Background of IBM
Evolution is an inevitable part of the world. This mainly suggests the idea that evolution and change are inevitable realities of the world. Every living entity in the world undergo change and eventually evolve. In a similar fashion, organisational change mainly lays reference to the fact that an organisation implements certain changes within its functioning so as to remain relevant in their designated industry and keep up with the changing times. This illuminates the idea that organisational change lays reference to the process through which a company grows and transforms its overall functioning. It is also imperative to note that organisational change is extremely important for companies so that they can continue to grow. This also elaborates the fact that by constantly growing, the company elevates its chances of remaining at the top of its designated industry since it develops the ability to remain relevant with its changing times. The following paper evidently strives to shed light upon the organisational change that has taken place in IBM. The paper will also present a SWOT and PESTLE analysis of the company which will further elaborate its external and internal environments. Finally, the paper will also express the various reasons because of which the company implements these changes so as to keep up with the changing trends while also remaining at the top of its designated industry.
IBM also known as International Business Machines Corporation is a multinational technology corporation with its headquarters in Armonk, New York in the United States of America. The company was founded in the year 1911 and was renamed IBM in the year 1924 (MENGXI 2021). The company sells a variety of technological products such as computers, computer hardware middleware and software. In addition to this, the company also provides services to its clientele which means that the company also provides consulting services in regards to fixing computers for its customer base. It is also imperative to note that IBM is one of the leading American computer manufacturers as it conducts its business in around 171 countries all around the world.
In regards to strength, it is imperative to note that the company has a stellar brand reputation. This evidently lays emphasis on the fact that the company is more than likely to attract customers as it has been a reliable brand for many years. In addition to this, another strength factor of the company includes its diversified business. This means that since the company conducts its business in 171 countries, it has already penetrated several international markets. This means that the company is versatile and well spread in its conduction.
In regards to weakness, IBM has two main weaknesses. The first weakness includes its expensive pricing. This evidently lays emphasis on the fact that IBM has been around the technological industry for an extremely long time. This means that the solutions in regards to software and services that it offers are usually extremely pricey. This means that the company limit itself to only a certain customer demographic as the others would not be able to afford it. Another weakness factor of the company includes its sole focus on large enterprises. This means that the company hardly focuses on small or medium sized enterprises and believes in working with the largest groups so as to keep on remaining at the top of its designated industry.
SWOT Analysis
In regards to opportunities, based on the services that it provides its customer base, IBM faces the lucrative opportunity of expanding its services and its divisional software (Chajduga 2017). This means the company while still serving in 171 countries faces the opportunity of further spreading its business into countries that it has not yet entered. In addition to this, the company also faces the opportunity of elevating the demand of cloud based services (Johnson 2019). This means that IBM can enhance its products to implement this change and flourish in the designated industry.
In regards to IBM, the company faces a number of different threats, however, two of the most important threats that the company faces include the slow growth of the world economy and the growth and competition within the cloud computing market of the technological industry. In regards to the slow growth of the world economy, the company faces the threat of being too pricey and hence not being chosen by customers. This means that the company faces the threat of not being relevant in its designated industry. In addition to this, in regards to the increasing competition in the cloud computing market, the company faces the threat of fresh and new entrants to enter the market and take over the cloud computing field prevalent in the technological industry.
This mainly suggests that IBM as a company must ensure that it follows the political rules and regulations of the country that it functions in. Since the company conducts services in over 171 countries, it must ensure that it follows through with the government’s policies and regulations. This support from the government and political entities will help the company flourish in its new environment.
This mainly lays emphasis on the fact that since the company is one of the top companies in the technological industry, it contributes heavily to the overall economy of the place where it functions. This illuminates the idea that IBM contributes to the stable economic growth of one of the most important industries in the business world which is the technological industry. In addition to this, the company also must ensure that the progress that it makes in new countries have been analysed accurately in regards to the currency. This calculation will evidently enable the company to market itself at the correct price while earning lucratively from its international ventures.
Since IBM belongs to the technological industry, it is not uncommon for the company to advocate for modernised technology and online services. This means that in regards to social factors the company faces the opportunity to contribute to the betterment of society by modernising itself. This means that IBM as a company can not only cater to the demands of the customer base in its society but also enhance their overall preferences by introducing new products that the society might need (Schlegelmilch et al, 2022).
It is imperative to note that since IBM belongs to the technological industry, in regards to technological factors, the company plays a pivotal role. This means that the company, in regards to technological factors, faces a chance to implement the latest technologies within its functioning and evidently remain relevant in its designated industry. It also means that the company had the opportunity to provided its customer base with modern new age technology that will evidently contribute to the betterment of the society and community that functions out of (Wajid and Zafar 2021).
Strengths
This mainly lays emphasis on the fact that IBM as a company must focus on the environment it functions out of. This means that the company must ensure that it contributes to the betterment of the environment through its usual functioning. Since the company belongs to the technological industry, it creates a variety of different hardware and software for its customer base. Such a task requires a lot of electricity. Therefore, in order to contribute to the environmental health of the planet IBM as a company can choose to turn towards renewable energy. In addition to this, the company can also advocate for recycling programmes and initiatives. Finally, the company can also strive to sustainably source its ingredients from local vendors which will not only create job opportunities for its community but will also allow the environment of the community to enhance itself for the better.
This evidently lays emphasis on the fact that IBM as a company must ensure that all its legal affairs are in order. This will not only enable the company to function ethically but will also allow the opportunity to run lucratively in its designated industry. This means that the company will strive to follow the laws and resolutions set by the government of every country that it functions out of. In addition to this, the company will also strive to ensure that all its intellectual property is protected and vouched for so as to conduct its business ethically in a new market among its fellow customer base.
In light of the coronavirus pandering that has taken over the world, businesses all around the world have not only suffered but also faced a significant number of struggles when it came to conducting its business. This lays emphasis on the fact that businesses all around the world have incurred losses due to the pandemic. This also illuminates the fact that there are several businesses within the industries of the world that have not been able to get back up after the pandemic had set its claws into the overall growth of the world.
In light of such a tumultuous situation, businesses all around the world have had to come up with a new way of functioning. This means that businesses all around the world have had to implement organisational change which includes remote working. IBM as a company has also had to implement this change within its functioning (Schafer 2018). This mainly suggests that IBM has implemented organisational change of remote working for its employees in order to stop the corona virus from spreading and evidently function lawfully and ethically in accordance to the lockdown restrictions followed by most countries all around the world.
It is imperative to note that the change was planned on the basis of the need and demand of the industry. This essentially lays reference to the fact that the organisational change was planned and implemented by IBM as a company so that it could continue its usual functioning and work through the pandemic. This also lays reference to the fact that the company chose to implement this organisational change of remote working so that it could work during the pandemic and evidently continue to flourish in its designated purpose (Muse and Suryona 2022).
Weaknesses
Remote work essentially lays emphasis upon individuals working from the vicinity of their own homes. This organisational change was implemented by the company so as to stop the spreading of the coronavirus while also maintaining and adhering to the lockdown restrictions set by countries all around the world. It is imperative to note that this organisational change not only enabled IBM as a company to keep on working during such a tumultuous time but it also allowed the company to retain its workforce since they were not fired from their jobs unlike in other businesses. In addition to this, it is also pivotal to note that when such a drastic change is planned by the company, there is a certain protocol that the company must follow in order to implement the change successfully. In this regard, this refers to notifying the workforce of the company in an organised manner.
Due to the pandemic, the employees of the company were already worried about their usual way of working. In order to ease their distress, the company chose to implement remote working facilities for all its employees so that they could not only work from the vicinity of their homes but also remain with their families during such difficult times. In regards to the implementation phase of the plan, the necessary changes were implemented after informing the workforce about the changes. In addition to this, not only was the workforce of the company informed of the news but the company also chose to properly train their workforce so that they could establish a functional and efficient way of conducting business through remote working. This also elaborates the idea that IBM as a company strived to evaluate all possible outcomes of their organisational change. This evaluation enabled them to successfully implement the change and also prepare their workforce to adhere to the changes. Despite the company initially taking time to find its footing, it succeeded in implementing this organisational change and evidently continue to function lucratively in their designated industry.
It is also imperative to note that IBM as a company was used to remote working even before the pandemic. However, its form of remote working was not set on a daily basis. This essentially sheds light upon the fact that while IBM did practise remote working before the pandemic, it was not a permanent practise. This is why such an organisational change also influenced the company’s overall culture. This mainly suggests that since the company was not used to working remotely on a daily basis, the workforce of the company underwent a severely drastic cultural change. This also brings to light the fact that the company had to come up with new found ways to function during this new phase. This includes establishing communication systems that help the supervisors of the company keep in touch with their team members. In addition to this, this also includes online meeting options such as Google meet, zoom, discord etc. that had been implemented so as to remain in touch with every member of the team to ensure that they flourish in their designated purpose. This entire change on a cultural level in the company, enabled the workforce of the company to continue to function during the pandemic and eventually enhance their overall performance. It is also imperative to note that while IBM had struggled initially to find its footing since it was not used to working remotely on a daily basis, the company eventually figured out a lucrative and efficient way to conduct its business and flourished in its designated purpose.
Opportunities
It is imperative to note that since the company had to evidently change its cultural functioning, it had to make sure that it implemented this change in a clear and efficient fashion. This mainly suggests that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the company had to culturally change its way of functioning for which it used Kotter’s eight step model (Baloh et al 2018). The model evidently presents eight steps through which a company can successfully implement change within their overall functioning. In regards to IBM, the implementation of the model helped them adhere to the cultural changes that they had to incorporate due to remote working triggered by the pandemic.
This mainly lays emphasis on the fact that a company has to create a certain level of urgency in order to implement the change. In regards to IBM, the company had to create a sense of urgency because of their urgent situation. This evidently lays emphasis on the fact that the cultural change was an urgent one since the pandemic took everybody by surprise (Harrison et al 2021). In addition to this, the pandemic’s demand for businesses around the world to implement remote working evidently pushed IBM to urgently implement this cultural change and hence achieve their overall purpose.
This mainly refers to convincing the workforce of the company about the necessity of the change. In regards to IBM, the company successfully formed a powerful coalition not only because it could convince its workforce for remote working but also because the pandemic had already created a sense of urgency in the community. It is also imperative to note that this process was not easy for the company. This mainly suggests that the company faced certain difficulties in convincing its workforce about this severe cultural change (Spear 2016). This is not only because the workforce of the company refused to adhere to change but also because such a drastic cultural change was hard to accept on such short notice. However, IBM successfully formed a powerful coalition since its leaders and department heads took it upon themselves to train the workforce in regards to implementing these changes.
This mainly lays emphasis on the clear vision that the company must set for its workforce to follow in regards to change implementation. In regards to IBM, the cultural change included a change in functioning. This means that the company not only elaborated its overall communication system but also discovered new ways of evaluating performance (Wentworth et al 2020). In accordance to the model, the company successfully created a vision that was visible to all its employees. This is because not only was the workforce of the company used to remote working but they were also trained by the leaders of the company about the various cultural changes that might take place. This helped the company get a clear vision about what is expected from them and hence enable them to succeed in their endeavour.
This mainly focuses on communicating the vision of change that the company is about to implement. In regards to IBM, the cultural change was communicated to the workforce through a variety of different outlets. This does not only include meetings held by the company but also includes the training sessions that the leaders of the company held in order to prepare the workforce for the upcoming changes. In addition to this, it is also imperative to note that the company successfully communicated the vision since the workforce struggled only barely in regards to finding their footing in order to adjust to the new ways of conducting business (Small et al 2016).
Threats
This essentially focuses on any obstacles that might hinder the change. It is imperative to note that while trying to achieve a certain target, the leaders of the company must ensure that they evaluate the entire process which includes finding proper solutions to combat any barriers that they might face (Shockley et al 2021). This mainly suggests that this step enables the company to make sure that they have all the necessary means to eradicate every barrier that comes into their way while they try to achieve their overall target (Chen 2021). In regards to IBM, the cultural change did not only include changes in the communication process but also included drastic changes in the way the company functions and the way the company chooses to achieve its target. Therefore, the stakeholders and leaders at IBM had to focus on every obstacle that might hinder their overall cultural change. This included employees of the company who were too staunch in their beliefs to embrace the change. This also included employees who were incapable of understanding the importance of the change and hence functioning efficiently in this new way of running the company. This step enabled IBM to not only identify the various obstacles that it might face but also come up with progressive solutions that would help them eradicate these obstacles and eventually succeed in implementing the cultural changes triggered due to the coronavirus pandemic (Pawar and Charak 2017).
The success of a company depends heavily upon its workforce. This is why the company must always strive to motivate their employees so that they can be driven enough to enhance its overall production within the company. This step enables the company to create short term wins that would help the workforce of the company to feel accomplished and motivated to perform better. IBM has successfully created short term wins through its cultural changes. This mainly brings to light the fact that the company not only provided its workforce with training in regards to the changes but also incentivised the new way of evaluating performance. This means that every employee who was working remotely had the benefit of achieving short term goals, achieving which provided them with the ability to earn various benefits within the company (Hussain et al 2018). Furthermore, it is also imperative to note that the new form of evaluating performance implemented by the company enabled the workforce to focus on their quality of work. This practise along with the incentivised system of achieving short term goals, enabled the workforce of the company to not only focus on their productivity but also motivated them to do better. Through this process the company successfully implemented the cultural change as well as succeeded in flourishing though coronavirus pandemic. This primarily presents the way IBM successfully implemented its cultural change and hence flourished in its purpose.
This mainly lays emphasis on the importance of building on the change that has been implemented. In regards to IBM, the company has to work on building upon its cultural changes. This evidently puts emphasis on the fact that the company has to ensure that it focuses on developing newer ways of functioning along with its new communication system as well as performance evaluation system (Mehta and Maheshwari 2016). This primarily brings to light the fact that by building upon these changes, the company will not only be able to implement more cultural changes but will also be able to cater to the demands of remote work more diligently. In addition to this, it will also be able to support its employees while they work remotely from the vicinity of their own homes. This also brings forth the idea that through building upon the cultural changes that IBM implements, the company will enhance its overall functioning while working remotely which will eventually contribute to their overall performance in their designated industry.
PESTLE Analysis
This mainly refers to making the cultural change an integral part of the organisation. In regards to IBM, the cultural change was triggered and implemented due to the drastic change in the overall environment that the company is a part of. This brings to light the fact that IBM must ensure that it makes sure that its cultural change is an integral part of its organisation so that the company can continue to conduct its remote work influenced by the pandemic (Knaak et al 2019). In addition to this, this also includes ensuring that the cultural changes that have been implemented are a core part of the company and hence are practised during remote work in the future. This will help the company to not only anchor these changes but will also enable it to have a designated mode of functioning when the company practises remote work in the near future (Thomas 2019).
Conclusion
Thus, in conclusion, it is evident that the corona virus pandemic has not only taking over the world but has also had an impact on the business sector in a global sense. The above paper expresses how the pandemic has influenced a certain change in the way companies usually function. This evidently lays emphasis on the fact that the above paper expresses how IBM had to implement certain organisational as well as cultural changes within its company in order to survive during the pandemic. This also sheds light on the fact that the paper presents a deep evaluation of how the company implemented these cultural changes within its functioning so that it could successfully convert its process of conducting work (Varnum and Grossmann 2017). This mainly suggests that the above paper discusses the cultural changes that IBM had to implement in order to successfully practice remote working due to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition to this, the above paper also presents a SWOT and PESTLE analysis of the company which further elaborates its external and internal environments. The paper also discusses the process of change that the company had to adhere to in order to successfully implement these changes. Finally, the paper presents a detailed analysis of how IBM applied Kotter’s eight step change model in order to successfully implement cultural changes within its company so as to function efficiently while working remotely during the pandemic. Thus, it can be said that the above paper presents a detailed report of how the company has implemented these cultural changes and successfully flourished in its designated industry.
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