Jim Whitehurst Steps Down as President at IBM Just 14 Months After Taking Role (techcrunch.com) 57
In a surprise announcement today, IBM announced that Jim Whitehurst, who came over in the Red deal, would be stepping down as company president just 14 months after taking over in that role. From a report: IBM didn't give a lot of details as to why he was stepping away, but acknowledged his key role in helping bring the 2018 $34 billion Red Hat deal to fruition and helping bring the two companies together after the deal closed. "Jim has been instrumental in articulating IBM's strategy, but also, in ensuring that IBM and Red Hat work well together and that our technology platforms and innovations provide more value to our clients," the company stated.
He will stay on as a senior advisor to Krishna, but it begs the question why he is leaving after such a short time in the role, and what he plans to do next. Oftentimes after a deal of this magnitude closes, there is an agreement as to how long key executives will stay. It could be simply that the period has expired and Whitehurst wants to move on, but some saw him as the heir apparent to Krishna and the move comes as a surprise when looked at in that context.
He will stay on as a senior advisor to Krishna, but it begs the question why he is leaving after such a short time in the role, and what he plans to do next. Oftentimes after a deal of this magnitude closes, there is an agreement as to how long key executives will stay. It could be simply that the period has expired and Whitehurst wants to move on, but some saw him as the heir apparent to Krishna and the move comes as a surprise when looked at in that context.
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It probably didn't help that IBM managed to kill redhat and their internal email system under his short watch.
"Legacy" workers are expected to not only perform, but to overperform to make up for the gap left by the underexperienced workforce which is expected to replace them.
Re:Easy, it's about race (Score:4, Insightful)
RedHat decided it was ok to participate in cancel culture: their statement [redhat.com].
So, I have responded in turn, and cancelled Red Hat from my life. Canonical, much more wisely, asked its users how they wanted Canonical to respond, and its users loudly responded "do nothing, stay out of politics." Which is exactly what Canonical did. So, I am a Canonical user now.
So, I stayed out of politics by taking the very political action of cancelling my use of a product that got involved in politics. The irony here is not lost on me. But, it still feels right.
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The thing is, diversity doesn't do much for your bottom line. Yes, everyone, including companies, large companies with huge clout, will applaud and laud you for an inclusive culture and a diverse board, but at the end of the day, when the chips are down and money is talking, they will buy whatever helps their bottom line.
Shareholders don't give a fuck about your diversity.
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Shareholders don't give a fuck about your diversity.
Pretty much true.
diversity doesn't do much for your bottom line.
Pretty much not true.
https://www.marketwatch.com/st... [marketwatch.com]
Companies with a diverse staff are better positioned to meet the needs of diverse customer bases, and the cash flows of diverse companies are 2.3 times higher than those of companies with more monolithic staff. Diverse companies are 70% more likely to capture new markets than organizations that do not actively recruit and support talent from under-represented groups.
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That's interesting, and warrants the question why. How does a diverse staff create higher revenue?
My hypothesis: It's less the diversity but more that companies that are willing to not just hire the golf buddy of some C-Level for critical positions are less prone to cronyism and nepotism, which by definition increases quality of management.
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There's that, and also companies with a diverse work force are also more likely to consider non-traditional ways of doing things. A diverse work force also brings multiple viewpoints to the table and varied skill sets. Companies with diverse employee backgrounds are more likely to recognize new trends and underserved markets which their own people may have experienced. Then there is (utterly my own opinion) the simple fact that looking around the table and seeing people different than you makes one recon
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That could already be gained by having leadership that isn't set in the "my way or the highway" ways.
Because without, the workforce can be as diverse as you want it to be, if the C-Levels don't give a fuck about your opinion, you could have the best idea in the world and it won't do any good.
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Add "veteran" to that and you just described the perfect gov't contracting small-business owner, aka an 8(a).
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Pretty much not true. https://www.marketwatch.com/st [marketwatch.com]... [marketwatch.com]
Literally the first word is "Opinion".
and the cash flows of diverse companies are 2.3 times higher than those of companies with more monolithic staff.
What if the companies with more money can expend more money on politically fashionable hiring? What kind of companies do you think attract more people? Poorly faring ones? Which companies get to pick and choose who they hire?
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Which companies get to pick and choose who they hire?
I work at Amazon in Seattle, the diversity of the work force is something incredible. The first group that I was with had people who were born in nine different countries. When management is capable of looking beyond their color/culture/religion/language barrier and just hire whoever will do the job best the outcome can be amazing.
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Can you create a new user account with a different name? I'm getting really tired of seeing these losers filling threads with hate-spam.
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JFC, get a life.
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And that makes you . . . ?
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For a stalker you really suck at it, but since your hate spam is also such low quality I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've been posting all over the Internet under my own name since around 2002, I only post as Cusco here because I originally signed up as Cuscof2 in the late '90s and lost the password in a hard drive failure.
Anyway, your hate spam is boring, repetitious, and a waste of electrons. I can see why you post as AC, wouldn't want my name associated with that drivel either.
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Businesses often resort to extreme measures when they aren't getting customers. A failed business who doesn't know yet it's failed likely makes the most phone calls.
Racist penguins, eh? (Score:2)
Please don't propagate AC troll Subjects. Especially when you're trying to change the discussion to something relevant to the story.
Intended as a friendly reminder. I think you are making a valid point.
I mean, its IBM ... (Score:5)
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this is how IBM works (Score:1)
Um... You already stated the reason (Score:2)
He will stay on as a senior advisor to Krishna, but it begs the question why he is leaving after such a short time in the role
And
acknowledged his key role in helping bring the 2018 $34 billion Red Hat deal to fruition
I mean that was about it for the utility of the guy. You pass butter, that's about the extent of existence for a lot of these short term Presidents.
explains the suse advert in the newspaper i saw. (Score:2)
Suse has a lady ceo and i was wondering why they where more trusted for opensource in the non tabloid newspaper we read.
Perhaps all that ibm cross selling at ibm is starting to hurt the bottom line at redhat..
Kyndryl (Score:2)
Is this related (Score:2)
Smart Guy (Score:1)
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My guess is he got a good look into IBM's future business and decided he'd rather be unemployed.
My guess is that it is at least partially the same old story. After a CEO sells the company (and makes a lot of money doing it), they often find working for someone else not is much fun as being their own boss, and making their own decisions, and often working with their own team. After the required integration period, they are likely to leave the new company, take a little time off, and then go find somewhere else where they can be in charge again. Those people who built a company into a multi-billion d
Email Trouble (Score:5, Funny)
I heard he sent an email saying he was going to retire, but IBM's email system just hasn't delivered it yet
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What a crappy day to not have mod points. This is the answer.
Their email boondoggle is just amazing.
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Krishna, Krishna, who the .... is Krishna ? (Score:1)
Nice to see the "editors" taking pride in a good job done well.
I mean, it WOULD be nice.
Golden Parachute (Score:3)
Unexpected (Score:2)
> He will stay on as a senior advisor to Krishna
I thought the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also a supreme God in his own right wouldn't be interested in the affairs of a single company.