IBM's Greatest CEO - Net Income per Employee

IBM Net Income Per Employee

Net income per employee is a common productivity metric that determines how effectively a corporation is managing its bottom line. It is an effective method to visualize management effectiveness over time. Though it is only one of many measures for considering the overall health of a corporation, this particular one—especially when evaluated over extended periods of time as in the 100+ year chart below—is effective in showing gains or losses in an organization’s management effectiveness.

Black and white image depicting IBM employees that are ready to drive profit: net income per employee.

Modified Pixabay Image #2059406 by Gerd Altmann

IBM's Net Income per Employee from 1914 through 2017

Bar Chart of IBM's Yearly Net Income per Employee over its 100+ Years (1914 - 2016) mapped to each of its CEOs

IBM's Nine Chief Executive Officers

Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: Post Recession of 1920-21, Post World War II
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Recession of 1920-21, The Great Depression, WW II and Korean War

Bar chart of Thomas J. Watson Sr.'s Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 42 years as IBM's CEO from 1914 to 1956

Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: 1955 to 1958, Post S/360 Shipment
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Post 1964 S/360 Announcement (delayed shipment)

Bar chart of Thomas J. Watson Jr.'s Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 15 years as IBM's CEO from 1956 to 1971

T. Vincent Learson's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: Post S/370 Shipment
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Not Applicable

Bar Chart of T. Vincent Learson's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 18 months as IBM's CEO from 1971 to 1972

Frank T. Cary's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: Stable increases over full decade
Significant decreases in profit productivity: 1979

Bar chart of Frank T. Cary's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 8 years as IBM's CEO from 1973 to 1980

John R. Opel's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: Stable increases over full four years
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Not applicable

Bar chart of John R. Opel's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 4 years as IBM's CEO from 1981 to 1984

John F. Akers' Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: 1990 with S/390 and RS/6000 Availability
Significant decreases in profit productivity: 1989, 1991 and 1992

Bar Chart of John F. Aker's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 8 years as IBM's CEO from 1985 to 1992

Louis V. Gerstner's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: 1994 to 1996, 1999 with pension plan changes
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Profit productivity growth flat from 1996 to 1998 and 1999 to 2001

Bar chart of Louis V. Gerstner's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 9 years as IBM's CEO from 1993 to 2001

Samuel J. Palmisano's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: 2008 to 2011 with pension plan changes in U.S. and UK
Significant decreases in profit productivity: 2002 with change from Gerstner to Palmisano

Bar Chart of Samuel J. Palmisano's Yearly Net Income per Employee over his 10 years as IBM's CEO from 2002 to 2011

Virginia M. Rometty's Net Income Productivity

Significant increases in profit productivity: Not applicable
Significant decreases in profit productivity: Continuous drop in profit productivity, Significant drop in 2017

Bar Chart of Virginia M. Rometty's Yearly Net Income per Employee over her 5 years as IBM's CEO from 2012 to 2016

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Peter E. Greulich is an author, publisher and public speaker.

He has written three books on IBM and three essays on Thomas J. Watson Sr.’s leadership during the Great Depression. His latest book, Think Again!: IBM CAN Maximize Shareholder Value is a sweeping historical look at IBM and its nine chief executives. It puts a spotlight on IBM's current human resource practices in light of IBM’s time-tested, human-relationship achievements.

2011

2014

2017

Think Again! is a different perspective from Louis V. Gerstner’s Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance. Pete's thoughts are always a view from beneath—the perspective of an IBM employee-owner. IBMers with stories to share can reach Pete at IBMers @ mbiconcepts.com.