David A. Thomas

Quando a maioria de nós pensa em Lou Gerstner e na reviravolta da IBM, vemos uma ótima história comercial. Uma parte menos contada, mas essencial, desse sucesso é a história das pessoas, que alterou drasticamente a composição de uma corporação já diversificada e criou milhões de dólares em novos negócios.

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Reprint: R0409G 

IBM&#8217;s turnaround in the last decade is an impressive and well-documented business story. But behind that success is a less told people story, which explains how the corporation dramatically altered its already diverse composition and created millions of dollars in new business.
By the time Lou Gerstner took the helm in 1993, IBM had a long history of progressive management when it came to civil rights and equal-opportunity employment. But Gerstner felt IBM wasn&#8217;t taking full advantage of a diverse market for talent, nor was it maximizing the potential of its diverse customer and employee base. So in 1995, he launched a diversity task force initiative to uncover and understand differences among people within the organization and find ways to appeal to an even broader set of employees and customers.
Gerstner established a task force for each of eight constituencies: Asians; blacks; the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community; Hispanics; white men; Native Americans; people with disabilities; and women. He asked the task forces to research four questions: What does your constituency need to feel welcome and valued at IBM? What can the corporation do, in partnership with your group, to maximize your constituency&#8217;s productivity? What can the corporation do to influence your constituency&#8217;s buying decisions so that IBM is seen as a preferred solution provider? And with which external organizations should IBM form relationships to better understand the needs of your constituency? The answers to these questions became the basis for IBM&#8217;s diversity strategy.
Thomas stresses that four factors are key to implementing any major change initiative: strong support from company leaders, an employee base that is fully engaged with the initiative, management practices that are integrated and aligned with the effort, and a strong and well-articulated business case for action. All four elements have helped IBM make diversity a key corporate strategy tied to real growth.

Diversity as Strategy

Reimpressão: R0409G A reviravolta da IBM na última década é uma história comercial impressionante e bem documentada. Mas por trás desse sucesso está uma história de pessoas menos contada, que explica como a corporação alterou drasticamente sua composição já diversificada e criou milhões de dólares em novos negócios. Quando Lou Gerstner assumiu o comando em 1993, a IBM tinha uma longa história de gestão progressiva quando se tratava de direitos civis e igualdade de oportunidades de emprego. Mas Gerstner achava que a IBM não estava aproveitando ao máximo um mercado diversificado de talentos, nem maximizando o potencial de sua base diversificada de clientes e funcionários. Então, em 1995, ele lançou uma iniciativa de força-tarefa de diversidade para descobrir e entender as diferenças entre as pessoas dentro da organização e encontrar maneiras de atrair um conjunto ainda maior de funcionários e clientes. Gerstner estabeleceu uma força-tarefa para cada um dos oito distritos eleitorais: asiáticos; negros; a comunidade de gays, lésbicas, bissexuais e transgêneros; hispânicos; homens brancos; nativos americanos; pessoas com deficiência; e mulheres. Ele pediu às forças-tarefa que pesquisassem quatro perguntas: O que seu eleitorado precisa para se sentir bem-vindo e valorizado na IBM? O que a corporação pode fazer, em parceria com seu grupo, para maximizar a produtividade do seu eleitorado? O que a empresa pode fazer para influenciar as decisões de compra do seu público para que a IBM seja vista como a fornecedora preferencial de soluções? E com quais organizações externas a IBM deve estabelecer relacionamentos para entender melhor as necessidades de seu público? As respostas a essas perguntas se tornaram a base da estratégia de diversidade da IBM. Thomas enfatiza que quatro fatores são fundamentais para implementar qualquer grande iniciativa de mudança: forte apoio dos líderes da empresa, uma base de funcionários totalmente engajada com a iniciativa, práticas de gerenciamento integradas e alinhadas com o esforço e um argumento comercial forte e bem articulado para ação. Todos os quatro elementos ajudaram a IBM a transformar a diversidade em uma estratégia corporativa fundamental vinculada ao crescimento real.

Diversidade como estrat&eacute;gia

Reprint: R0409G IBM’s turnaround in the last decade is an impressive and well-documented business story. But behind that success is a less told people story, which explains how the corporation dramatically altered its already diverse composition and created millions of dollars in new business. By the time Lou Gerstner took the helm in 1993, IBM had a long history of progressive management when it came to civil rights and equal-opportunity employment. But Gerstner felt IBM wasn’t taking full advantage of a diverse market for talent, nor was it maximizing the potential of its diverse customer and employee base. So in 1995, he launched a diversity task force initiative to uncover and understand differences among people within the organization and find ways to appeal to an even broader set of employees and customers. Gerstner established a task force for each of eight constituencies: Asians; blacks; the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered community; Hispanics; white men; Native Americans; people with disabilities; and women. He asked the task forces to research four questions: What does your constituency need to feel welcome and valued at IBM? What can the corporation do, in partnership with your group, to maximize your constituency’s productivity? What can the corporation do to influence your constituency’s buying decisions so that IBM is seen as a preferred solution provider? And with which external organizations should IBM form relationships to better understand the needs of your constituency? The answers to these questions became the basis for IBM’s diversity strategy. Thomas stresses that four factors are key to implementing any major change initiative: strong support from company leaders, an employee base that is fully engaged with the initiative, management practices that are integrated and aligned with the effort, and a strong and well-articulated business case for action. All four elements have helped IBM make diversity a key corporate strategy tied to real growth.

Diversidade como estratégia

Resumo.

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