is referring to the entire process as strategic management is more encompassing than the
planning phase. Strategic planning is a management tool. As with any management tool, it is
used ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Prevailing strategies become self–confirming. In order to avoid this trap, businesses must stimulate
a spirit of inquiry and healthy debate. They must encourage a creative process of self renewal based
on constructive conflict.
Art Kleimer (1996) claims that to foster a corporate culture that embraces change, you have to hire
the right people; heretics, heroes, outlaws, and visionaries. The conservative bureaucrat that made
such a good middle manager in yesterday 's hierarchical organizations is of little use today. A decade
earlier Peters and Austin (1985) had stressed the importance of nurturing champions and heroes.
They said we have a tendency to dismiss new ideas, so to overcome this, we should support those
few people in the organization that have the courage to put their career and reputation on the line for
an unproven idea.
Adrian Slywotsky (1996) showed how changes in the business environment are reflected in value
migrations between industries, between companies, and within companies. He claims that
recognizing the patterns behind these value migrations is necessary if we wish to understand the
world of chaotic change. In "Profit Patterns" (1999) he describes businesses as being in a state of
strategic anticipation as they try to spot emerging patterns. Slywotsky and his team
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Ibm Decade of Transformation
cade of 9–805–130
REV: JULY 8, 2009
LYNDA M. APPLEGATE
ROBERT AUSTIN
ELIZABETH COLLINS
IBM's Decade of Transformation: Turnaround to
Growth
This is my last annual letter to you. By the time you read this, Sam Palmisano will be our new chief
executive officer, the eighth in IBM's history. He will be responsible for shaping our strategic
direction as well as leading our operations. . . . I want to use this occasion to offer my perspective on
what lies ahead for our industry. To many observers today, its future is unclear, following perhaps
the 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 ... Show more
content on Helpwriting.net ...
805–130
IBM's Decade of Transformation: Turnaround to Growth
In March 2002, Gerstner passed the reins of power to Sam Palmisano, a 31–year company veteran,
to complete the transformation. Palmisano and the senior executive team were committed to
returning the company to greatness. "[Our problems in the late 1980s and early 1990s] were our
own fault," Nick Donofrio, senior vice president, Technology and Manufacturing, explained. "We
are driven by a passion that says: 'Never again.'"1 IBM visionary, Irving Wladawsky–Berger was
reminded of the 1950s, when a "series of technology asteroids" had created seismic shifts in the
computer industry, opening the way for the IBM System/360 to become the dominant design for the
next 40 years. The launch of the S/360 catalyzed a period of IT–enabled business innovation that
created new industries even as it transformed established industries and the organizations that
competed with them. During that period IBM was viewed as the "greatest company in the world,"
Palmisano explained. Palmisano, Wladawsky–Berger, and the executive team at IBM believed that
the
Internet and associated network technologies had catalyzed a period of technological revolution that
would usher in a new era of IT–enabled business innovation that would be

Why Is Elephants Can 't Dance? : Inside Ibm 's Historic...
10 Books Every District Manager Should Read or Listen too
Nobody knows everything right off the bat. Some people have better instincts than others but most
great leaders strive for self improvement. As a manager it's your responsibility to educate yourself
as best you can and apply that new found knowledge in your professional and personal
relationships. Being a boss is not just about giving orders, it's about communicating and
encouraging innovation.
Knowing district managers have a crazy schedule here is a list of 10 books that are also available as
audio books so you can listen to them in your car or while you exercise.
Subscribe now and you could win a one year membership to audible.
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner
This book is a great example of how a leader must adapt and reinvent a company that must change
in the face of disruption. The author talks about how manager must be part of the solution and not
just supervisors with a checklist. Gerstner gives great lessons on how to view your company and
take failures as opportunities to grow.
2. The Amazon Way: 14 Leadership Principles Behind the World's Most Disruptive Company by
John Rossman
Rossman gives an overview of amazon's leadership principles and how amazon tackles large
projects. This book focuses on the 14th leadership principles that guided and shaped the culture of
the company. It's filled with insightful stories that will inspire you and

Ibm's Culture Transformation : Ibm
IBM's Culture Transformation
There is a multitude of reasons as to why an organization may change their culture. Some catalysts
to cultural change could be such things as changes in the economy, external events, internal
shortcomings, restructuring of leadership, or growth of technological capabilities. Since IBM was
founded in 1911, it has undergone a multitude of cultural changes driven by each one of these
factors. The 1990's included a large cultural shift for this organization driven by a new CEO and
new technological capabilities.
Culture Prior to the Change Prior to their cultural change that took place in the early 1990's, many
would have said that IBM was on a fatal downhill slide. At this point they were beginning to
become obsolete. IBM at one point was among the leaders within the world for hardware/software
development and information technology services, but all divisions within the organization were run
independently from one another. They were not a unified enterprise. To solidify this even further,
"rather than working together as a team, divisions competed against each other both internally and
in the field" (DiCarlo, L., 2002).
Steps to Change On April 1, 1993 Louis V. Gerstner took over as IBM's chairman and CEO.
Gerstner was able to recognize the flaws in IBM's model to have the company being run as several
independent parts from one another. From the beginning he was able to recognize that "IBM was
greater than the sum of its parts ... and the entire

Management Course: Mba−10 General Management
Management
Course: MBA−10 General Management
California College for Health Sciences MBA Program
McGraw–Hill/Irwin
abc
McGraw−Hill Primis ISBN: 0−390−58539−4 Text: Effective Behavior in Organizations, Seventh
Edition Cohen Harvard Business Review Finance Articles The Power of Management Capital
Feigenbaum−Feigenbaum
International Management, Sixth Edition Hodgetts−Luthans−Doh Contemporary Management,
Fourth Edition Jones−George Driving Shareholder Value Morin−Jarrell
Leadership, Fifth Edition Hughes−Ginnett−Curphy The Art of M & A: Merger/Acquisitions/Buyout
Guide, Third Edition Reed−Lajoux
and others . . .
This book was printed on recycled paper. Management
http://www.mhhe.com/primis/online/
Copyright ©2005 by ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
What will be the effect of the rapid gyrations in markets that emphasize the difficulties that
accounting practices face in determining true performance costs and that forecasting programs
confront in establishing the economic determinants of corporate planning? In addition to these
challenges, many analytical and strategic evaluation approaches that are used in an attempt to
identify and project how well a company is performing have been overwhelmed by the frequency
and magnitude of these economic groundswells. In today's competitive climate, where the changes
outside a business exceed the productive changes within a business, a company's future viability is
clearly under enormous stress. To maintain business growth and a sustained economy, it is essential
for managers to understand and find solutions for these and other fundamental wide–ranging issues.
The bursting of the high–tech bubble both in many start–up companies and in major segments of

established firms dissipated many entrepreneurial efforts and the large sums of money that were
spent to create organizations that never earned a profit and were often hugely unsuccessful as
business entities. However, this enormous cost to some companies also created beneficial impacts
for many other companies in dealing with these fundamental wide–ranging issues. These beneficial
impacts had

Elephants Cant Dance Essay
'Who says elephants can't dance?' the book is an account of IBM's historic turnaround as told by, the
chairman and CEO of IBM, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. He led IBM from April 1993 until March 2002.
He raised IBM from the brink of bankruptcy and mainframe obscurity back to the forefront of the
technology.
Book tells the story of IBM's competitive and cultural transformation. It is an excellent case study in
managing a crisis, principles of leadership and a thoughtful reflection on computer industry. With
decades of experience at some of America's top companies– Mckinsey, American Express, RJR
Nabisco, Louis Gerstner's insights into management and leadership are applicable to any business,
at any level. The lessons learnt from running these successful ... Show more content on
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By 1993, the computer industry had changed rapidly with a large number of smaller companies
dealing in fragmented solutions as opposed to IBM which was offering a complete solution. The
company was on its way to losing $16 billion and it was on the watch list for extinction. Its
lumbering size, the PC era and its insular corporate culture were the reasons it was heading to
obsolescence.
Who Says elephants can't dance? .... Metaphor of the title talks about IBM, "The Elephant",
suggests the size (with presence in over 44 countries, 2300 shareholders, 90000 staff) and
bureaucracy of a multinational company and its ability, "to dance", to become profitable after more
than a decade of losses.
Gerstner explains the situation of IBM and other small companies in the marketplace as: "Big
matters. Size can be leveraged. Breadth and depth allow for greater investment, greater risk taking,
and longer patience for future payoffs. It isn't a question of whether elephants can prevail over ants.
It's a question of whether a particular elephant can dance. If it can, the ants must leave the dance

Advantages And Disadvantages Of E-Business
INTRODUCTION What is e–business? Electronic business or also known as e–business is any
business that uses advanced technologies in their business processes, filing, and electronic
commerce. Apart from that, these technologies also help the workforce in the organisation to
communicate easily. Last but not least, e–business able to communicate with their shareholders,
suppliers, stakeholders and customers without difficulty. E–business gives a competitive advantage
to the company. However, it is also important for a business to know how the e–business is being
used. The uses of e–business are for reengineering for internal business processes, enterprise
collaboration systems to support communications, coordination and coordination among teams ...
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There are advantages and disadvantages of e–business such as in ownership, security, speed and
efficiency, and also in cost and setup. Ownership One of the good things in e–business is, we get to
work with ourselves and own the company on our own. This is because when we use e–business to
run our business, we do not have anyone else that gives us order and tell us what to do because we
do not have any boss. We work for ourselves. Another advantage of e–business that we can see is,
no matter where we are, for example when we are at our friend's house, the coffee shop, outstation
or any other places, as long as we have internet access, we will be able to do our work. However,
there are also some disadvantages of e–business. Even though there are disadvantages of e–business
in term of ownership, there surely is a way to overcome this problem. The first disadvantages is no
guaranteed pay check to fall on and losing money will occur anytime our website is down. Next, we
cannot expect our business to grow in a blink of an eye with e–business. E–business takes a whole
lot of time to keep

Ibm: an Industry Example of a Transition from Product to...
2 IBM: An industry example of a transition from product to service base
2.1 Brief history of IBM and story of its downward spiral
IBM stands for "International Business Machine" and was incorporated in 1924 focusing on
delivering 'products' in the form of punch tabulated machine until it became the biggest and most
successful business PC and mainframe manufacturer in world circa 1980's. At this time IBM stock
price once shot up until USD43 per unit [1]. However by the end of 80's, the software environment
began to change and IBM was left in a lurch as it was unable to react on changes on customer needs
and behavior while new and nimble competitors like Apple and Dell began to gain market share.
Events took on to a near disastrous ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
However the focus had changed. It is worth to note that in 1992, of the USD64.2billion revenue,
hardware consist the bulk of IBM revenue amounting to 52% compared to just 23% for services.
Nearly two decades after, in 2009, IBM revenue had rose up to USD95.7billion with hardware
consisting only 7%, while services and software had rose up to around 40% each. What is more
important that with the rise of revenue, overall profitability also has improved resulting in a very
strong year–on–year increase of positive cash flow. In turn company shareholders has benefited
from the increased rate of EPS as shown in Figure 1 below [3].
In the letter to shareholders in the company 2009 annual report, current CEO Sam J. Palmisano
remains steadfast in committing to service by "amassing truly differentiating technology and skills,
and focusing on the needs of enterprise clients" and remaining positive on future business growth
that will be spurred by the 'smart planet' concept [3].
Figure 1 – IBM EPS and Financials from 2000 to 2009 Source: IBM Annual Report 2009
2.4 Summary: The need for drive towards effective implementation of service
IBM had barely escaped the misfortune of being broken up and sold in pieces thanks largely to the
leadership, drive and determination of Lou Gerstner. In keeping the company intact, he had
preserved the inherent differentiating capability that IBM had at that time, which was as an end–to–
end complex technical

Ibm's Corporate Culture
IBM's Corporate Culture Table of Contents
Abstract 1
Roots 1
Company 1
Culture 2
Culture 3
Impact 3
Managed 4
Results 4
Troubles 4
Wake Up Call 5
Refocus and Restore 6
Company 6
Customer 6
Stakeholder 7
Employee 7
Atmosphere 8
Results 8
Summary 9
References 10
Abstract
This is an analysis of the culture at IBM and the impact that it has had on their success. Corporate
culture is significant in that it "influences the behavior of everyone within an organization and, if
carefully crafted, can have a significant positive effect on organizational success" (Certo and Certo,
2006, p. 423). Louis Gerstner proved this at IBM during his tenure from 1993 to 2002 when he
revived IBM by refocusing on their culture.
Roots
Company
The ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Watson, Jr. Thomas J. Watson, Jr. maintained the legacy and culture established by his father and
helped to establish IBM as the world's premier computer company with the introduction of the
System 360 in the early 1960s. Watson focused nearly all of IBM's people, resources, and capital
toward the development and deployment of the System 360. That gamble paid off enabling IBM to
garner over 90% of the exploding market for large computer systems. IBM's near monopoly in the

large computer marketplace provided tremendous growth and profitability for nearly 25 years.
However, the personal computer revolution of the 1980's (started by IBM, ironically) brought the
glory days of IBM to an abrupt and near tragic end.
Culture
Impact
The impact of IBM's culture during its first 75 years was profound. To be an employee of IBM
meant being a part of IBM. If one were to ask an IBM employee – whether an engineer, an
executive, or a janitor, "What do you do?" the answer would almost always be the same, "I'm an
IBMer." IBM was deeply committed to its employees. If an individual's skills were no longer
needed in one part of the company, IBM would relocate that individual to another part of the
company and provide them with whatever training they needed to again become productive. Even
during the great depression of the 1930s, IBM maintained and even grew its employee base,
enabling the company to capitalize on

The International Business Machines Corporation: IBM
The International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an American multinational technology
and consulting company. IBM holds a highly diversified product and service portfolio and despite
that some of its operations breach into different industries – ranging from global business services to
global financing business – its core business lies within the information technology services
industry. Within its core business the firm manufactures and markets computer hardware, software
and offers infrastructure and consulting services in vast areas such as nanotechnology and cloud
computing. The company was founded in 1911 through a merger of three companies and now has its
headquarters in Armonk, New York. IBM holds 435,000 employees ... Show more content on
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The newly crafted business model shed commodity business and instead centered around high–
margin opportunities, resulting in pervading divestment of low–margin industries. The company
regained business initiative by building upon the decision to keep the company whole, IBM
unleashed a global services business that rapidly became a leading technology integrator and also
invested heavily in software development. (DiCarlo, "How Lou Gerstner") On later years IBM have
struggled with declining revenues and only met profitability goals by cutting its operational costs.
The weak revenue growth has affected the price–levels of the firms stock negatively. To maintain
the price of its stock IBM has implemented several large–scale buyback plans reducing the numbers
of shares outstanding, a strategy used to boost stock price in the short–term. The number of shares
outstanding as of Q1 2015 was 988.42m, which could be contrasted with the 1.675bn shares
outstanding as of Q2 2004 to emphasize the extent of the firms' stock repurchases. As a result, the
IBM stock has fluctuated steadily around its current price level of $180 over the last four years. This
period was preceded by two years (2009–2011) where the stock price rose heavily from prices
around $100, levels which it had fluctuated around since the early 2000's. This synthetic way of
controlling the stock

Chap 5
Chapter 5
Activity–Based Costing and Customer Profitability Analysis
Cases
|5–1 |Blue Ridge Manufacturing (Activity–Based Costing for Marketing Channels) |
|5–2 |Columbo Soft–Serve Frozen Yogurt: Using Activity Based Costing To Assess
Channel/Customer Profitability |
|5–3 |Wilson Electronics (A) |
|5–4 |Wilson Electronics (B) |
|5–5 |The Buckeye National Bank (ABC Costing in the Service Sector) |
|5–6 ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
5. In the study of the four largest customers, which is the most profitable and why?
5–4 "Cost System Redesign at a Medium–Sized Company", by David E. Stout, Ph.D., and Gregory
P. Bedenis, CPIM, Management Accounting Quarterly (Summer 2007), Vol. 8, No. 4
This article looks at a company that was experiencing unprofitable growth and weak cash–flow
activity. The authors examine how an ABC method allowed the company to become more
competitive, to look at their current product mix and product lines, and ultimately, to improve cash
flow and product profitability.
Discussion Questions 1. Why for any manufacturer is proper inventory management important? 2.
What are the elements of an ABC system? 3. What is a cost objective? 4. Why are duration drives
used in an ABC system? 5. What internal factors limit the ABC model's ability to influence the
decision–making process in a company?
5–1 Blue Ridge Manufacturing
BACKGROUND:
Blue Ridge Manufacturing is one of a dozen companies that produces and sells towels for the U.S.
"sports towel" market. A "sports towel" is a towel that has the promotion of an event or a logo
printed on it. They 're called sports towels because their most popular use is for distribution in

connection with major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, NCAA Final Four, Augusta National
Golf Tournament and the U.S. Open Tennis Tournament. Towels with college, NBA and NFL team
logos,

Hp Transformation Leadership
TRANSFORMATION Leadership at HP | Under supervision of DR. Ahmed Farouk | | This report
will present transformation process of hp corp. By discussing the following topics: Organization
background, organization culture specifically "hp way", One of the leaders who leaded the company
towards a great transformation, hp before and after the transformation and finally discussing the role
of the human resource in the transformation process. | | | 1/30/2012 | |
CONTENTS 1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ | 03
| 2. ORGANIZATION BACKGROUND .........................................................................2.1 HP
Background ...............................................................................................2.2 HP ... Show more
Organizational leadership means the process of improving actions of line managers and decision
makers through better knowledge and understanding. To operate effectively, organizations need to
fit or align themselves with their environment, strategies, capabilities and leadership skills. To
compete successfully in highly competitive and constantly changing business environment,
however, organizations also need to achieve fitness and the ability to learn and change to fit new
circumstances. In other words, firms can lose their competitive advantage through the lapse of time,
therefore leadership skills are the only sustainable competitive advantage firms can have.
After a colleagues ' discussion, and a series research, we have decided that Hewlett Packard (HP)
will be the subject of our case study for the Organizational Leadership course project. Reason being,
the HP culture speaks, acts, and operates within their values, which will be further elaborated in
their motto that is widely shared at HP, "The HP Way". The core organizational values have been
embedded and practiced by their employees over the years proves that HP is one of the best learning
organizations around today.
Hewlett–Packard (HP) is one of those companies that have risen to the top. It is a well known
company with a good name and great financial successes. But is this company able to remain at that
top? Could HP avoid failures that follow success in many high–tech

Monsanto: Better Living Through Genetic Engineering
441 441 CASE STUDIES A summary of the case analysis I N T R O D U C T I O N Preparing an
effective case analysis: The full story Hearing with the aid of implanted technology: The case of
Cochlear™ – an Australian C A S E O N E high–technology leader Delta Faucet: Global
entrepreneurship in an emerging market C A S E T W O DaimlerChrysler: Corporate governance
dynamics in a global company C A S E T H R E E Gunns and the greens: Governance issues in
Tasmania C A S E F O U R Succeeding in the Sydney indie music industry C A S E F I V E Nucor
in 2005 C A S E S I X News Corp in 2005: Consolidating the DirecTV acquisition C A S E S E V E
N Shanghai Volkswagen: Implementing project management in the electrical engineering division C
A S ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Porter argues that there is a key force in any industry, one that exerts more influence than the other
forces. Now, is it an attractive industry? You need to explain, briefly, why or why not. Bear in mind
that it is often not a clear decision because the forces are mixed – for example, there may be little
concern about new entrants, suppliers or substitutes, but buyers may be fickle
14_Hanson_3ed_SB_3869_TXT.indd 442 8/29/07 1:09:34 PM 443 I N T R O D U C T I O N : A
S U M M A RY O F TH E C ASE AN ALY SIS P R O C E SS and rivalry high. In such cases, the
key force analysis is very important. Remember: It is the industry you analyse, not the firm. Costly
to NonRare? Valuable? imitate? substitutable Logistics management in cochlear technologies
Research knowledge and skill in cochlearrelated areas Etc. STEP 4 COMPETITIVE
ENVIRONMENT Is there a strategic group that you need to take account of ? What is the rivalry
like in this group? What capabilities do the relevant firms have? What strategies do they follow?
What threats do they represent? Yes Yes No No STEP 5 YOU ABOUT NOW H AV E M AT E R I A
L T H R E AT S Yes Yes Yes Yes OPPORTUNITIES AND It is easy to pull this together from the
four steps you have now completed. I N T E R N A L A N A LY S I S STEP 6 THE TA N G I B L E

Assignment 2: An Analysis Of The Product Life Cycle Of IBM
ASSIGNMENT (Group) – 2010
Analysis of Life–Cycle of IBM
OCTOBER 23, 2010
IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE COURSE
"ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOUR – II"
OF MBA (FULL TIME)
SUBMITTED TO:
Prof. Harismita Trivedi and Prof. Sari Mattila
Submitted By:
Group No. 43
Saurabh Shrivastava – 101143
Rohit Adukia – 101243 Roshni Kumar – 101343
Table of Contents
1. CURRENT SCENARIO 1 2. HISTORY OF IBM 2 2.1 The Origin of IBM 2 2.2 IBM's Early
Growth 4 2.3 IBM post World War II and rise of business computing 5 2.4 IBM's near disaster 6 2.5
IBM's Resurrection and Organizational Culture 8 3. LEARNINGS FROM THE COURSE AND
HOW WE CAN USE IT AS A MANAGER 10 4. EXHIBITS 13 5. ARTICLE: 14 6. ... Show more
The merger was engineered by noted financier Charles Flint, and the new company was called the
Computing Tabulating Recording (CTR) Corporation. CTR was incorporated on June 16, 1911 in
Endicott, New York, U.S.A. This merger is just opposite of what happened in the case "Acme and
Omega Electronics" where we learnt what changes an organization has to go through when its
ownership changes.
The companies that merged to form CTR manufactured a wide range of products, including
employee time–keeping systems, weighing scales, automatic meat slicers, coffee grinders, and most
important for the development of the computer– punched card equipment. Of the companies that
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 won a government contract, and completed it with
amazing speed. After that Hollerith was faced with the challenge of sustaining the company in non–
Census years. In 1911, Hollerith, now 51 and in failing health sold the business to Flint who then
created C–T–R.

When the diversified businesses of C–T–R proved difficult to manage, Flint turned for help to the
Thomas J. Watson Sr. who became General Manager of C–T–R in 1914 and President in 1915.
Watson quickly implemented a series of effective business tactics: generous sales incentives, a focus
on customer service, an insistence on

Nabisco History
Felicia Jones
May 2, 2011 History of Nabisco Incorporated Nabisco Food Groups has been one of the widely
known names in the food industry. Nabisco is among the world's largest manufacturers of cookies
and crackers. Nabisco Brands was formed in 1981 through a merger of Nabisco and Standard
Brands. In 1985 R.J. Reynolds Industries acquired Nabisco brands in one of the largest takeovers in
business history. In earlier years the company was called N.B.C. In 1941 the company took on the
name Nabisco, but it was in 1971 when the name became the official corporate name. The National
Biscuit Company resulted from a merger in 1898 of the midwestern American Biscuit Company
whom ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
During the Depression sales slowed down. Some new products helped boost company sales during
this time. In 1931 N.B.C. took over the Bennett Biscuit Company and concentrated on its most
popular product line, Milk Bone Dog Biscuits, originally marketed as a dog's desert. In 1934 N.B.C.
met with the great success when it launched Ritz Crackers as a new prestige item. In 1941 the letters
N.B.C. in the official trademark were exchanged for the word Nabisco. The change was part to
reduce confusion with the recently established National Broadcasting Company. During World War
II Nabisco was again faced with the problem of rationed flour, butter, sugar, and oil. Recipes were
altered and substitutes were used. This was a troubled time for Nabisco. During the Depression,
Nabisco had neglected many capital improvements, and many bakeries were outdated and in need of
renovation. In 1945 the Nabisco board elected the young and energetic George Coopers as
president. Due to Coopers new attitude he began to modernize Nabisco's bakeries. Within ten years
Coopers had spent more than $150 million renovating old plants and building new ones. The
reconstruction program culminated in 1958 with the opening of an ultra–modern bakery and
research center in Fair Lawn, New Jersey. In the 1950's was the beginning of overseas expansion for
Nabisco. The company formed
Manufacturing partnership with La

IBM
HISTORY
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is an information technology company that
uses their expertise to provide customer solutions. The company operates primarily in a single
industry using several different segments that create value by offering a variety of solutions that
include, technologies, systems, products, services, software, and financing (10–K report). The
company 's major operations compromise three hardware product segments. These segments are:
technology, personal systems, and enterprise systems. They also offer a global services segment, a
software segment, a global financing segment, and an enterprise investments segment (Ibid). IBM
offers its products and services through third–party business ... Show more content on
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This means setting reasonable commitments, and not misrepresenting the capability of IBM
products.
IBM is constantly re–assessing and clarifying its business practices to meet with the rapid changes
in the industry. No set of guidelines should ever be considered the absolute last word under all
circumstances. The Chief Executive Officer and senior executives are responsible for setting
standards of business ethics and overseeing compliance with these standards. It is an individual
employee 's responsibility to comply with these standards.
In 1999, IBM was ranked number one in business ethics according to Business Ethics Corporate
Social Responsibility Report. IBM dropped from its top position to number 5 in 2000. This was
largely due to its mishandling of the change from a defined benefit to a cash balance pension plan,
which drew widespread employee outrage. The switch cost some older employees as mush as 50
percent of their pension, while it saved the company an estimated $200 million. The company did
agree to offer more employees a choice of plan, but the unpopular move is still a blot upon IBM 's
otherwise positive leadership in the area of employee relations. (Business Ethics Corporate Social
Responsibility Report)
The cash–balance program is a type of pension in which companies can reduce their pension costs
by cutting future benefits to middle–aged

Dynamic Capabilities
1
Dynamic Capabilities at IBM: Driving Strategy into Action
(White Paper Draft)
J. Bruce Harreld Senior Vice President IBM
Charles A. O'Reilly III Graduate School of Business Stanford University
Michael L. Tushman Harvard Business School Harvard University
August 10, 2006
Copying or posting is an infringement of copyright.
2 Abstract In the past 15 years, the IBM Company has undergone a remarkable transformation
from a struggling seller of hardware to a successful broad range solutions provider. Underlying this
change is a story of foresighted strategy and disciplined execution–of connecting knowing to doing.
In strategic terms, the IBM transformation illustrates the ideas behind dynamic capabilities, showing
how the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
We then describe how the company's brush with failure led to the evolution of the IBM Business
Leadership Model and how a set of related strategic processes, including deep dives, Emerging
Business Opportunities, the Strategic Leadership Forum, and the Corporate Investment Fund, are
managed by IBM's Strategy Group and involve 25,000 executives to help identify and capture
opportunities across
Louis V. Gerstner, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Harper Business, 2002; Paul Carroll, Big
Blues: The Unmaking of IBM. Reed Business, 1993; Doug Garr, IBM Redux: Gerstner and the
Business Turnaround of the Decade, Harper Collins, 1999. 2 M. Tushman, C. O'Reilly, A. Fenelosa,
A. Kleinbaum and D. McGrath, "Toward relevance and rigor: Executive education as a lever
shaping research and practice" Academy of Management Learning and Education, 2006.
1
5 140 geographies with constantly changing competitors and technologies. This process, while

hardly perfect, has, in the words of former CEO Gerstner, "helped the elephant to dance."
Strategy: Why it is so important–and often fails We suspect that every regular reader of the business
press has, in one way or another, been steeped in the logic of strategy and competitive advantage.
We have all been exposed to the notions of the five forces, core competencies, SWOT,
"coopetition," and a myriad of other frameworks for how leaders can help

What Are the Characteristics of a Good Manager?
What are the characteristics of a good manager?
By Carolien Toor
Introduction
Over the years I have worked in many various businesses; large as well as small, from stressful to
peaceful environments and during good times as well as bad times. What I learned, through my
experience from the various firms I worked for was the role the manager had in the workplace and
how it affected me as an employee. When set this task I started to reflect how my past managers
acted and how they got me motivated. Some managers succeeded and stayed focused even under
difficult circumstances, while others made the workplace a difficult and confusing environment to
work in. Why did some manager succeed far better than others when it came to motivation, ... Show
more content on Helpwriting.net ...
Gerstner described having that key characteristics such as flexible, excellent customers service and
relations, outstanding leadership and communication skills and understanding in the company's
culture are vital qualities to move the company quick and fast in comparison to competitors, to
motivate employees and create a strong relationship between customers and shareholders. Not only
did Gerstner emphasized that the culture plays a necessary part to analyze how things get done in
the company, but having the ability to see what was wrong with the culture and manage to adapt a
new management style and culture in the company since 1970. As a successful manager, Gerstner
managed turn IBM around (from having losses over $8.1 billion 1993, till a profit of $ 7.7 billion in
2003) thanks for outstanding leadership skills and being passionate about winning and push the
colleagues not only to win but encouraging change. And I can only agree with Gerstner: "we love to
work for winners and be a part of winning" (pg 238).
Conclusion
Looking back at the managers I have come across in my past jobs, the characteristics that good
managers had that was highly appreciated by colleagues was having a manager who could guide,
motivate, communicate, competitive, self–motivated and understanding the organisational context.
Louis V Gerstner had some of the world's most intelligent staff,

Ibm on Demand Business
| SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT | IBM'S „ON DEMAND BUSINESS" STRATEGY | |
Group 12:Bochyńska Monika 69136
Szymański Konrad 69135Zarzycki Michał 69134 |
Table of contents
1. Introduction 3
2. Business history 3
3. IBM 4
4. Problem identification 6
5. Analysis 8
6. Personal conclusions and lessons learned 10
7. Recommendations 11
8. IBM nowadays 12
9. Bibliography 13
10. Group elements evaluation 13
1. Introduction
IBM, the biggest IT company in the world, from more than 80 years is the lider in supporting the
innovation in business. The company offers complex solutions, adjusted to customers requirements.
In 2002 this outsourcing giant was facing a new business opportunity. Its CEO, Sam Palamisano, led
the ... Show more content on Helpwriting.net ...
In the 1960s and 1970s, the company captured almost 80% of the market. Later, during Cary 's
tenure, the computer industry expanded and wove its way into everyday life.
However, IBM underestimated the potential of PC's and its competitors capitalised on IBM's
technology. During 1980s and in early 1990s, because of increasing competition, bureaucracy and
big bonuses for the salespople, IBM lost many high–performance employees and its CEO John
Chambers. By 1993, the company 's annual net losses reached a record $8 billion. Cost management
and rationalization became a core concern. And IBM considered splitting its divisions into separate
independent businesses.
IBM CEO, Akers, was replaced by Louis V. Gerstner. Gerstner brought with him a customer–
oriented vulnerability and the strategic–thinking expertise. He recognized, that one of IBM 's
permanent strengths, was its ability to provide integrated solutions for customers. Division of the

company would have destroyed a unique IBM advantage. Customers were focused on integrated
business solutions – a key IBM strength that combined the company 's expertise in solutions,
services, products and technologies. However, he created the services division, known as IBM
Global Services. It was the main entry point that offered customers holistic solutions.
Gerstner also led IBM to take another risk. He expressed IBM 's new vision – that network
computing would drive the next phase of industry growth and

Team Building
What makes a team player? Some people have that characteristic naturally, while others prefer to
work solo. For those who do not like working in groups, may find themselves having no other
choice. Many organizations are gearing toward completing task in teams rather than individuals.
This may mean employees may be required to attend training seminars or workshops to show them
how to do this. Rewarding these individuals is essential for organizations to keep the team building
moving forward. IBM showed how a company close to collapse can be turned around by working in
teams, not just individually. By understanding the group–decision making process, the stages of
group development and ways to improve teams, working in teams will be a ... Show more content
on Helpwriting.net ...
Although the company had layoffs in 1993, it also saw sales and profits rise as a result with the
changes that were made. Before 1993 the dress attire was extremely formal, and employees dress
code was strictly business attire, this too changed after Gerstner became CEO. Cooper said he wore
white, button up dress shirts for over 20 years and it was a hard cultural change for him to adjust to
(2011). Not only was it hard for Cooper to change the dress code and comfortably wear colored
shirts, he said when he went to the cafeteria to count, he was the only one wearing a colored shirt,
the rest was wearing white. Now, though the change is more prominent and more employees are
wearing colored shirts. Why this change? To make the atmosphere more relaxed for employees and
not as formal as IBM used to be. Small changes such as this can have positive mental affects on the
employees and work that is produced.
As IBM has tremendous success in the 60's and 70's, those sales dropped in the 80's and early 90's.
With Gerstner's cultural changes to the dress attire from formal to informal, work ethic from
individual work to team work, and the stability of the company increased in the profits, decreased in
the stability of job stability, IBM has grown back to be a profitable company again.
Describe the stages of group development these teams should expect to experience. At each stage,
make recommendations that will help move the team into the

Who Says Elephants Can 't Dance?
Introduction
The book "Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?" (Gerstner, L.V., 2002) is an account of IBM 's
historic turnaround told by Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., the chairman and CEO of IBM from April 1993
until March 2002. This book touches on Gerstner's life before joining IBM, highlighting his years in
McKinsey & Company, American Express and RJR Nabisco, but is primarily centered on his IBM
experience particularly relating to the turnaround strategies he implemented which took IBM from
less than $18 per share in 1993 to $78 per share in 2003 (Reuters, 2014). Gerstner's tenure in IBM is
boasted to be one of most successful corporate turnarounds we have seen in the last few decades.
This book is divided into five parts "Grabbing hold "," strategy", "Culture", "Lessons learned ",
"observations ".
Grabbing hold
In Grabbing hold part, the author discussed about how he wrestled with the idea of taking the IBM
job followed by his first year in the job. This provides an insider view of the CEO recruiting process
for a fortune 50 companies. It also reveals that how precarious IBM's financial position during that
time and describes how Gerstner had overcome the financial crisis in the early 90's.
When Gerstner took up the job the company shareholders and the technology analysts were very
angry with management decision of hiring a "non–technological guy". Though many believed that
harvesting or divesting some of IBM's business would be more beneficial to the company rather
than facing

Transformational Leadership 's Influence On Employee...
Ever since its conceptual introduction by Burns (1978), transformational leadership has been
applied by numerous leaders over the years. It was later on developed by various academics, notably
Bass (1985) with his presentation of the four pillars of transformational leadership – the four I's –
idealised influence/charisma, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualised
consideration. Observations have been made across these many studies about the transformational
leadership's influence on employee engagement and organisational performance. In this assignment,
we intended to critically assess how well–known transformational business leaders have managed to
achieve company–oriented objectives by improving employee ... Show more content on
Helpwriting.net ...
Harter, Schmidt & Hayes (2002, in Jones and Harter, 2005) and Maslach, Schaufeli and Leiter
(2001) believe that employees need to be involved, energetic and well–organized when facing
difficulties in order to become engaged at work. This behaviour can be boosted by transformational
leaders who can intellectually stimulate their workers as well as display individually considerate
behaviour. Leaders who apply transformational leadership principles tend to improve both the value
and the significance of the work, and in turn will increase work satisfaction from workers (Ghadi,
Fernando and Caputi, 2010). Employees will feel more motivated (Kahn, 1990), therefore they will
be more likely to feel engaged in the workplace (Schaufeli and Bakker, 2004; Macey and Schneider,
2008). Jack Welch 's mantra consisted of encouraging empowerment of managers and employees
(Investopedia, 2016). Empowerment has an intrinsic and an extrinsic role in the stimulation of
engagement (Tuckey, Bakker and Dollard, 2012). Moreover, engagement has shown to have a
positive influence over organisational performance (Markos and Sridevi, 2010).
Besides showing traits of a transformational leader, Welch undertook the management of General
Electric with a somewhat "ruthless toughness" (Thompson, 2004:44–45) that was highly frowned
upon, and deemed to be far from an ideal model of leadership. The organisation's culture made
leaders

The Kotter 's Model Of Change Management
The research paper introduces the reader to the concept of change management in a corporation.
Change management is an important aspect applicable to any organization. It entails the technology
employed to effect change in an organization. There are many models of change management;
however, this paper focuses on the Kotter's model of change management. The Kotter's model of
change management dictates that the change leader use eight steps to effect change in the
organization. The research paper seeks to broaden the reader's perspective on the Kotter's model by
illustrating the application of the Kotter's model in International Business Machines (IBM). IBM
encountered serious financial problems in the early 1990's and so the executives hired Louis V.
Gerstner to break down the company for sale. However, Gerstner saw an opportunity to change the
convert the company to its original self. The paper reviews in detail the change process and relates it
to the Kotter's model.
Keywords: change management, information technology, kotter's change model.
Change Management for a Project
Introduction
Change management refers to a set of basic tools or structures intended to keep any change effort
under control to minimize the disruptions and impacts of the change (Cameron & Green, 2012). A
change management program has to incorporate those program elements into the existing
components of the organization. The change management program focuses on the adaptation to

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