Saving Big Blue: Leadership Lessons & Turnaround Tactics of IBM's Lou Gerstner

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Summary: excellent example of leadership vs corporate complacency
Review: As a former employee of both IBM and AT&T, I lived through years of lack of leadership, innovation and bad management decisions. Lou Gerstner demonstrated that a few common sense principles (listen, customers, focus) go a long way in building a business. I enjoyed the book very much and recommended it to my co-workers.

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Summary: For a Juicier Read, See Garr's Just Released IBM Redux
Review: As both an IBM employee & one very interested in the workings of this unique company, I enjoyed reading 2 just-released books in the past 2 weeks, Robert Slater's Saving IBM and Garr's. Slater's was the business case version of IBM. Garr's was the real scoop behind the workings of not just Gerstner but his many lieutenants, both long-time IBM employees and outsiders. Although I was somewhat embarrassed by some of Garr's stories, including the FUMU's, I still enjoyed the book. I was disappointed in the lack of coverage with IBM Global Services.

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Summary: Insightful!
Review: Listen, my children, and you shall hear the incredible saga of how IBM nearly died and was revived by Lou Gerstner. Robert Slater tells the tale of IBM's turnaround after it nearly sank under the weight of institutionalized arrogance and failure to heed advancements in the industry it had dominated. Gerstner broke company tradition, fired employees who believed they had a sinecure, slashed a decade-old bureaucracy, and switched IBM's focus from products to solutions. This action portrait shows a man smart enough and tough enough to rebuild an empire. The book's lessons are artfully woven into the fabric of Gerstner's personal story and IBM's corporate history. We [...] recommend this book to any high level executive whose organization needs a revolution or to any businessperson who wants a juicy reminder of what it takes to win the war of independence.


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Summary: A book worthy of be studied on a worthy CEO of a worthy Corp
Review: The content of the book is worthy of being studied by managers. How to control risks and how to bring comany away from risk, is a necessary topic in such times, especially after 911.
IBM is a great company which was founded in a great country. Now IBM belongs to the world, not only for its great profit, but for its great experience, including its great failure in past.
So, this book is worthy of be read, you will learn a lot from it.
The essence of IBM works in all respected companies.