Company: IBM
Date: 2008-08-22
Overall rating: 2/5
Employment status: current

Great Manager, Very Poor Leader
Pros: IBM has a very respectful working environment.  Employees have tremendous freedom to complete their work.  There is a campaign environment to much of the work that divides the year into distinct cycles and phases.  The opportunities to interact with Research, Services, Software, Hardware, and Industries provides a lot of areas for professional development.
Cons: Very slow career progression.  Many executives bully employees.  IBM constantly revisits old ideas instead of searching for new ones.  Some of the best leaders have recently retired.  The yearly PBC review process is arbitrary and the goals are often abstract.  IBM has one of the most convoluted compensation programs in the world.  Complaints from sales reps about unpaid commissions and constantly changing bonus metrics are so common.