The most recently published title on the list:
Who Says Elephants Can't Dance? by Louis V. Gerstner Jr. (HarperCollins, 2002).Read about Number One on Roman's list.
IBM was losing $16 billion a year and contemplating a breakup strategy when Lou Gerstner arrived as CEO in 1993. In Who Says Elephants Can't Dance?, he provides a blow-by-blow account of how he stabilized the company (famously, he said "the last thing IBM needs right now is a vision"), rebuilt its strategy around IT services and e-business, and rehabilitated IBM's reputation. In the process of this turnaround, Gerstner also overhauled a "hothouse" culture that cut off IBM from a quickly changing marketplace ("Culture isn't just one aspect of the game--it is the game"). This playbook about executing a successful competitive and cultural transformation -- unlike so many others -- was actually written by the man whose name is on the cover.
--Marshal Zeringue
Posts
