Rethinking Ibm

On this sunny Sept. 9, the platform in the ballroom of the Falls Church (Va.) Marriott hotel is swathed in IBM's signature royal blue. Nearly a thousand talking, laughing IBMers--bused and vanned in from an area stretching from Richmond to Baltimore--fill row upon row of chairs. Just before 3:30 p.m., Louis V. Gerstner Jr. walks in. He shakes some hands and is introduced. Standing on the platform's edge, arms across his chest, he launches into what is, in essence, a stump speech.

IBM's new chairman is on the road again. He starts with a humorous anecdote. Next, he gives his analysis of IBM--its strengths (world-class technology, extraordinary people, customers that want IBM to succeed), and weaknesses (towering costs, a preoccupation with internal processes, and slowness). "I didn't make it work out that there are three strengths and three weaknesses." Pause. "But on an IBM foil, it would have to work out that way." Foils--overhead slides--were used in every Big Blue presentation until he arrived.