IBM’s successful management of globalization and technological change amounts to a reinvention of the company known as “Big Blue.” A firm whose original name was International Business Machines and that relied nearly exclusively on computer manufacturing is now turning to software and services to provide it with a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. To increase its margins, IBM first reduced its costs, in part by hiring lower-cost labor in India to run its data centers and to help its customers maintain their IBM software products. Big Blue also addressed flattening profits in its service businesses by automating as many tasks as possible. Its senior vice president for global business services says, “The goal is to replace a lot of labor but to do it with software, not . . . with lowercost labor.” 1. How do IBM’s plans for its goods and services meet the definition of marketing? How do you think they help create utility? 2. IBM has inked partnerships with Google and Sun Microsystems. What other partnerships do you think might be useful to its future plans? Why?

Principles Of Marketing
17th Edition
ISBN:9780134492513
Author:Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Gary (gary M.)
Publisher:Kotler, Philip, Armstrong, Gary (gary M.)
Chapter1: Marketing: Creating Customer Value And Engagement
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IBM’s successful management of globalization and technological change amounts to a reinvention of the company known as “Big Blue.” A firm whose original name was International Business Machines and that relied nearly exclusively on computer manufacturing is now turning to software and services to provide it with a competitive edge in today’s marketplace. To increase its margins, IBM first reduced its costs, in part by hiring lower-cost labor in India to run its data centers and to help its customers maintain their IBM software products. Big Blue also addressed flattening profits in its service businesses by automating as many tasks as possible. Its senior vice president for global business services says, “The goal is to replace a lot of labor but to do it with software, not . . . with lowercost labor.”

1. How do IBM’s plans for its goods and services meet the definition of marketing? How do you think they help create utility?
2. IBM has inked partnerships with Google and Sun Microsystems. What other partnerships do you think might be useful to its future plans? Why?

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