Understanding Ibm Workplace Strategy Products

Annotation IBM Workplace represents an entire portfolio of IBM products, new and existing, that focuses on increasing people's productivity in a new way. In this book, IBM Software Live! Program Director Douglas Spencer and Senior Lotus Consultant Ron Sebastian start with an introduction to people productivity in the context of IBM's On Demand Business vision. Then the IBM Workplace strategy and products are described. You will see how the underlying componentized software infrastructure of IBM Workplace provides the flexibility businesses need in the emerging on demand world. You will see how many users without traditional desks such as an outbound sales force, factory floor staff, airline pilots, etc. can collaborate with others boosting the productivity of the entire organization, trading partners, and customers. The authors then provide an overview of the key product lines that implement the IBM Workplace vision including IBM Workplace, WebSphere Portal, Lotus Notes and Domino, and WebSphere Everyplace. You will learn how the new IBM Workplace client technology for these products combines the rich user experience of client/server with the cost characteristics of Web-based applications, giving users the best of both worlds. In the final chapter, the authors explore industry-specific people productivity solutions tailored for the needs of specific industries including aerospace, defense, automotive, banking, financial markets, consumer products, electronics, utilities, government, health care, insurance, life sciences, retail, and telecommunications, etc. The Foreword, by IBM Software Group General Manager of Workplace, Portal, and Collaboration Software, Michael D. Rhodin, provides an insider's perspective on the thinking behind IBM Workplace. To help you stay current, this book comes with your personal password for accessing the companion Web site which offers up-to-the-minute IBM Workplace news, More on the Web links, and additional resources.

IBM’s vision of the future of computing and how its evolving technologies, product lines, and services fit into that future are the subject of this broad look at the world’s largest computer company. Discussing IBM’s e-business strategy to leverage Internet technology, its new emphasis on IBM Global Services, and its fast-growing consulting business this overview. profiles IBM’s new eServer xSeries, pSeries, iSeries, and zSeries, showing how each fits into an e-business context. A companion web site accessible only to buyers of this book provides the latest news and additional resources related to IBM technology and product lines.

Supercharge Performance by Linking Employee-Driven Career Development with Business Goals How do you make career development work for both the employee and the business? IBM® has done it by tightly linking employee-driven career development programs with corporate goals. In Agile Career Development, three of IBM’s leading HR innovators show how IBM has accomplished this by illustrating various lessons and approaches that can be applied to other organizations as well. This book is for every HR professional, learning or training manager, executive, strategist, and any other business leader who wants to create a high performing organization. “In the 21st century, there will be an increasing competitive need for any company to operate as a globally integrated enterprise that can effectively develop and then tap the skills and capabilities of its workforce anywhere in the world. In IBM, we have worked to enable a workforce that is adaptive, flexible, and capable of responding to changes in the marketplace and the needs of our clients. Agile Career Development shows how focusing on career development opportunities and guidance for employees is a key factor in our business strategy and a major source of value for IBM employees. This book can be used as a guide to any organization that is seeking to find practical ways to develop the talent of its workforce.” –J. Randall MacDonald, Senior Vice President, IBM Human Resources “This book highlights tried and true best practices developed at a company known the world over for active dedication to their workforce. Mary Ann, Diana, and Sheila have captured the key issues that will enhance and streamline your career development program and, subsequently, increase employee engagement, retention, and productivity. I particularly like their practical, real-life understanding of the barriers to most career development programs and the manageable framework to bring career growth to life. They also teach us how to make a business case for career development–critical in creating the foundation for a sustainable program. This includes a good blend of benefits both for the individual employee and the organization as a whole. I only wish I had this book available to me years ago when I was managing a career development program!” –Jim Kirkpatrick, Ph.D., author of Implementing the Four Levels of Transferring Learning to Behavior

Excerpt from Rebalancing the Workforce at Ibm: A Case Study of Redeployment and Revitalization When faced with the severe reduction in demand for its products, management at the Burlington plant recognized that a major strategic challenge existed. The underlying problem that engendered the symptom of reduced demand was slippage in adapting to a changing environment. In such cases, the obvious-and often erroneous response to reduced demand is to shrink flexible resources, particularly the work force. Reducing activity levels, however, generates less funds that are available to cover unshrinkable fixed costs and the research and development thrust the organization needs to ensure its future adaptability. A more adaptive response-the one subsequently adopted in Burlington-is to increase production while cutting costs; meet price competition; introduce new, superior products; and thereby run the plant at full capacity. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

The book expounds the macro-level relationship between strategy, HRM, and performance, addressing important challenges that have constrained research and practice to date. Adopting a critical perspective, the first challenge is a narrow definition of 'performance' that has been largely driven by a managerialist, profit motive, with little regard for the human element. This book proposes adopting a more balanced approach towards measuring performance, encompassing both organizational financial performance as well as employee well-being. The second challenge is that HRM has largely been considered a universalistic phenomenon, rather than needing to be understood in the context in which an organization is operating. The book puts forward the argument for a more context-centric perspective, culminating in the development of the Contextual Strategic Human Resource Management Framework. The book emphasizes the importance of strategy, alignment, context, the role of actors, and a holistic conceptualisation of performance. Embedded in all chapters is a focus on achieving an appropriate balance between options, rather than providing a universalistic solution to all human resource management challenges.

Greenhalgh, McKersie, and Gilkey present a detailed case study of IBM's efforts to rebalance its workforce in the face of changing market conditions. They examine the company's strategy of redeploying employees rather than laying them off, and offer insights into the challenges and benefits of this approach. Their book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in corporate social responsibility and human resource management. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.