Operational restructuring: an important turnaround strategy

For example, IBM, a world-known computer technology and services company, had approximately 405,000 employees in 1985. In 1992, IBM suffered $5 billion in losses. By 1994, IBM had taken a series of restructuring actions and cut its workforce to 219,207 to “streamline and reduce resource utilized in the business”. IBM began emphasizing consulting services with its 2002 purchase of PricewaterhouseCoopers Consulting for $3.2 billion. IBM also began selling off its low-end product divisions in 2005. Over the course of nearly 100 years of doing business in the field of information technology, IBM has evolved in an ever-changing environment, and remained as a pioneer in its industry, using restructuring as one of its important tools.