Analyzing IBM's Information and Strategy in the Last 10 Years

Business Management
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Multinational Companies
A Case Study of: International Business Machines (IBM)
Introduction
IBM is a technology company based in the United States, which was founded after a merger of three companies in 1911. Over the years, the company has offered many technological products ranging from simple calculators to personal computers, to its customers. The company has risen to a network of offices globally not to mention, it was ranked the second largest firm in terms of employees by the Fortune magazine in 2012 (Alexis, 2011). The company's management practices, human resource policies, strategy decisions and other policies can be used to shed light on the other multinational companies at large. This research will analyze IBM's information over the last 10 years to help answer questions about multinational companies.
IBM's management practices
According to (Mercer, 1987), the success of IBM can be largely attributed to its management practices. The company has its headquarters at Armok, New York where the offices are lead by the Chief -Executive Officer (CEO) who in turn answers to the Board of Directors. A managing director, who ensures that employees adhere to company policies, heads each department. It also has offices in many parts of the world, which have the same management structure but answer to the head office. The Board of Committee sets the goal, targets of the company and ensures that they are met. This management practice, which is usually adopted by many multinational companies, differs from local companies. Most local companies have the owner as both the majority Shareholder and also the company's Chief-Executive Officer.
Human Resource Policies
The Senior Vice President, who answers directly to the CEO, heads the Human resource department. The department is responsible for employing new workers, raising managerial talent and to rank and file employees. Cross-functional teams, which take orders from the Senior Vice President's assistant, do these responsibilities (Harlet et.al, 2004). The department also has different programs that are aimed at passing knowledge to its employees. For instance, most employees document and categorize their skills and knowledge in the Expertise Assessment Program. In addition, IBM has a Human resource department in all of their international offices. Each department operates independently due to the difference in cultures and governance in each country. However, all human resource departments should adhere to the set policies and standards set by the head office (Mercer, 1987). These policies, which are held by IBM among other multinational companies, are not the same as the ones held by local companies. For example, most local companies do not have a Human resource department, and they outsource the services when the need arises.
IBM's Strategy Decisions
The board of committee makes the company's strategic decisions. All major decisions like where, when or how much to invest in a given project must be approved by the committee. This means that the CEO and his managers come up with the strategy business in the form of a project proposal which is then presented to the board for approval. The research ...