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| Mr. Bruce Harreld, Harvard Faculty and previous head of Strategy of IBM, (photo courtesy of Forbes) |
A frequent speaker and writer on implementing strategy and corporate transformation, Bruce Harreld joined Harvard Business School's faculty in early 2009. He is the faculty chair of "Building New Businesses within Established Organizations".
But what stands out with Mr. Harreld's vast corporate experience is his first-hand experience in re-shaping IBM from its "near death experience" in the 90s. Under the stewardship of business icon, Mr. Lou Gerstner, Mr. Harreld led IBM’s Strategy unit. He was responsible for the formulation and execution of the company’s overall strategy and directed IBM’s Emerging Business Opportunities (EBO) program. According to Mr. Harreld, the EBO program is a unique management system that produced more than 20 new, in some cases multi-billion dollar businesses for IBM. Mr. Harreld also served as senior vice president for IBM Marketing, where he led IBM's marketing efforts.
Lessons From The IBM Trenches
On Business
- Issues that IBM faced that needed immediate attention
- didn't know customers
- high cost structure
- clung to old technology
- discussed strategy but failed to execute
- If you don't fix the base business, you don't have an investment base to launch other businesses
- Assign your most experienced people to handle new businesses as these are uncharted territories and require proven leadership
- Move your high potentials to handle the current business since the processes and systems are well in place
On Culture
- Culture is a critical control system, it needed to be managed actively
- Actions speak louder than words, and is the most effective way to set the culture
- Public hanging of non-performers and culture change resistors was done in order to send a message, but this was done sparingly
- Public rewards were communicated across all levels of the business in order to encourage and reinforce behavior
- Key to all these was the need to set the performance bar and to communicate it clearly across the organization
- The ultimate leadership question - HOW DO YOU RAISE THE BAR?
- Skill-key task-culture-management rewards must always be aligned
Mr. Harreld spoke with passion and credibility. His narration of all these lessons brought the whole class back to the IBM trenches as these fights were being fought. He was candid and open about his experience and expounded on his points, like only a seasoned business executive scarred in the fields of open warfare can. It was truly a privilege to be with this man.
