IBM Redux: Lou Gerstner and the Business Turnaround of the Decade

Can one man change the course of business history?

When Lou Gerstner, a high-tech neophyte, took the helm at IBM in 1993, the company was in a death spiral. Big Blue lost $8 billion that year, capping a three-year loss of nearly $16 billion. One of the nation's premiere industrial giants seemed destined to wither away and die in bankruptcy. The world of high technology changed and IBM failed to adapt, drowning in its own bureaucracy and its insular view of the business world.

Six years later, after a miraculous recovery, IBM is vital and thriving once again. The stock has reached its all-time high, the balance sheet is cashrich, and its market capitalization has increased more than fourfold to $169 billion. It is a success story beyond compare.

IBM Redux is the inside story of the greatest turnaround in business history, and the man who made it happen

Here is the first in-depth look at IBM's recovery and the man who is leading it, Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. It is a skillfully told story, as author Doug Garr chronicles Gerstner's rise, his arrival as the first steward from outside the company's ranks, and his implementation of new business and marketing strategies. Drawn from more than 150 interviews and hundreds of pages of documents, Garr paints an enthralling portrait of the improbable transformation of this dying mainframe company into an increasingly nimble information services giant. With unprecedented access to current and former IBM employees, the author provides rare insight into how it happened and what still needs to happen for the company to thrive in the twenty-first century.

From the complete overhaul of IBM's culture and image to the takeover of Lotus and the development of network technology, Garr vividly illustrates Gerstner's operating methods, management philosophy, and, yes, vision. And along the way he reveals who this extraordinary, sometimes difficult, man is, what drives him, and where, in the eyes of his critics, he has missed the mark.

Fast-paced and fascinating, IBM Redux is the first unauthorized, behind-the-scenes look at a remarkable company and its remarkable manager who, after previous careers dispensing cookies and credit cards, is rapidly changing the face of the entire high-tech industry.