Name: Who Says Elephants Can't Dance
Rating: 3.8 (5 reviews)
ISBN: 9780007302956

Louis V. Gerstiner

Heading into IBM, I would have bet large sums of money that these frenetic early months would be the hardest work of my professional career. I would have bet wrong. What happened through the second half of the 1990s would determine whether IBM was merely going to be one more pleasant, safe, comfortable - but fairly innocuous - participant in the information technology industry, or whether we were once again going to be a company that mattered.

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance

Louis V. Gerstner

In 1990, IBM had its most profitable year ever. By 1993, the computer industry had changed so rapidly the company was on its way to losing $16 billion and IBM was on a watch list for extinction -- victimized by its own lumbering size, an insular corporate culture, and the PC era IBM had itself helped invent. Then Lou Gerstner was brought in to run IBM. Almost everyone watching the rapid demise of this American icon presumed Gerstner had joined IBM to preside over its continued dissolution into a confederation of autonomous business units. This strategy, well underway when he arrived, would have effectively eliminated the corporation that had invented many of the industry's most important technologies. Instead, Gerstner took hold of the company and demanded the managers work together to re-establish IBM's mission as a customer-focused provider of computing solutions. Moving ahead of his critics, Gerstner made the hold decision to keep the company together, slash prices on his core product to keep the company competitive, and almost defiantly announced, "The last thing IBM needs right now is a vision." Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? tells the story of IBM's competitive and cultural transformation. In his own words, Gerstner offers a blow-by-blow account of his arrival at the company and his campaign to rebuild the leadership team and give the workforce a renewed sense of purpose. In the process, Gerstner defined a strategy for the computing giant and remade the ossified culture bred by the company's own success. The first-hand story of an extraordinary turnaround, a unique case study in managing a crisis, and a thoughtful reflection on the computer industry and the principles of leadership, Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? sums up Lou Gerstner's historic business achievement. Taking readers deep into the world of IBM's CEO, Gerstner recounts the high-level meetings and explains the pressure-filled, no-turning-back decisions that had to be made. He also offers his hard-won conclusions about the essence of what makes a great company run. In the history of modern business, many companies have gone from being industry leaders to the verge of extinction. Through the heroic efforts of a new management team, some of those companies have even succeeded in resuscitating themselves and living on in the shadow of their former stature. But only one company has been at the pinnacle of an industry, fallen to near collapse, and then, beyond anyone's expectations, returned to set the agenda. That company is IBM. Lou Gerstener, Jr., served as chairman and chief executive officer of IBM from April 1993 to March 2002, when he retired as CEO. He remained chairman of the board through the end of 2002. Before joining IBM, Mr. Gerstner served for four years as chairman and CEO of RJR Nabisco, Inc. This was preceded by an eleven-year career at the American Express Company, where he was president of the parent company and chairman and CEO of its largest subsidiary. Prior to that, Mr. Gerstner was a director of the management consulting firm of McKinsey & Co., Inc. He received a bachelor's degree in engineering from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School.

Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?

Ever since I worked at IBM Italy I was very identified with the company. I enjoyed the people, the challenges, the culture, the 'THINK'.

IBM was good to me and I would love to go back one day. I decided to pick this book up because is written by legendary Louis Gerstner, one of the legends in the world of management. The book is a masterclass on culture, strategy, marketing, pricing, prioritisation and many other topics that place it amongst my top 3 business books ever. The story itself, since 1993 to 2001 is nothing but remarkable. IBM was bleeding cash and loosing its position to a ruthless industry and this is the story on how this amazing group of professionals lead by Gerstner turned that around.

Cristian Garcia

Ever since I worked at IBM Italy I was very identified with the company. I enjoyed the people, the challenges, the culture, the 'THINK'.

IBM was good to me and I would love to go back one day. I decided to pick this book up because is written by legendary Louis Gerstner, one of the legends in the world of management. The book is a masterclass on culture, strategy, marketing, pricing, prioritisation and many other topics that place it amongst my top 3 business books ever. The story itself, since 1993 to 2001 is nothing but remarkable. IBM was bleeding cash and loosing its position to a ruthless industry and this is the story on how this amazing group of professionals lead by Gerstner turned that around.

Who Says Elephants Can't Dance

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