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Summary: IBM's Role in the Holocaust
Review: Louis Gerstner's book does more than make short shrift of the company's greatest software challenge, that is the crisis with OS/2. The book also completely avoids any mention of the greatest moral crisis to grip the company when in February 2001 the world learned that IBM had become Hitler's willing efficiency expert during the Holocaust, from 1933 to 1945. IBM technology organized the concentration camps and the Extermination by Labor campaign. Instead of simply owning up to the history and apologizing, IBM, under Gerstner, blocked access to records, launched a disinformation campaign, refused to apologize to survivors and consistently claimed the firm simply had no information on the topic. The Hitler-era crime and the 21st Century cover-up forever tarnished IBM. Yet Gerstner has conveniently deleted the entire matter from his chapters. The elephant danced around the topic completely.
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Summary: Nice seeing lou getting ripped a new one.
Review: After years seeing a lot of ripping going on, it is nice seeing "Neutron" getting ripped a new one. Downside is he is getting paid for it.
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Summary: a.k.a. "The Bull Can Dance"
Review: I feel the high rating of this book is because most (in the know) who have had their fill of Gerstner could not justify buying it. Only an egotist would dare to look back at what occurred during that 10 year period, and try to paint them self as a genius. Gerstner failed to take credit for decimating the birthplace of IBM, Endicott NY, which already had an economy that was in decline. In the process of doing this, he dumps money that could have help revive Endicott, into Albany NY. I guess when the tax incentives run out it is time to move on, and as long as the technology stayed in NY, politicians who benefited from the Albany buildup could not get too upset (Yes George, I mean you). "The dotcoms are dottoast", a quote from king louie V. This is after the tech bubble burst. Lost in the shuffle is the fact that months before the bubble burst millions were spent positioning the behemoth to be a dotcom generator using packaged hardware and software. If lou was so gifted, why did he wait until the end of the tech expansion to decide that becoming a dotcom generator was a good idea? How about inflated stock buybacks. Is that the stuff geniuses are made of, or can anyone do it? How about the body count (i.e. layoffs). Is that the stuff geniuses are made of, or can anyone do it? "In the end, when Lou bids farewell to the new IBM, he admits that his heart has become a "true Blue"." A quote from a previous post. However, this does not explain why sir lou dumped his stock upon leaving IBM. Is that something that someone who is considered "true" to a company would do? I am sure there are many out there, but the only company head I know who is true to their company is Bill Gates, who for the most part only sells stock so he can donate money to charitable organizations. Old lou is true blue because the compensation package he received ensures he never has to spend a cent off his own money. In summary, the book is nothing but an egotist's attempt to paint a rosy picture for those who are unaware of the destruction he caused. In the end, in spite of the actions of sir lou, the recovery in the economy saved IBM.
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Summary: Resurrection insights
Review: Having lived through this time within IBM, it was very instructive to read about the thoughts and reasons behind the actions that occured behind the scenes. Within IBM as a worker bee we didn't realize much of what Lou describes here. We saw the company sink, and the only pre-Lou idea offered to 'fix' things was to fragment the company(and thereby destroy it). Gerstner came in, developed plans to save the company intact, and got them done. The public surely couldn't see it. So it is enlightening for all. Yes, there was a great deal of pain in this, especiially for the downsized ex-employees, which he doesn't cover to any extent (perhaps he can't). But this wasn't his purpose. He describes the rebirth well. And it's now a better company, with better products. And that's largely due to Lou. And it's a better place to work.
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Summary: Gerstner Avoided IBM's involvement in the Holocaust
Review: After reading Gerstner's self-aggrandizing book, I must agree with the recent Miami Herald review which castigated the man, the book and the company for obstructing the investigation of Edwin Black in his investigative bestseller, IBM and the Holocaust, and for then avoiding all reference to the topic in the Gerstner memoir. The Miami Herald review reminds that it was Gerstner who personally obstructed Black's attempt to access corporate archives, and then oversaw the launch of a disinformation campaign that has been unsuccessful. Gerstner's book should have dealt with this very public issue squarely instead of pretending it did not. I cannot look at the cover of Who Says Elephants Can't Fly and Gerstner's smiling image without thinking of this act of omission and commission.
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Summary: More Wool
Review: Why is it that one of the most hated CEOs of all time is being lauded in the press still? Did every person who made it rich do so by morally ethical means? Has no one read the Wall Street Journal? When I see a balanced story on what happened at IBM during the times of Gerstner, then I'll believe that someone did their homework, and wasn't out to ride the coat tails of another rich person. If you want another glamour story read this, if you want the truth, dig deeper.
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Summary: I applaud Amazon.com for printing "bad" reviews
Review: I was very surprised that Amazon.com printed reviews in which the reviewers panned the book and criticized Lou's "saving" of IBM. I sent in a similar review to Barnes and Noble and they never included it, only including positive reviews (trying to sell books, don't want any negative comments).
My comments were (I borrowed them from an IBM manager who summarized my thoughts better than I could):
In the last five years, Gerstner has reaped a profit of [$$$] million in the sale of awarded stock options. These stock options were awarded while he held the joint positions of IBM CEO and chairman. During that period, IBM spent [$$$] billion buying back its own stock to drive the price up so that executives could cash out at handsome profits.
This is money that could have been spent on developing new products, attracting new talent and honoring promises made to employees and retirees. Where did all that money come from? Not from profit growth, which remained flat at about 2 percent per year when you strip out the retirees' pension fund surplus "vapor profits." It came from selling off large chunks of the company and its assets, laying off tens of thousands of employees and slashing pension and health care benefits for employees and retirees. In 2002 alone, IBM has quietly cut 15,000 jobs. Health benefits, which were promised "free for life," now cost retirees a
substantial amount of their pensions. Only one minuscule cost-of-living increase has been awarded pension recipients in the past 11 years. The greed doesn't stop there. Now, Lou had not only been retained as chairman of the board, he has been awarded a 10-year consulting contract, with fully paid expenses at his previous salary of $2 million a year. These expenses have been conservatively estimated to be $100,000 annually. Save IBM? More like turning it into just another money grubbing corporation while lining his pockets. I would love to see a rebuttal book. God help us all if Lou's management methods become benchmarks for future corporate leaders.
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Summary: Saving the national treasure
Review: Imagine a nation without defense, health care and education. And imagine these services without IBM. It is this company (despite criticisms on various fronts) that was responsible for bringing computing to a scale that could run large organizations and even nations. It is natural that such a business assumes elephantine proportions in terms of size and product portfolio. Soon it is accused of monopolistic practices and the elephant slows down. In business terms it turns into a white elephant, slow and sick, on the verge of being dismantled; everyone looking for their fair share of the ivory. Such an elephant needs special treatment, and the ideal person to put it back on its feet, and bring in the agility of a horse should be adept at the skills of a mahout and the training of a Vet. Enter Louis Gerstner Jr. Over the years, thanks to the unbridled market success and subsequently the shadow of antitrust, IBM by the late 80's was a large dysfunctional bureaucracy. IBM had a dress code that again had outlived its times. I remember a joke during the early days of IBM in India: " If you see a man dressed in a three piece suit crossing the road on a hot summer noon in Delhi, chances are that he is mad or he is from IBM." IBM's basic Beliefs were misinterpreted and practiced contrary to the very purpose of their origins. "Superior customer service" came to mean, "Servicing our machines on customers' premises," instead of paying real attention to their business. " Excellence in everything we do" became an obsession with perfection and a led to several layers of checks and approvals, slowing down decision making and delaying product launches and response times. " Respect for the individual" soon became an interpretation for life long employment, entitlement for rich benefits and the freedom to ignore organizational priorities over that of the individuals'.As a group, the employees served themselves better than they did their customers. Among the various issues on product portfolio, pricing and customer service, the greatest challenge faced by Lou appears to be on the cultural front at IBM. Being an outsider, and the time it would take to gain acceptance in a multinational organization as big as IBM, the biggest challenge is his battle is against IBM's insiders; entrenched bureaucrats, steeped in old ways who kill initiatives in new directions. The transformation that Lou brought starts with the compensation system. Commonality, Fixed rewards, Internal benchmarks and entitlement was what he saw in IBM. These words were replaced with Differentiation, Variable rewards, External benchmarks and Performance. The chapters that deal with product portfolio decisions, strategy and e-Business make interesting reading. But the bull, I am sorry, the elephant is caught by the horns, I mean, by the tusks, quite early in the book. In the end, when Lou bids farewell to the new IBM, he admits that his heart has become a "true Blue". Jim Burke had mentioned to Lou before he took the IBM job: " You owe it to America to take the job". A job well done, now America owes it to Lou for saving the national treasure.
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Summary: One of the Best Business Books in a long time...
Review: This is by far one of the best business books I have read in a very long time. I had been waiting for this book for some time and picked it up the day it came in. One reason was that I really wanted to know about the IBM turnaround. Second was that I wanted to know more about the slightly elusive Mr. Gerstner about whom media never has too much to write, unlike some other CEOs who anyway never tire of talking about themselves. In simple words, this book is outstanding on both counts. Very well written, has the right amount of depth, provides excellent view of what happened at IBM and also the rationale behind Mr. Gerstners actions. There are good amounts of humour and emotional stuff also. I would recommend this book to all. And congratulations to Mr. Gerstner for having a dream career and then polishing it off with a superbly written book about his crowning glory.
Rating: 
Summary: Self-congratulatory, disingenuous
Review: Gerstner's book is one of the most self-congratulatory and disingenuous insider accounts of all time. Arguably, IBM was down and nearly out in 1994. Moreover, much of his analysis of the pre-Gerstner era is closer to the truth than old-timers might be willing to admit. Fat, sassy, arrogant, ingrown, puffed up, and unprepared to meet the challenge of an industry undergoing monumental change--and competition. But the human toll--i.e., the bodycount--of Gerstner's actions is never really acknowledged. Ask any of the tens of thousands of loyal IBMers who were summarily kicked out of their offices, especially those who were nearing retirement or had many years of seniority--and you will hear a different story. Some would tell you how IBM then hired them back at half the wages and no job security. Not quite Chainsaw Dunlop, but for many--close. A companion book that undertakes extensive interviews of the victims of this "turnaround" would nicely complement this official view from the top by the man who has the most lose from a nuanced analysis of this period. So too would a work that examined the lines that IBM sloughed off--e.g, the printer line to Lexmark--that managed to regain corporate esprit and turn a pretty profit from IBM castoffs. In a word, there's less here than meets the eye!
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