Question
Lou Gerstner's policy of direct communication played a crucial role in IBM's turnaround. He implemented clear practices and set new expectations. He conducted a world tour of IBM operations, meeting with leaders, staff, and customers, listening to their input and addressing their complaints. He also initiated a series of 'Dear Colleague' email communications where he laid out principles and values for doing business and working at IBM. This direct communication, especially during the challenging early days, helped to clarify the existence of a crisis and the plan to resolve it, thereby contributing significantly to IBM's eventual turnaround.
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Gerstner implemented clear practices to begin setting new expectations. Foremost, he took a policy of direct communication. In his early days, he conducted a world tour of IBM operations, meeting with leaders, staff, and customers, listening to their input and fielding their complaints. He began a series of "Dear Colleague" email communications where he laid out principles and values for doing business and working at IBM. Especially in the dark early days when IBM's future was tenuous, he stood by the belief that it was the CEO's job to communicate both the existence of a crisis and how it would end.
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