The Decline and Fall of IBM, Robert X. Cringely
The Decline and Fall of IBM, Robert X. Cringely
1 Rating(s)
List: $9.99 | Sale: $7.00
Club: $4.99

The Decline and Fall of IBM
End of an American Icon?

Author: Robert X. Cringely

Narrator: Robert X. Cringely

Unabridged: 3 hr 44 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Lantern Audio

Published: 09/15/2014

Synopsis

IBM is in serious trouble. Big Blue, as the company is known, tends to rely on magical thinking for its success, but that magic ran out a long time ago. The trouble began back in the 1990s and IBM had to hire, for the first time, an outside CEO. Lou Gerstner saved the day, pushing IBM into services with spectacular results, but not without consequence. As services became commoditized, IBM could compete only by offshoring the work. Quality suffered. In addition, Gerstner's compensation was very high, which impacted IBM negatively. In IBM history, only the Watson family hit rich running IBM. Later CEOs, like John Opel and John Akers, lived comfortable lives with many perks, but weren't BIG RICH. That changed with Gerstner.IBM has essentially sacrificed both its customers and its employees in the name of earnings. The company has cut labor to the bone, offshored as much as possible, and dropped quality. Acquisitions are deliberately underbid, the under-delivered. These moves, combined with share buybacks, have kept earnings growing until recently, when the house of cards began to fall. IBM's current CEO, Ginni Rometty, has outlined an earning goal for 2015 and she is not afraid to destroy the company to achieve it. This book outlines IBM's fall from grace, where the company is heading, and what can be done to save IBM before it's too late.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Kaitlyn on June 14, 2014

Wandering around on the desert plains of Facts, this book desperately requires the oasis of an editor in order to survive. Cringely knows his stuff when it comes to IBM, but the book is written with the assumption the reader knows as much as the author - oftentimes things were referenced obliquely,......more

Goodreads review by Wesley on July 18, 2014

I work in the industry so I found the book interesting. Other than size, you could substitute IBM for any number of the other services and technology companies that area making short sighted decisions and are losing their identity in the quest for ever cheaper labor. A couple of critiques on the book......more

Goodreads review by Rob on June 13, 2014

good book, but half of it are comments from ibmers and ex-ibmers about working there. Been here for 15 years so the comments were nothing new to me.......more

Goodreads review by Larry on June 22, 2014

From roughly 2005-2011 I worked at a company that outsourced tech support to IBM Global Services. I was part of a software development team but there were several team members, including myself, who had a system administration background and we did our own SA work. When IBM entered the picture, our manag......more

Goodreads review by Harlan on June 30, 2014

Although it's a bit of a one-sided hatchet-job, there was enough interesting in this take-down of recent IBM management to be worth reading, for those interested in the success and failure of tech companies. Cringely certainly got enough access to current and ex-employees to build a compelling argum......more

Add to Cart
Add to Wish List