IBM Stakeholder analysis

Serving as a global leader in the Information and Technology business, IBM has a significant influence on its stakeholders. It is therefore very essential for the company to create strategies that address stakeholders’ interests for it to maintain its role as a global leader in the information technology industry. IBM has served in the information technology industry for more than ten decades and has been delivering diverse value to its stakeholders. The Company has a workforce of about 40,000 employees who facilitate its operations in averagely 175 countries worldwide. The company’s operations are also initiated with its vast supply chain of over 14,000 suppliers that operate in over 100 countries. The significance of this stakeholder is based on the dependency of the environment for supply of the resources that initiate the Company’s operations.

The environment, however, has its interests which include environmental conservation and minimisation of the environmental impact of business operations. Due to the urgency of the environmental demands, IBM’s CSR strategy should emphasise sustainability to address environmental conservation. Some of the strategies implemented to ensure environmental conservation by IBM include; energy and conservation programs that are incorporated in the IBM’s CSR strategy (Carroll, Brown and Buchholtz, 2017). An example is the water conservation initiative established in the year 2000, which has helped to save water used in the process of manufacturing microelectronics and semiconductors. IBM’s corporate social strategy involves partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) of the World Bank to provide financial aid, advice and asset management for organisations in various communities.

The Company has also created a healthy partnership with a variety of education stakeholders to ensure sustainable transformative changes in the communities by diversifying knowledge. The company has employed various education experts that include its Corporate Affairs Vice President Stanley S. Litow and Corporate Citizenship Director, Maura Banta who exclusively understand the education sector and have high expertise that promotes IBM’s initiatives. (Carroll, Brown and Buchholtz, 2017). Investors. This stakeholder can be gauged on their significant impacts on the capital of the business. Investors have a major interest in expanding their investments in IBM Company. In regards to meeting investor interests, IBM has corporate governance policies that govern the decision-making process. The company also has a Government and Regulatory affairs body that ensures cooperation between IBM and governments in ways that are beneficial to the business.

Conference Board is a global research association with an ultimate goal of provision of providing global leading organizations and companies with practical knowledge they require in improving their performance and service delivery. The Conference Board works across three key principles; Corporate leadership, Economic and business environment, and Human Capital. This unique association is greatly beneficial to the company since it helps in harnessing its employees to have a better response to issues and helps its leaders to make the right strategic decisions. Strategies that can enhance competitiveness of IBM In order to maintain its competitive position as a global leader in the information technology industry and market, strategic managers at IBM should attempt to maximize factors which provide competitive advantage to IBM over competitors and potential competitors in the Information Technology Industry.

This competitive advantage may be through product differentiation, cost and price levels, niche marketing and raising of barriers to new entrants to the market. The company should have a deeper analysis and understanding of the growth of the internet and help their clients harness it for their businesses. In the current world, technology is embedded in almost every device and embraced in almost every aspect of life. Integration of new and advanced Technology with their products will ensure that IBM sets higher trends in the competitive Information technology industry. The company should, therefore, incorporate new technology into their products during processing to ensure that they meet the changing user demands. Technology will also help the Company to track their sales and create a larger market for their products.