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Title: Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? Inside IBM's Historic Turnaround by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. ISBN: 0060523794 Publisher: HarperBusiness Pub. Date: 12 November, 2002 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.21
Rating: 5
Summary: Saving IBM from Itself
Comment: While at IBM Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. developed a reputation of aloof arrogance. One would not suspect this from reading his book, in which he gives generous credit to the tens of thousands of people who created the company and to many others, some by name, who helped to save and resurrect it.
As a former IBM executive who took early retirement twenty years ago, just as the company's bureaucracy was beginning to strangle the organization, I was fascinated to learn how that bureaucracy spread and the extremes to which it went, creating a culture thst led to decisions (if any) by committee, conspiratorial compromise, and self-protective behavior. This is not the IBM I had known. Even more interesting is the rapidity with which Louis Gerstner diagnosed the sickness of the company and the speed and persistence with which he administered tough medicine.
Despite IBM's near-terminal condition Gerstner saw it correctly not only as a business enterprise but as a "national treasure" that was well worth the collossal efforts needed to restore it.
Unlike Jack Welch's adolescent "Jack: Straight from the Gut", this book focuses on the processes of leadership and management, strategic choice, and the decision process. But it speaks also to the essential importance of corporate culture, at IBM a way of life that is based on values rather than just on being first.
As a recovering IBMer I salute Mr. Gerstner for his remarkable achievements and as a reader applaud him for this exceptional contribution to the business book genre.
Don't miss it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Win, Execute, Team - He did it, He Tells It
Comment: A previous reader review suggested that Mr. Gerstner's was out of touch and if readers want the real story they should read Soldier of Fortune 500. Who better than Mr. Gerstner, the man responsible for turning IBM around to write about it? Who Say's Elephants Can Dance is wonderfully candid and well written (and by Mr. Gerstner himself, without the assistance of a ghost writer). I particularly liked the passages on "inspect versus expect," managing by principles vs. process, focus on core competency and impact of culture and how to change it. These can be applied to any company.
I am author of Soldier of Fortune 500. In fact, my book is very positive about Mr. Gerstner and what he did for IBM. I think the Gerstner book is brilliant and would recommend it to all. Rather than contradicting, my book echoes similar themes, albeit the employee view vs. CEO.
Steve Romaine
Author, Soldier of Fortune 500
Rating: 3
Summary: More about history than management
Comment: While this is a good book of an historic turnaround, there is little one can take away and apply. Between Gerstner's excessive modesty and the way he focuses more on his actions than the reasoning behind them, there is not much to learn here. Nonetheless, it is an enjoyable story.
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