IBM's Century Of Achievement And The Next 100 Years

Posted by David Hill
June 16, 2011

Values — IBM has a distinct culture but it is not a monoculture. Yes, it is a for profit company that focuses on being profitable, but it also makes decisions about how it conducts its business, whether in R&D, with customers, and with employees. Even though the days of white shirts, ties, and dark business suits are long gone, the company still reflects the values instilled by the Watson family, and that is a good thing when economies have their ups and downs, products change, and strategies change, but basic values that are instilled and followed are ongoing. For example, from the T.J. Watson, Jr. Equal Opportunity letter dated September 21, 1953 "Under the American system, each of the citizens of this country has an equal right to live and work in America. It is the policy of this organization to hire people who have the personality, talent and background necessary to fill a given job, regardless of race, color or creed." As a side note, IBM is a truly international company with customers residing across the globe, company production and R&D facilities scattered everywhere and employees located around the world, many of whom have reached the executive ranks. Wouldn’t it be nice if countries really understood globalization in the way that IBM and a select number of other international companies do?

If a person reaches the grand age of a hundred, their best days are behind them, but a company does not suffer from those limitations. IBM can look back at its past and point to a huge number of accomplishments. However, today the company appears to be as strong, if not stronger, than it has been at any time in its history. I do not mean from a market dominance perspective as in the mainframe era, but rather from what it should be able to achieve and accomplish, such as its Smarter Planet initiative.

There is a Swedish song that is sung at all birthdays and one of the lines is “May you live a hundred years.” So we should sing IBM that song and hope for our sake that the next 100 years are at least as successful. Happy birthday, IBM!

IBM is currently a client of David Hill and the Mesabi Group.

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