IBM 2002 Annual Report Download - page 37

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35
we’re learning it firsthand.
In an on demand business, you know your customers by their first
names, and your co-workers by theirs. Decisions get made fast. Every
action is based on trust and accountability. And every relationship is
built on a level of intimacy that compels the place and its people to act
as good neighbors, responsible citizens and trusted partners.
In effect, even the biggest business takes
on the attributes of being small.
Adopting attitudes and approaches
normally associated with “small”
becomes ever more important in a
world that is growing perceptibly less
personal, where businesses are subject
to heightened scrutiny, and where
the proliferation of technology raises
important questions—from the pro-
tection of personal privacy, to the
protection of a fragile planet.
So, whether the issue is business
efficiency, customer care or the broader
agendas of societal change and corporate
responsibility, we’ve always come at
them with equal measures of personal
involvement and management discipline.
Now, as we enter this new day and
confront its new challenges, we draw on
the experience and learning of the last
92 years. And we feel, more than ever,
the urgency of business matters, and of
being a business that matters.
Why
every big company
will want to be small