John Akers, who has unusually kept all three top posts at IBM chairman, president and chief executive – to himself, has now relinquished the post of president to engineer Jack Kuehler, who was previously vice-chairman. The switch means no real change at the top, since Kuehler retains his responsibilities for IBM United States and for the corporate manufacturing and systems and programming staffs – and as at 56 he is two years older than Akers he is not likely to succeed to the top job – IBM’s top executives usually relinquish their posts at 60. His elevation is therefore seen as acknowledgement of service to IBM, especially as the post of president is usually held by someone with a sales, not a technical, background.
