Can you elaborate on the concept of reorganizing around industries rather than geographies as implemented by IBM?

IBM's reorganization around industries rather than geographies was a strategic move implemented by its turnaround leader, Louis Gerstner. The idea was to shift the company's focus from a geographical perspective to an industry-oriented one. This meant that instead of structuring the business operations based on different geographical locations, IBM started focusing on different industries, tailoring its services and solutions to meet the specific needs of each industry. This approach allowed IBM to become more customer-focused and competitive, as it could now provide more targeted and industry-specific solutions. It also helped IBM to better understand the unique challenges and opportunities in each industry, thereby enabling it to offer more value to its customers.

Question was asked on:

Surviving a crisis requires bold leadership, a strategy for the future, tough decisions, and the ability to motivate and inspire others to come along with you. IBM's turnaround leader Louis Gerstner implemented these tactics and more, making calls to keep IBM together, dramatically reduce prices, enter the new realm of services, and reorganize around industries rather than geographies. Learn his reasonings and how he kept IBM afloat after giving the business no more than a 20% chance of making it through their downturn. An even bigger challenge was the culture clash that stormed as he imbued IBM with new values of competitiveness and customer-focus in place of complacency and staunch traditionalism. Learn his communication philosophy and the nine strategies he chose to motivate others.

Asked on the following book summary:

resource preview

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?: Leading a Great Enterprise through Dramatic Change

Learn from one of the best turnaround leaders of our time, Lou Gerstner of IBM. Take a page from Gerstner’s playbook on how to reinvigorate a quickly...

Download and customize hundreds of business templates for free

Preview

View all chevron_right