Immediate matters arising from the appointment of Louis Gerstner as the next chairman and chief executive of IBM Corp: Gerstner says he made three IBM executive decisions – all of them undisclosed – during the five-block walk from the Midtown Manhattan Hilton where the announcement of his appointment was made and IBM’s Madison Avenue offices; and while many say that it has looked to be that way for most of this year, it seems that for a couple of days, IBM really will be leaderless, because John Akers says he will resign at today’s board meeting, and Gerstner is not due to take up his posts until Thursday.
