Parachuting into a $65 billion company that was hemorrhaging cash and trying to turn it around is a daunting enough task. Trying to do it without a good CFO and HR director is impossible.

I have always believed a successful company must have a customer/marketplace orientation and a strong marketing organization. That’s why my second step in creating a global enterprise had to be to fix and focus IBM’s marketing efforts.

This is part of my management philosophy. Executives should know they don’t accumulate wealth unless the long-term shareholders do the same.

It worked, but it was a reminder to me of how difficult it is to get large organizations to give meaningful resources and attention to matters that offer little or no benefit to quarterly results, but which are critical to long-term success.

Great companies cannot be built on processes alone. But believe me, if your company has antiquated, disconnected, slow-moving processes—particularly those that drive success in your industry—you will end up a loser.