With Virginia "Ginni" Rometty, the newly named CEO to succeed Sam Palmisano at IBM Corp., the business machines company is likely to see a little more in Midwestern charm. Ms. Rometty is a Chicago native and graduate of Northwestern University, where she serves as a trustee. I wrote about her more than a year ago, when she was named a possible contender for the top job. Ms. Rometty, who has been leading IBM's global business services, previously oversaw the consulting arm of PricewaterhouseCoopers, which was acquired by IBM in 2002. Her job was to attract big customers as well as redesign and run the company's human resources and finance businesses — key departments for IBM. “Ginni Rometty combines performance and charisma,” said George F. Colony, chairman of Forrester Research, in a New York Times story about her earning the CEO job. “She orchestrated a massive charm campaign to bring the PricewaterhouseCoopers people into the fold. That was the trial by fire for her.” More recently, Ms. Rometty is credited with leading the growth and development of IBM's huge services business. Time magazine noted in 2002 that her "vast Rolodex and industry expertise" would make her a force at the company. And maybe her skills in scuba diving — her favorite sport — came into play, too, the magazine said, quoting Ms. Rometty as saying, "It's 98% calm and 2% terror."
Read more: http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20111026/BLOGS03/111029828/as-ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty-will-bring-some-midwestern-charm#ixzz1c0tNKjjz (fluff piece on Rometty) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For IBM-MAIN subscribe / signoff / archive access instructions, send email to [email protected] with the message: GET IBM-MAIN INFO Search the archives at http://bama.ua.edu/archives/ibm-main.html
