IMD-4-0322 © 2010
Weeks, John; Barsoux, Jean-Louis
This case is about rebuilding a high performance culture at IBM. The case starts in 2002, shortly after Sam Palmisano succeeded Louis V. Gerstner as Chairman and CEO of IBM. By the time Palmisano took over, the firm was back on a healthy basis and had gone through a debilitating turn around. The challenge for Palmisano, an IBM lifer, was to convince fellow IBMers to keep on changing in the lack of a burning platform” that is “. After ten years of effort and sacrifice, there was a real risk of sliding back into complacency.
Palmisano took a gamble on an online “jam” – an enormous, 72-hour chat room where workers globally could voice thoughts about the values of the business. It helped reconnecting IBM with its tradition in addition to breathe new life into IBM’s worth. Most importantly, it supplied a collective mandate for continuing change to Palmisano that, in 2010, shoved on IBM’s results to new record highs. Learning objectives: This case investigates what culture is and how it can be changed, focusing on the specific challenge of building on success. For educations searching for a more comprehensive discussion of change challenges and IBM’s important leadership since 1993, see case IMD-4-0318.
Subjects: Organizational culture; High performance; Sustaining change; Participation; Innovation; Online forum; Computing; Strategy; Values; Vision; Alignment; Listening to employees; Customer orientation; Systems, Processes
Settings: Global; Computers; 320,000 employees; 1993-2010
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