Ibm - History in a Canadain Persective

About IBM Corporation

IBM (International Business Machines) is the world's largest information technology company, with 80 years of leadership in helping businesses innovate. IBM invented "e-business" and is the global leader in tailoring e-business solutions for companies of all sizes. They are a multinational corporation whose primary business is in the technology sector. IBM makes desktop and notebook PCs, mainframe and servers, storage systems, and peripherals, among its thousands of products. The company also offers computer services that help customers operate information systems. IBM's alliance with companies of all sizes around the world allows them to compete in almost every market worldwide.

Company Overview

Corporate:

IBM is the world's largest information technology company, as well as the world's largest business and technology services provider ($36 billion);and the world's largest IT financier ($35 billion in assets).

All of IBM's core businesses - from servers to storage systems, to middleware, to services - gained marketshare in 2002.

In 2002, Business Week (with data from Interbrand, Corp. and J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.) ranked IBM the third most valuable brand worldwide, after Coca-Cola and Microsoft.

Forbes Magazine's annual "Super 500" composite ranking of the most powerful companies in the U.S. named IBM the highest-ranking technology industry company on their 'Computers and Electronics' list, and number nine overall. Fortune Magazine's 'Fortune 500,' named IBM the highest-ranking technology company on its 'Computers and Office Equipment' list and number eight overall.

In the Wall Street Journal's eighth annual Shareholder Scoreboard -- which ranked returns for stockholders based on total return -- IBM ranked sixth among 30 DJIA stocks on the basis of five-year-returns.

In Fortune Magazine's 21st annual "Top Ten Most Admired Companies - Computer Industry" list, IBM ranked number one. Ten thousand executives and analysts rated companies based on innovation, financial soundness, employee talent, use of corporate assets, long-term investment value, social responsibility, quality of management, and quality of products and services.

Employees and retirees gave more than $30 million to more than 10,000 health and human services agencies through the Employee Charitable Contribution Campaign in 2002.

In 2002, IBM became the only company chosen for 15 consecutive years by Working Mothers Magazine to be on the Top Ten List of the 100 Best Companies for working mothers.

Over the past five years, the number of female executives in IBM has risen from 185 to 692.

Since 1995, IBM has invested $70 million in its Reinventing Education program - which will touch 100,000 teachers and 10 million students in 10 countries by the end of 2003. IBM provides research and technical expertise, as well as equipment and cash contributions, to improve teaching and learning and raise student achievement.

Through the MentorPlace program more than 6,000 IBM volunteers provide academic assistance and career counseling to students in grades 3-12 in 11 countries - part of the 4 million hours IBM employees volunteered to community organizations in 2002.

Chief Executive magazine's "Top 20 Companies For Leaders" survey in its June 2002 issue ranked IBM as the number one company for grooming talented senior executives. The corporate leadership development survey was conducted in conjunction with Hewitt Associates and included 240 large U.S. companies.

IBM was named number 38 on the Fortune Magazine 2003 list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. IBM was selected from among 1,000 firms. To select this year's list, the Great Place to Work Institute in San Francisco surveyed a random sample of employees from 269 company finalists. More than 40,000 employees responded to the survey, and nearly half of them gave additional written comments.

IBM, Fannie Mae and American Express, were named the three best U.S. employers of minority women in 2003, according to Working Mother magazine.

Global Financing:

IBM Global Financing is the largest IT financier in the world, with an asset base of $35 billion. It delivers financial services to nearly 125,000 customers in more than 40 countries.

By assets, IBM Global Financing would be a top 25 U.S. commercial