CHAPTER 9

IBM’S WORKFORCE MANAGEMENT INITIATIVEa

IBM is an interesting organization because it went from a period of total dominance of its industry to near bankruptcy to a revival as the leading global provider of technology solutions. The abrupt changes of fortune have left IBM a forward-looking company that is anything but complacent. To stay ahead of the curve, the company has pioneered effective approaches to optimizing the deployment and development of talent globally.

The IBM story starts with CEO Sam Palmisano’s awareness that globalization was changing the nature of business. Trade and investment flows across national boundaries had liberalized, protectionism was falling, and technological advances had vastly reduced the cost of global ...

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