IBM's Key Performance Indicators Through 2021

Comparing IBM's 20th and 21st Century Key Performance Indicators

Each year after IBM releases its annual report, this chart is updated to document the difference between two sets of IBM chief executive officers: (1) two 20th Century leaders who managed a business and (2) four 21st Century leaders who are managing a business to a stock price or to a stock price metric such as earnings-per-share. 

In the 20th Century, IBM made a sixteen-year transition that set it apart from and ahead of its competition for almost a half century [Read: The Greatest Business Gamble of the 20th Century]. Some analysts believe that IBM is in a similar transition in the 21st Century. This author disagrees.

​​Over the last sixteen years how have IBM's chief executive officers performed against some similar critical key performance metrics? The answer should not be a surprise to any IBMer or analyst that understands what it took to build the 20th Century IBM. The Watsons invested in making people more productive, processes more effective and products more valuable. This is what happens when you invest in paper (stock buybacks/repurchases) instead.

Select the image or the link below to read the full story presented in a single chart.

IBM's 21st Century Key Performance Indicators