Ibm Human Resources

1. Introduction IBM is genius of the closely successful engineering and consulting companies in the world. In 2012, its brand propose is in realize stake in transnational brand equity rankings, skillful place Coca Cola. With its 433,362 utiliseees it is operational in champion hundred seventy countries and subject to generate utility of $15. 85 million per year. The on the wholeiance itself has been founded in 1911 bowl a merger of ternion engine room companies. In 1924, the frames report was swopd to International military control Machines, abbreviated to IBM.Initi every last(predicate)y, the family was engaged in tabulating equipment and data focussing and later on was commensurate-bodied reinforced a strong market rate in the in strainingation besidest againsting system and semiconductor outpution. The IBM PC, introduced in 1981, was one of the political partys study successes. In the 1990s, however, the enterprise k nowledged stagnating net p ro conciliate from its trading trading operations and thus positive a faulting scheme. From 2000 onwards, IBM transmute overd its tune model towards engineering function and consulting. This transport has modifyd IBM to progress to a rise of EPS from $3. 32 to $13. 44 in 2011.Simultaneously to this strategic sacque, IBM has overly changed its world(a) mixer organization and give wayd from a multinational to an integrate enterprise, thereby saving $6 jillion. This report card pull up stakes read the HRM implications of this strategic shift. For this purpose, it go forth maiden elaborate on the pipe landmark model and the strategic focus of the confederation. Second, it impart consider the strategic HRM focus and the worldwide intention that IBM has true for its earnforce. Third, it leave behind compend a variety of HRM practices in the f wholly outle of intimacy heed, put up and HRM topiciveness. . IBM Business mannequin 2. 1 Customer Value proposition At the nucleus of its spikeleting stands IBMs desire to help lymph glands to become much(prenominal)(prenominal)(prenominal) innovative, efficient and competitive through the industriousness of chore insights and IT solutions (10 K-filing 2011). The bon tons reparation leaf nodeele mainly bes of institutions, both in the commercial as well as in the g every last(predicate) overnmental and educational sector. IBM onwarders hardw ar, bundle placement and ser crime integrated solutions (KM Worlds, 2011) that support the client to deepen the experience round his business through the smart purpose of tuition engineering science.This friendship enhancement bring abouts jimmy by reducing the operational equals and presenting gain revenue opportunities for the client on the one hand, and ensuring superior fiscal results to IBMs shargonh emerit social occasionrs on the different hand. 2. 2 discover Re reference books In general, IBMs key resource s consist of intangible pluss kinda than tangible harvest-feasts, offsetes or manufacturing capabilities. Its benignant beings large(p) pool and research and developing capabilities quite a little be considered as the by farthermost most important of these intangible pluss.Concerning the human detonator pool, IBM employs 433,362 high-skilled people, thereby being the worlds second largest employer, behind Wal-Mart Stores (2,200,000) and even before McDonalds (420,000) and Hewlett-Packard (349,000) (Fortune, 2011). IBMs manpower has steadily harvestd in early days days with growth pass judgment of 6,8% in 2010 and 1,5% in 2011 and the firm invests heavily in the growth and remuneration of its men. Since 2002, it has stipendiary over $ ascorbic acid billion in non- net income bene insures to its employees.However, in the fol broken ining old age, crowd sourcing could go on to IBM drastically squandersizing its urinateforce and utilizing subcontractors for the work currently per bodyed at heart IBM. Its aeonian workforce could shrink by much than 75% of its current state as a result of the HR transubstantiation process. IBMs second major(ip)(ip)(ip) summations argon its R capabilities. Alone since the year 2000, IBM has invested $70 billion into research and development and has fixd 10 global research labs. These major investments paid off in 47,000 patents that IBM could generate inwardly the termination 10 years.Roughly 70% of these patents were issued for IBMs softw atomic number 18 and service. For the major towboats of its current 2015 schema, Business Analytics and smear, IBM employs 400 and gravitational constant researchers various(prenominal)ly. The IBM computer Watson, a learning system generating answers in normal language, is one of the major breakthroughs of IBMs R investments. Further, research and development was conducted in the subject bea of na nonechnology, systems, analytics as well as the cloud. In general, R investments ar backbreaking around high-value, high-growth opportunities in hostel to back IBMs technology leadership position.Not hardly when enable the R&038D invests IBM to accumulate a great get of populateledge about state-of-the-art technology and define newfound technology evokeable to its history, it overly holds wide knowledge about storage capacities, work out power and semiconductors, as IBMs business was directerly centered on computer production. Further more than than, since its foundation in 1911, IBM has created unique alliances with its clients and knowledge of the markets and has wherefore gained strength in the field of Sales and Distri justion.This strength exhibits all characteristics that a resource expects to provide a sustainable competitive advantage They are precious, rare and courtly to imitate repayable to high path dependency. IBM run fors in one hundred seventy countries with the G7 countries and a number of deve loped countries as its major markets. IBMs brand name is similarly a major asset of the caller-out. In current reports, IBM ranks second just behind Coca Cola and sufferes come brand equity of $69. 905 billion in 2011. This strong brand equity bears to the kind and the trust clients harbor towards IBM. . 3 Key processes IBM utilizes the above-mentioned assets to operate in louvre segments, namely the ball-shaped engineering service (GTS), Global Business serve (GBS), Software, Systems and engine room (ST) and Global financing (GF). The GTS segment deals with providing IT infrastructure run along four major dimensions, namely strategic outsourcing service, Global Process Services, Integrated technology Services and Maintenance. These services cut back from consulting on IT projects to the development of a polish off IT infrastructure for a bon ton.Within the GBS division, IBM employs the IBM software in golf-club to consult its clients in schema, process and techn ology questions. It entails a dependable(a) range of services, from schema &038 Change over Supply Chain counseling, Customer race Management to IT-services. By aiming much(prenominal)(prenominal) a huge product portfolio, IBM is able to cover the complete value chain of its clients and provide all-integrated services for them. Whereas the establisher division deals with the applicability of the software, the Software Division itself is inclined to the development and writing of the IBM software.Particularly in this field, IBM employs its complete human capital and R&038D capabilities, tropeerly explained under the key resources. The undischarged software that enables IBMs clients to integrate processes, communication and logistics within their companies are Lotus Software, quick of scent Software, Tivoli Software and Security System Software. The Systems and Technology division takes advantages of IBMs knowledge about computing power and provides clients with the ch ance to employ huge storage capabilities and computing power. Similarly, it assists clients with the in vogue(p) semiconductor technology, product and packaging solutions.In secernate to the other four segments, the Global Financing division is non engaged in primary software development and client consulting, but quite a acts as IBMs bank. It base on ballss financial instruments to the firms clients to serve the purchase and licensing fees for IBMs products. Besides these segments and on the operations side, IBM uses its R&038D capabilities to refer new market trends and continuously innovate. To support innovation, IBM heavily engages in the acquisition of companies that possess unique technological skills. In 2011 alone, the company paid $1. billion for acquisition and plans to expatiate its acquisition to a total amount of $20 billion by 2015. What feces be considered as one of the major efforts of the hold up year is the up major powerily and plain integrating of I BMs operations. These efforts are interrupt of the enterprise transformation strategy aiming to defecate IBM the premier globally integrated company. For the vertical integration, the company attempts to control the whole value chain of its product. It has because invested in groundbreaking semiconductor manufacturing in Fishkill, raw York, and a global delivery centre in Columbia, Missouri.Roughly $35 billion are worn out(p) through the supply chain in an effort to procure materials and services globally. For the horizontal integration, IBM currently integrates its nationally fragmented units and has recognize gains of $6 billion over the last years through enlarged productivity. 2. 4 Profit Formula The profit IBM is extracting from its operations can be considered along three dimensions, namely along the segments, the actual products and the markets. Concerning the segments, Software, although non the biggest revenue driver (23,49% of total revenue), generates $14. 07 bil lion of profit edge and thereby handbills for 43,68% of the companys profit. The reason is its high margin of 88,5%. GTS, Systems and Technology and GBS are following with 28,31%, 14,95% and 10,99% respectively. Global Financing falls behind and lone(prenominal) constitutes 2,07% of profits. Value is created to the client through ironware/financing, services and Software at IBM. everywhere the last decade, Hardware/Financing has aggressively lost importance and today tho accounts for 16% of segment profit ($3. 6 billion) compared to 41% for services ($9. 3 billion) and 44% for software ($10. 0 billion).The traditional G7 countries and other developed countries are despatch the most important revenue and profit drivers. New growth markets currently account for only 22% of geographic revenue. However, the portion is acclivitous and is expected to be 30% by 2015. In terms of boilers suit profit growth, the growth markets ($1. 9 billion) namely BRIC countries, but too Afr ica and Latin America are only close behind the major markets ($2. 2 billion). To sum it up, software sales and licensing as well as operations in the major markets are the superlative profit drivers with the growth markets steadily increasing. . 5 Challenges and Opportunities Before IBM engaged in its transformation in 2000, it had mainly foc utilise on computer and semiconductor production. Business and Technology services only constituted a minor part of the strategy. Since 2000, the company has sharply expanded its technology services and forthwith builds its business model around these services. In 2011, 85% of its pretax income came from software and services compared to 65% in 2000. Especially in recent years, a significant amount of new technologies has evolved.Cloud Computing, Information Management Systems and Open beginning are only nearly physical exercises of these new trends. As IBM fundamentally relies on anticipating trends and utilizing newest technology to d eliver value to its clients, these trends exposes IBM to unique opportunities and challenges in adopting them. Simultaneously, the major G8 countries, which were and currently are IBMs main revenue drivers, expect stagnated in the last years. In contrast, nearly 40 growing countries grew at double-digit numbers in recent years.These emerging markets give be responsible for 60% of global gross domestic product growth in the upcoming years. exempt not only do the BRIC countries account for this number, but other emerging markets as well. IBM estimates that 60% of growth markets revenue is realise outside the BRIC countries. As these countries are still at the elementary stage of their technology revolution, they become opportunities for technology companies currently operational in mature markets. 2. 6 Strategy In effort to address these challenges, IBM has developed a four-pillar strategy laid d declare in its 2015 roadmap.The first three pillars refer to new technology trends that IBM is responding to, namely Cloud Computing, Business Analytics and Smarter planet. The Cloud refers to IBMs combat in creating the enterprise cloud. Only from 2010 to 2011, it has been able to more than triple its cloud revenue. Currently, 1 million enterprise users are industrious in the cloud, enabling IBM to analyze $100 billion in commerce traffic each year. Similarly, business analytics enable the clients to analyze and mine data and realize relationships concerning their respective customers preference and patients outcome.Almost 9000 consultants are employed by IBM to deliver a revenue ontogenesis of 16% from 2010 to 2011. Whereas the former two services are targeted at commercial clients, Smarter Planet enables governmental institutions to operate more efficiently. IBM classifies these services as the infusion of digital science into the worlds systems ( yearbook report IBM, 2011). In 2000 cities, the company is engaged in exploitation Smarter Law Enforcements, Smarter Water and Sewer Systems and Smarter Transportation, as well as further services.Also in this segment, IBM is reporting a rapid growth of almost 50% compared to 2010. The last pillar of the strategy addresses the emerging markets. In 2012, IBM operates in 170 countries. The emerging countries are change state increasingly important and currently contribute 22% to its geographic revenue. Until 2015, the company aims to emergence this percentage to 30% and has recently invested in 100 of these new markets, among them China, Brazil and Africa. 3. strategical International Human Resource ManagementFor round cartridge clip now, IBM is undergoing a transition from a multinational preference to a globally integrated organisational structure. In the old model, every sphere unit followed its own policies, procedures and processes. Thus, high inefficiency and redundancy was present in the organization. In 2003, Randy MacDonald, the senior vice president of human resources at IB M, and surface-to-air missile Palmisano, IBMs CEO at the time, recognize the deficiency to shift from a product to a process driven organizational model, and thus become more globally integrated.This shift became necessary because the organization had to fight to the increasing globalization of its supply chain. This change in the companys predilection alike implies a change in the importance of the firms HR function and the role of strategic outside(a) HRM (SIHRM). Taylor, Beechler, and Napier (1996) define SIHRM as the general school of thought or approach taken by top wieldment of the MNC in the cast of its overall IHRM approach. thitherfore, IBM had to make undisputable there was a good fit of the firms new strategy with its overall goals. Taylor et al. 1996) pointed out the tension that exists in strategic international HRM amongst the concepts of integration and differentiation. Integration is described as the assume for interunit linkages, which implies some form o f overall company strategy that unites all various(prenominal) country units. Differentiation on the other hand is necessary for successfully operating in the topical anaesthetic surround, thus it means adapting the product or service to the particular topical anaesthetic need and requirements. Taylor et al. (1996) identified three generic orientations, which they call the adaptive, exportive, and consolidative orientations.A company that focuses on the adaptive candidate is emphasizing the need to differentiate, and therefore tries to adapt to the local environment. There is little or no interunit metamorphose of ideas on HRM policies and practices, so the units work rather autonomous. The second approach is exportive, which means that the conjure company transfers the parent firms HRM system to all its affiliates, which leads to high inner consistency. The combinative orientation is a combining of both the adaptive and the exportive view, and thus tries to ease the dual need for integration and differentiation.IBM initially believed that the firms HRM practices are condition generalizable, and followed a rather exportive orientation in the past. However, the shift from a product to a process view and the increasing need for global integration similarly compulsory changing the firms orientation in order to build an integrative SIHRM model. The new objective of the HR plane section therefore was to place business functions where they are ruff located and allocate the castigate people to the right job at the right time. The program that is supposed to facilitate this process is called the IBM Workforce Management endeavour (WMI).The aim is to build a HR and talent trouble system that will enable the effective and smooth vigilance of human resources across the various business units (IBM Case Study, 2010). Randy MacDonald pencil leadted the HR shake-up process by separating core from noncore, back office undertakings (IBM website, 2010). The idea behind this process was to enable HR professionals to focus on core activities that are value adding for the business, such as designing policy and inherent business consulting. The noncore administrative services are now being performed by the IBM Managed Business Process Services (MBPS).This centralization helped to create a global system that enables IBM to manage international projects globally and allows the HR section to implement changes end-to-end the organization often quicker and more homogeneously than it was possible in the past. Nowadays, country and regional HR managers at IBM both work in concert in order to adapt to local require, while still keeping it in line with the overall company strategy. On the other hand, administrative roles are order and are being make by global employee service centers, which is in addition more useful for managing international assignments and employee records.This way, HR professionals are able to focus on core activi ties such as talent management and are able to make use of synergies by exchanging ideas on outstrip practices passim the organization. Farndale et al. (2010) allow studied the various structures and roles of HR segments in multinational corporations through the use of causal agency studies on 16 MNCs, amongst which has also been IBM. The researchers describe IBMs transition from a HQ-dependent to a more interdependent transnational orientation (Farndale et al. , 2010), which is in line with the integrative orientation described by Taylor et al. (1996).Inter colony as a mixed approach is a much more complex relationship than the pure models of independence or dependence on the firms headquarter, and therefore formal control mechanisms become little useful. The researchers suggest the use of informal mechanism, for poser the creation of a strong company culture and company-wide knowledge management. IBM recognized the need for more integration and interdependence, and starts t o give more autonomy to local businesses and therefore more possibilities to adapt to local needs. Rather than swelled orders that have to be obeyed, the parent companys HR department develops broader principles.The local units then are able to practice these guidelines, as they deem right. 4. Blueprint Among the some(prenominal)(prenominal) blueprints Baron and Hannan (2002) propose, in the opinion of the authors of this article, IBM rehearse to follow a commitment blueprint until around 2000, primarily because of its focus on attracting people base on their own(prenominal) belonging and identification with the company. IBM selected people based on values and cultural fit and has been known as a place that was committed to its employees. It has been awarded as one of the best companies for workingwomen and used to have a no layoff policy until the 21st century (Boudreau, 2010).IBM was able to build a reputation as an employer with enlightened human resource practices and was therefore able to attract bright young people with the right fit in the midst of individualized and organizational values. The shift from a product based company to a solution based company in the year 2000, however, also forced IBM to change its HRM blueprint to the star blueprint in order to be more in line with the new direction and strategy of the company. Among other things, the proposal to ignore IBMs workforce by 299,000 workers do suck in that a commitment blueprint is not feasible anymore.Even though IBM plans to re-hire those workers as partners, a committed workforce as it used to be cannot be expected in the future. IBM now focuses on attracting the most talented workers with long-term potential, that can be deft and developed to current and future needs (Boudreau, 2010). Moreover, due to IBMs consultancy work, IBM provides challenging and fire work for its current and prospective employees. each(prenominal) these discoveryings are in line with the star bluepr int proposed by Baron and Hannan (2002).Despite the fact, that changing the blueprint of a company is attach to by a negative effect on organizational performance (Baron &038 Hannan, 2002). winnings per share rose sharply later the change in IBMs blueprint. Moreover, financial performance and pre tax income increased from 2000 until 2010 (IBM, 2011). each in all, it is average to opine that IBM successfully changed its blueprint from commitment to star. 5. Knowledge Management at IBM It becomes obvious from the above interchange that IBM critically relies on its human capital pool and its research and development capabilities.In order to exploit these intangible assets, knowledge management is essential to the companys success. IBM requires adjust enterprise-wide knowledge supplant and coaction, as KMWorlds puts it, one of the most advanced evaluators of bodied knowledge management. In 2005, IBM has been awarded the KMWorlds macrocosm price for its efforts towards know ledge management since 1994. latitude to Hansen et al. (2005), IBMs efforts towards knowledge management will be considered along two lines within-team networks and intersubsidiary networks.Concerning the first aspect, the company has launched a number of tools and quislingism platforms that enable teams to effectively cooperate and exchange knowledge. Among the most salient of these initiatives are the collaboration Central, Bluepages and Xtreme supplement. Whereas Collaboration Central is a company-wide portal site providing remote teams with currently 50,000 online team board to share information and work collaboratively, Xtreme leverage is a tool providing software sellers with glide slope to intellectual capital, expertise locations and community facilities for IBMs global software brand.Concerning intersubsidiary networks (ISN), KnowledgeView, the worldwide asset Reuse broadcast, Bluepages and Jams are excellent examples of IBMs knowledge management. To provide a unoffic ial of these tools, KnowledgeView is a knowledge- manduction centre targeting Business Consulting Services and enables exchange of information and experience among all consulting units. In contrast to the general genius of the information, peculiar(prenominal) business success stories are entered into the worldwide asset Reuse architectural plan and are accessible to all employees.Bluepages offer an chance to search for personal profiles throughout the company supporting the employees to find a group of experts to work on a specific business solution. Lastly, Jams aggregates information on specific business topics. Besides these major initiatives, IBM has heavily invested into wikis, called QED wiki, and Dogear, a social bookmarking system. All these ISNs increase the knowledge sought-after(a) (Hansen et al. , 2005) by employees at IBM.Similarly, the opportunity not only to exchange explicit, but also tacit knowledge through personal meetings enabled by Bluepages sharply decrea sed knowledge transfer costs (Hansen et al. ). To coordinate all these networks, the enterprise has established IBM collaboration and knowledge. This department led by Karen Ughetta consists of 10 employees continuously aiming to find new ways, in which knowledge can be transferred within the company. Collins et al. (2006) argue that such efforts cleanse the social climate of a company and via increased knowledge exchange and collaboration lead to superior financial results.These argumentations come along appropriate when considering IBM. Only to provide some examples, the Worldwide Asset Reuse Program has led to $81 million in cost savings and a $63 million increase in asset revenue as well as a $2. 6 billion increase in service revenue. Xtreme leverage has enabled employees to reduce the finding time for experts from 1 hebdomad to 8 hours and therefore opportunity cost savings of $50 million. And KnowledgeViews lead to the accelerated exchange of knowledge and consequently sav e $42 million in opportunity costs. 6. Actions and Interest AlignmentThe concept of action fusion is defined as the alignment of employee actions with the objectives of a firms strategy. Aligned actions therefore, are not part of the routine job, but rather the ability and capability to show the big picture of the company and its environment and contributing to the attainment of firm goals (Colvin &038 Boswell, 2007). To achieve action alignment, employees need to have the sensation of the firms strategic objectives and a shared mind-set towards it. According to Colvin and Boswell (2007), specific strategies need specific employee capabilities.IBM tries to achieve this by either hiring the right employees through assessment centers, talent forums or firm acquisitions or by instruct and developing existing employees to obtain the capabilities needful to attain IBMs strategic goals. At IBM China, for example, training and development consists of cross-cultural mentoring programs , individual development programs and management training. Moreover, IBM makes use of several online training programs, including a global campus, which gives employees the opportunity to choose among different online classes.In the year 2008, IBM fatigued about $1700 per employee to ensure that workers have all required capabilities (IBM. com, 2012). In addition to capabilities, employees also need to have the opportunity to apply their knowledge and capabilities (Colvin &038 Boswell, 2007). IBM achieves this by empowering employees and giving them a say with regard to value readiness and feedback rounds. The Your IBM program is aimed at new employees and tries to expand the history, values and goals of IBM in order to create a shared mindset among all employees, ensuring that every employee has the opportunity to contribute to the firms welfare (IBM. om, 2012). However, without entertain alignment, action alignment, in form of capabilities and opportunities, will not realize its full potential. Colvin and Boswell (2007) define have-to doe with alignment as the set of extrinsic and intrinsic benefits that employees win from their work and interlocking. Extrinsic benefits mainly consist of salary, but also include practice aegis and opportunities for headacheer advancement. Intrinsic benefits, on the other hand, include the employees depression in the organizations strategy it is seeking to achieve.By reason of IBMs hundredth anniversary, IBM recently issued a one-time equity chip in to nearly 400,000 non-managerial employees to recognize the commitment of its workforce and therefore increase the extrinsic benefits of its employees (IBM. com, 2012). IBM also uses profit sharing and pays bonuses to non-managerial employees. Software engineers and IT specialists deign around 3% of their total salary from profit sharing and bonuses. On the contrary, jobs manage computer programmers and computer system analysts do not derive any payment in form of profit sharing or bonuses except the one-time equity portion mentioned earlier.All those payment packages are in line with the reason out of Colvin and Boswell (2007) about how to align employees interest with the organization. In addition to compensation, employment security is also part of the extrinsic benefits. peacock (2010) notes that IBM demands to reduce its workforce from around 399,000 permanent employees to 100,000 by 2017 to complete their HR transformation. This move is grounded on IBMs overall transformation from a product-based firm to a solution-based firm, which requires more global flexibility (Boudreau, 2010).Even tough, IBM would re-hire the 299,000 workers as contractors, this still does not assure the same employment security as permanent employment. In this regard, IBM is not in line with the reasoning of Colvin and Boswell (2007) and would to some extent decrease the extrinsic benefits to employees. Contrary to that, Noe et al. (2010) state that employ ees these days know that companies cannot provide the same employment security they used to provide. Employees rather desire employability, i. e. they want the company to provide training and development to help ensure that they can find other employment opportunities in case of lay-offs.IBM training and development practices are legitimate with the concept of employability and it can be sham that although IBM cannot ensure employment security, the training they offer gives their employees the security of employability. On top of compensation and employability, IBM offers wide arrays of medical benefits to its employees. These practices not only increase the extrinsic benefits, but also increase the intrinsic benefits in form of lifting IBMs image. Colvin and Boswell (2007) state that intrinsic benefits increase when employees perceive that the organization has an image, which reflects their own personal social identity.By promoting education in debilitated communities, by being environmental cozy and by offering health care plans to its employees, IBM does lots of things to ensure that its image is logical with the social identity of its employees (IBM Corporate certificate of indebtedness Summary, 2010). All in all, based on the evidence in the discussion above, it is reasonable to assume that action alignment and interest alignment between IBM and its employees is rather high. The forego discussion mainly describes the alignment between IBM and its non-executive employees.In the proceeding section, this paper now analyses the compensation package of IBMs executives with the help of Stroh et al. s (1996) determinants of shifting pay. Stroh et al. found that managers in highly programmable jobs will receive a sink parity of their compensation in the form of inconstant pay than managers in slight programmable jobs, whereas managers in highly turbulent organizations will receive a higher equaliser of their compensation in the firm of variable pay t han managers in more durable organizations.Moreover, there is evidence that managers in organizations with human resource policies that encourage long-term relationships will receive a smaller proportion of their salary in form of variable pay than managers in organizations without such policies. In the case of IBM, one can say that due to nearly 100 acquisitions made by IBM (IBM. com, 2012) and the turbulent environment IBM is operating in, organizational turbulence is rather high.Managers task programmability can be regarded as low since IBM offers most of its solution in form of consultancy. Lastly, based on the fact that IBM wants to be more flexible and therefore needs to cut its workforce by 299,000 workers, it is reasonable to assume that IBM human resource policies do not encourage long-term relationships. interpreted everything together, one would expect a large proportion of total managerial compensation to be variable in form of bonuses, profit sharing and stock-grants.A ppendix 1 shows that in 2011, IBMs CEO and Chairman Palmisano trustworthy 92% of his total compensation in form of variable pay (29% annual incentives and 63% performance share) and IBMs immorality Presidents received 87% of their total compensation in form of variable pay (20% annual incentives and 67% performance share). Overall, this is unvarying with the findings of Stroh et al. (1996). 7. The use of HR Measures and Indicators It is important for HR departments to wind how effectively and efficiently their practices and programs have been implemented throughout the organization.This helps them to justify their existence, since HR departments are increasingly expected to operate as a business within a business (Ulrich, Younger, &038 Brockbank, 2008). By step the impact of HR practices, the firm is also able to recognize deficits and counteract them. The shift within the HR profession towards a focus on strategic HR also implies the assumption that certain HR practices have a n influence on overall firm performance (Huselid, Yackson, &038 Schuler, 1997), and therefore might even be a source of competitive advantage to the firm. Ulrich et al. 2008) recommend to not only base the evaluation on traditional measures such as the cost and benefits of certain activities, but instead to essay the performance of the HR activities based on the impact they have on overall firm strategy. In recent years IBM has undergone a transformation from a traditional multinational enterprise to a more flexible and global structure, which IBM calls a globally integrated enterprise (GIE). The company therefore needs to develop a various workforce with a global mindset, which is support by common corporeal values.For a GIE to be successful it is necessary to have a collaborative environment that takes five-fold diverse views into account, as well as a less hierarchical and more flexible organizational structure. IBM does this by employing employees at all career stages and let them participate in the decision making process. An example of this employee involvement was a global online load down, where the employees themselves discussed about the company culture and developed specific embodied values (IBM, 2010) as well as skills required to work successfully in a GIE.The HR team should identify some measures to delimit the success of the implementation of this new corporate identity. It is important to assess the skill development and improvements in relevant employee competencies over time and measure improvements in employee satisfaction, which could be done through frequent and extensive employee feedback. The HR department also recognized that in order to put these new global skills and views into action, employees needed exposure to a wider range of global experiences (IBM, 2010). This would be especially valuable if it happens earlier in the careers.IBM developed a global mobility and international assignment framework, which offers specific progr ams and online tools to facilitate this globalization process. In order to assess the impact of this new framework, IBM should track the number of participants in these global experience projects, the number of available places for such projects, and the retentiveness rate of former expatriates. Corporate HR departments frequently face the threat of the not-invented-here syndrome, as local units might feel overwhelmed by orders from outside.In order to prevent this reluctance, the HR department at IBM has created an integrative approach that fits to the strategic HRM perspective the company has taken on in recent years. The HR department takes all sorts of sources into account, such as corporate HR professionals, regional managers and general cater members. 8. Conclusion In recent years IBM recognized the need to shift from a product view to a process oriented view, which includes a focus on providing services and solutions. This shift was necessary due to the increasing globaliza tion and the stagnating computer market.The shift in IBMs business view also required a change in IBMs perception of its HR department. It is not longer seen as a mere department that supports business by executing traditional HR tasks such as selection, training, and reward, but has become a strategic part of the company. IBM has moved from an international organizational structure to a globally integrated company, and the HR department successfully developed a framework that facilitates the collaboration of corporate as well as regional and country-based HR teams, in order to guarantee a consistent company culture and create a globally integrated enterprise.This point of view is also reflected by IBMs change from a commitment to a star blueprint. IBM now provides interesting and challenging work for its employees and is more focused on selecting talented employees with a long-term potential than on employees with the best values and cultural fit. IBMs HR department should make use of specific measures to track the effects that its operations have and justify any efforts with regard to creating a integrative, global workforce for the company in the future.