IBM Corp chairman Louis Gerstner is stripping the IBM from some vice-presidents’ titles in a symbolic gesture that eradicates an element of the old IBM culture, the Wall Street Journal reported: only executives with direct corporate responsibilities will be allowed to continue to hold the title of IBM vice-president, a move likely to affect about 25 executives; in 1992, IBM had 15 senior vice-presidents and 41 vice-presidents, but about a third of them have retired or left and before the latest move had 11 IBM senior vice-presidents and 32 IBM vice-presidents; some IBM watchers report grumbling, particularly among those who had just recently arrived – they are miffed said one industry observer.
