Corporate Level Strategy for IBM

Corporate Level Strategy for IBM
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Executive Summary
The topic of this report is the Corporate Level Strategy. The company taken into
consideration is IBM. This company is of the Information Technology field. At the starting of
the report, a brief introduction is given which includes the purpose, scope and limitation of
this report. This report will help in analysing the strategies at the corporate level for IBM. It
will also help the company to improve its position in the market and make a profit through it.
Detailed information of IBM along with its mission and vision is given. Corporate Level
Strategy is then discussed in details along with its different types. Horizontal and vertical
integration is studied. The diversification at IBM is also seen. Then details of governance,
corporate social responsibility and Ethics are studied for IBM. A balance scorecard is made
for the company along with a CSR Pyramid. An analysis for the stakeholders is also done for
the company. It has significantly been seen that diversification is one of the most important
factors for the company. Currently, the company is ranked 6th in the world of IT industry. A
specific organisational structure and culture are followed by the company. This motivates the
employees to work well for IBM. There is a performance management system which is
known as Checkpoint. It helps the company to see their level of progress. IBM has a diversity
program for its employees. Women are given good importance to the company. They don’t
bias among men and women. A set of recommendations is provided for the company. They
should revise the corporate level strategy to keep up their position in the market. It will help
in increasing the profitability of the company.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................4
2. Corporate Level Strategies.....................................................................................................4
2.1 Horizontal integration......................................................................................................5
2.2 Vertical integration...........................................................................................................5
2.3 Cooperative relationships.................................................................................................6
2.4 Diversification..................................................................................................................6
3. Governance, Social Responsibility, Ethics & Stakeholder theory.........................................6
4. Organisational structure, culture & performance measurement..........................................11
4.1 Evaluating IBM in terms of the organisational culture, culture and performance
measurement........................................................................................................................11
5. Conclusion............................................................................................................................12
6. Recommendation..................................................................................................................13
Reference List..........................................................................................................................14
Appendices...............................................................................................................................16
Appendix 1...........................................................................................................................16
Appendix2............................................................................................................................18
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1. Introduction
This report is based on the topic of Corporate-Level Strategies. The company taken for this
report is IBM. Corporate Level Strategies is a method of gaining competitive advantage in
the market by the process of management and selection of a business. It mainly has an effect
on the finance, human resource and management of the company. Corporate Level Strategy is
mainly required so the profitability is achieved (Galpin 2019). The financial success in the
future case is maintained by this strategy. The purpose of this report is to understand the
corporate level strategies of IBM. It will be seen how IBM increases its profitability over the
years. The main limitation of this report is that the strategy will be seen for only the last five
years. Furthermore, the time span could be taken so that the strategies could be studied in
greater details. However, there is a good scope from this report as it will be providing some
recommendations for IBM. If these are properly followed then success can be achieved in
less time.
IBM is known as International Business Machines Corporation. It is an American company
and is headquartered at Armonk, New York. Currently, it is operating in 170 countries. It is a
multinational Information Technology company. The Net income of the company is US$8.72
billion and there are 350,600 employees working all over the world. The mission of IBM is to
lead in development, creation and manufacture of the most advanced information
technologies in the industry (IBM.com, 2019). It also includes software, computer systems,
storage devices, networking and microelectronics. The vision of the company marks the
importance of business leadership in the IT industry. Their objective is to translate the
advanced technologies for the needs of the customers by professional solutions, consultancy
and services.
2. Corporate Level Strategies
Corporate Level Strategies is an analysis of business selection in which the company can
compete in. The whole organisation is usually affected by corporate level strategies. This is a
delicate strategic process of planning. This level of strategy is usually planned by the top
management and they also take help of the middle management and lower management. It
helps them in formulating processes and sub-strategies is also designed. The decisions taken
in the corporate level strategy is complex. These strategies mainly revolve around the
objectives and the goals of the organisation. The corporate level strategy is important because
it helps in improving the competitive position of a company (Baumgartner and Rauter 2017).
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