I was in my 2nd year on college when I remember Gerstner was named to run IBM. At the time, IBM was the big tech monster that was stagnet and needed a fresh way to move forward. He came in and radically changed how it worked. I remember services became a big part of its core business. He really made a big difference on how the company functioned.

What I admire is that one man changed IBM from the 50s and 60s stoggy IBM to a more modern functional company that was able to move forward. I supect that without him IBM would have died long time ago.