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Conference 7.286::digital

Title:	The Digital way of working

Moderator:	QUARK::LIONELON

Created:	Fri Feb 14 1986
Last Modified:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5321
Total number of notes:	139771

2932.0. "New book about IBM" by CHEFS::HEELAN (Dale limosna, mujer......) Fri Mar 11 1994 05:43

    "International Business Machines in its heyday believed it was better
    than anybody at anything.   Challenged to a boar race by Oxford
    University, its UK subsidiary trained with characteristic thoroughness
    and lost convincingly.   Chastened but determined it took on the weaker
    Cambridge crew and lost again.   Detailed analysis commissioned by IBM
    Europe uncovered the reason:  while the two universities used one cox
    and eight oarsmen, IBM had one man rowing and eight steering.   Armonk,
    IBM's corporate headquarters, studied the report and issued its
    solution: 'Change the rower'".
    
    "With the death of IBM in February, the torch has passed not only to
    its new leaders, but to others in many other companies"
    
    "(Robert Heller) identifies seven suspects (for IBM's poor performance):
    			*technological change
    			*the company's idiosyncratic culture
    			*customer preferences
    			*changing markets
    			*suppliers turned competitors
    			*globalisation
    			*management faults"
    
    {copied w/o permission from London Financial Times Book Review of "The
    Fate of IBM" by Robert Heller}
    
    
    Symptoms seem familiar !
    
    John

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2932.1	Blooper !	CHEFS::HEELAN	Dale limosna, mujer......	`Fri Mar 11 1994 05:44`	7
	re .0 Oooops !!! "boar" ="boat" (although the concept of a boar race has some attractions :-)) John
2932.2	And to think that we are taking more of their managers!	SUBURB::POWELLM	Nostalgia isn't what it used to be!	`Fri Mar 11 1994 07:22`	1

2932.3	industry-standard joke (OpenJoke)	MU::PORTER	i have a name	`Fri Mar 11 1994 09:26`	2
	Heard it before, about DEC. Except that the middle bit ("Detailed analysis...") was phrased along the lines of "A task force was formed...".
2932.4	OpenJoke V1.a.2	HIBOB::KRANTZ	Next window please.	`Fri Mar 11 1994 10:28`	7
	Another missing part of the middle of the usual joke is the first report from the task force "the oarsman has to work harder" There was a TFSO variant, which ends with the oarsman getting the package, but I can't remember how it goes... Joe
2932.5	Surprise ! Surprise !	CHEFS::HEELAN	Dale limosna, mujer......	`Fri Mar 11 1994 14:19`	9
	re last two Reeeeeaaaalllyyyyyy ! How about the symptoms ? Are they an industry-standard joke as well ? :-)) John
2932.6		ICS::DONNELLAN		`Sat Mar 12 1994 23:52`	3
	I've contacted several local bookstores (Boston) and none of them had it listed. Anyone know where to get it, short of a trip to London?
2932.7		ATYISB::HILL	Don't worry, we have a cunning plan!	`Mon Mar 14 1994 03:13`	3
	John The other ommission is the 'woods meeting'
2932.8	More info	CHEFS::HEELAN	Dale limosna, mujer......	`Mon Mar 14 1994 03:58`	15
	re .6 Full reference "The Fate of IBM" by Robert Heller published by Little Brown �16.99 370 pages I'll see if I can find the isbn number Cheers John
2932.9	Another version of the story	ATYISB::HILL	Don't worry, we have a cunning plan!	`Mon Mar 14 1994 04:33`	38
	A Modern Parable Once upon a time, the XYZ Corp. and the ABC Corp. decided to have a competitive boat race on a well known river. Both teams practised long and hard to reach their peak perform- ance. On the big day, they were as ready as they could be. ABC Corp. won by a mile. Afterwards the XYZ Corp. team became very discouraged by the loss and morale sagged. Senior Management decided that the reason for the crushing defeat had to be found, and a project team was set up at to investigate the problem and recommend appropriate action. After a lot of brainstorming and a 'woods' meeting they reached a conclusion: the problem was that the ABC Corp. team had eight people rowing and one person steering, whereas the XYZ Corp. had one person rowing and eight people steering. Senior Management immediately hired a consultancy company to do a study on the team's structure. Millions of dollars and several months later they concluded that: too many people were steering and not enough rowing. To prevent losing to the ABC Corp. next year, the team struc- ture was changed to four "steering managers", three "senior steering managers" and one "executive steering manager". A pay-for-performance system was set up to give the person rowing the boat more incentive to work harder and become a key performer. "We must give him empowerment and job enrichment. This ought to do it." The next year ABC Corp. won by two miles. The XYZ Corp. laid off the rower for poor performance, sold off all the paddles, cancelled all capital investment for new equipment and halted development of a new canoe, awarded high performance awards to the consultants, recruited one of the consultant partners and distributed the money saved to senior management.
2932.10		PLAYER::BROWNL	What goal-posts?	`Mon Mar 14 1994 05:17`	6
	When I saw the "imagine (tm)" poster with the rowing crew, recollection of this story made me smile. It is an industry standard "joke", and not a terribly good choice for an advert, methinks. Still, full marks for audacity! Laurie.
2932.11		REGENT::BLOCHER		`Tue Mar 15 1994 17:34`	1
	Shoulda painted the boat a different color!
2932.12	Fully in the spirit of the inspired .11:	DRDAN::KALIKOW	IDU: To Protect and to Serve Info	`Tue Mar 15 1994 22:44`	2
	... and rounded the corners of the oars!