IBM, UK: From Control to Collaboration?

Abstract

The IBM case study is of interest for a number of reasons. The company is the world’s third largest corporation, and in the UK alone employs nearly 18000 and is its third largest manufacturing exporter. Moreover, it has dominated its market at a global level in a way few other companies have managed. Even in the late 1980s it had a 70 per cent share of the European computer market for hardware, software and services. IBM has become a bye-word for certain features; its distinctive corporate culture, its innovativeness, its quality and the professionalism of the organization.