Who said elephants can't dance? -- The Autobiography of, Chairman of IBM

Author: Lou Gerstner, Jr.
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: This is also the last book personally written by Lou Gerstner himself, telling the story of management legend! The success of large-scale corporate restructuring is not achieved through luck, as shown by IBM's case: strategy, execution, and leadership are essential elements of this great practice. The outstanding management practices of Lou Gerstner and his team, as well as his excellent analysis of these practices, are fully reflected in this book. It is believed that the content of this book will be helpful to the managers of Chinese enterprises. — Chairman of the Board of Lenovo Group, Liu Chuanzhi
Lou Gerstner, Jr., the current Chairman of IBM and former CEO, joined IBM before serving as Chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco. He had previously spent 11 years as President of American Express, concurrently serving as Chairman and CEO of its largest subsidiary. Earlier, he had been a director at McKinsey & Company, a management consulting firm. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. During the nine years Lou Gerstner led IBM, the company continued to thrive, with its stock price increasing tenfold, becoming one of the most profitable companies in the world.
Some have praised Lou Gerstner for two outstanding contributions: First, preserving the integrity of IBM as an enterprise colossus; second, successfully transforming IBM from a hardware manufacturer to a service provider, making it the world's largest computer company that does not manufacture computers.
In the book, Lou Gerstner tells the story of his remarkable tenure at IBM, blending the first-hand internal materials only a CEO would have access to—minutes from various meetings, the subtle hints of impending changes, and the tough decisions made under immense pressure—with high-level insights and well-thought-out management philosophy for leading a massive company forward. Although Lou Gerstner was technically inexperienced, he revitalized an IT giant of global significance through a series of strategic adjustments. In this turbulent management saga, Lou Gerstner shares his profound insights on management, corporate culture, the relationship between corporate size and competitiveness, and corporate transformation...