There are a lot of things that indicate that those at the top don't care at all about the future of this company, so I feel silly that I still somehow care about this mess being fixed. Just wondering, did any of you ever get the impression that they are working for the benefit of this company and not just for their own personal gain? I doubt it.
9 replies (most recent on top)
Saving IBM at this point will take a combination of massive technological change, extremely dedicated hard work, massive investment, a dedicated and skilled technical leadership team, and "bet the company" thinking by the BOD and upper management from the CEO down the line.
The last time this happened was with the System/360. Thomas J Watson Jr. was the CEO at the time (early 1960s), and the company spent over $5 billion (in early 1960s dollars) to develop and build the new processors. The new product line obsoleted its existing (but profitable) products, with legendary improvements in technical thinking, marketing and project management. Customers responded with thousands of orders.
IBM's entire mainframe success story goes back to that time.
IBM is a giant lumbering legacy corporation, slow to turn like a battleship regardless of how much weight they shed. The endless acquisitions, lack of originality in the marketplace, and being late to every single market change makes it so that only a truly gifted and dedicated team can make something good happen. I see no evidence of that here...
"IBM can only be saved (if that is even possible at this point) by an Outsider"
You mean like the great one.... "THE COOKIE MONSTER"
LMAO.
IBM is in a very tough strategic position. The company sells proprietary solutions (hardware, software, services) in a world that demands commodity offerings (open source if possible, available from multiple vendors, lowest possible prices). While management hijinx does play a role in what's going on, the larger economic environment ultimately affects the employee. IBM historically gets out of businesses that commoditize or otherwise fail to make money...displays, disk drives, Intel servers, outsourced IT services, IT-assisted healthcare services, and now the weather channel...all either gone or up for sale. I'm sure I'm missing a few.
The frustration employees feel is largely due to the churn and burn atmosphere that is present, due to IBM exploring any trend that might be profitable. Any employees that are left at the company would help themselves greatly to realize and ACCEPT that they could be next on the chopping block. Servers? Storage? Operating systems? Middleware? All bread and butter now, but lots of customers would tear it all out in a second if they could and replace it with other offerings. It remains to be seen if AI, Cloud or "other" business units actually pan out and make money.
IBM can only be saved (if that is even possible at this point) by an Outsider
I believe they care about their own salary, bonus, stock. They don’t care about the employees, customers, partners. They are focused on short term gains for Wall Street to make themselves richer and will use us all as pawns to make more money. The entire leadership team needs to be fired and replaced with people who care about the business and the employees.
They're psychopaths. They're incapable of caring about anyone besides themselves.
Oh I think you’re very wrong. They care very very deeply but about numbers and targets. Not people.
Never...not once...over 25 years