Managing Diversity for Success: The Case of IBM
When you are a company that operates in over 170 countries with a workforce of over 398,000
employees, understanding and managing diversity effectively is not optional— it is a key business
priority. A company that employs individuals and sells products worldwide needs to understand
the diverse groups of people that make up the world. Starting from its early history in the United
States, IBM Corporation (NYSE: IBM) has been a pioneer in valuing and appreciating its diverse
workforce. In 1935, almost 30 years before the Equal Pay Act guaranteed pay equality between
the sexes, then IBM president Thomas Watson promised women equal pay for equal work. In
1943, the company had its first female vice president. Again, 30 years before the Family and
Medical Leave Act (FMLA) granted women unpaid leave for the birth of a child, IBM offered the
same benefit to female employees, extending it to one year in the 1960s and to three years in 1988.
In fact, the company ranks in the top 100 on Working Mother magazine’s “100 Best Companies”
list and has been on the list every year since its inception in 1986. It was awarded the honor of
number 1 for multicultural working women by the same magazine in 2009.
IBM has always been a leader in diversity management. Yet, the way diversity was managed was
primarily to ignore differences and provide equal employment opportunities. This changed when
Louis Gerstner became CEO in 1993.
