ABSTRACT
When people think of Lou Gerstner and the turnaround of IBM, they can see a great business story. By the time that Gerstner took the helm in 1993, IBM already had a long history of progressive management when it came to civil rights and equal employment. Indeed, few of the company's executives would have identified workforce diversity as an area of strategic focus. To rectify the imbalance, in 1995 Gerstner launched a diversity task force initiative that became a cornerstone of IBM's human resource (HR) strategy. The effort continued through Gerstner's tenure and it remained active under subsequent CEO Sam Palmisano. Gerstner knew that he needed to signal that diversity was a strategic goal, and he knew that establishing task forces would make a powerful impression on employees. Early in his tenure, Gerstner had convened various task forces to resolve a range of strategic choices and issues. He used the same structure to refine and achieve IBM's diversity-related objectives.
