IBM (Sam Palmisano, CEO) comes in at number six in BCG/Bloomberg BusinessWeek’s recently published list of the world’s most innovative companies. It ranks only 33rd in Forbes just-released Global 2000 listing, which sorts by an equal weighting of sales, profits, assets, and market value. Although there are bigger companies, for me, IBM is particularly interesting because
- it is seen as innovative
- its skill set bridges technology – both hardware and software – and business processes/business models
- with 399,409 employees as of its just-published 2009 annual report, it is a huge company in terms of people
- it appears to be represented in just about every country in the world
- it has reinvented itself several times in its nearly 100-year history; unlike Google, Apple, or Microsoft is not solely a creature of the microcomputer/internet age.
In this year’s shareholder letter, CEO Palmisano writes, “IBM has pioneered a new operating model, changing from a classic “multinational,” with smaller versions of the parent company replicated in countries around the world, to a global model with one set of processes, shared services and broadly distributed decision making, carried out by a highly skilled global workforce managed by a common set of values.”
The company is focusing much of its marketing message around helping to create a “Smarter Planet” – which at least by its announced intentions involves making the world a more efficient and effective place generally, including being “Green and Beyond.”
IBM’s announced traditional values have included respect for the individual, superb customer service, and excellence as a way of life.
In our continuing discussion of communities of leadership, I look forward to watching how IBM (among many others) performs and grows; I invite your comments and perspectives.
business · community · culture · customers · excellence · global · innovation · leadership · profit · respect · values
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