IBM - deploying development activity in non-US-countries?

International Setup of Development Organisations

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2000 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, The Open University (Open University Business School), course: International Enterprise, language: English, abstract: IBM is now operating in more than 189 countries, has concentrated about 70% of its research and development activities in the US, with all its research and development headquarters - except two small subdivisions (Display Systems Division and Embedded Systems Business Unit) which are based in Japan. With the attrition in the US, reaching top levels - like in Austin TX, a major development hub with 30% and more per year - and similar attrition figures in the San Jose / Silicon Valley arena, it is becoming very hard to have a sustainable quality level in the further development of high-class server systems or middle ware software - both activities that need huge quantities of developers and a core research staff, highly educated and also highly flexible in adopting towards future customer requirements. Though, there is a need to get development sites in areas with stable employment possibilities for the corporation, and - whilst doing so - also guaranteeing a sustainable level of new hires year over year to support both growth and minor attrition effects. This research investigates how and where to set up new development labs outside of the United States.

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