From its more recent history, IBM addresses the commercial failures of its PCjr computer, first shipped in 1984 and discontinued the following year; its OS2 operating system, which was intended to revolutionize personal computing but ended up as a niche product used mainly by ATMs; and its Prodigy online service, which the ad says may have been a "good idea" but was "ahead of its time."

The a.coach outlet d also touches on the more sensitive issue of the company's treatment of its employees while changing its pension plan in the mid-2000s. In order to reduce its obligations, IBM switched from a defined benefit plan to a cash-balance plan. The ad explains: "By the middle of the last decade our pension obligations were almost as large as our revenues. We had to address this .Cheap uggs,or risk severely impairing IBM's long-term competitiveness." Of course, as the ad puts it, "some employees did not welcome the change." Employees did more than just not welcome the change; they appealed it all the way to the Supreme Court. Employees argued that the switch was discriminatory toward older workers. The Supreme Court refused to hear the case, however, and a d.gucci outlet ecision from the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of the company stood.

Yet while IBM was willing to reflect in the ad on these market setbacks and internal conflicts, it was more guarded in telling the story of its role in the century of global history that unfolded at the same time as its own development.

The ad proudly notes IBM's early support of desegre.coach outlet onlinegation in the United States. In 1953, one year before the Supreme Court's ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education and 11 years before the passage of the Civil Rights Act, IBM issued its Policy Letter No. 4, stating that the company would not base hiring decisions on "race, color or creed." Then-CEO Watson Jr. stood up to two Southern governors who initially refused to allow IBM.Cheap boots to expand manufacturing operations into their states unless it agreed to segregate plants by race. In the face of Watson's determination, the governors backed down.

However, on another, more recent matter of supporting racial equality, IBM's actions were less clearly admirable and its account is less comprehensive. The ad says, "In South Africa under apartheid, we tried .djkjdjindlkldgoodle2011927for several years to work for change from within, including taking a leadership role in drafting the Sullivan Principles." It continues, "But sometimes the barriers to progress are too steep. And so you leave - hopefully not forever. IBM returned to South Africa once the apartheid regime ended."

While it is true that IBM was at the forefront when it came to endorsing the Sullivan Principles, it was farther from the vanguard in withdrawing after those principles failed to bring change. By the time IBM officially announced its decision to end operations in South Africa, 31 other American companies had already done so. During the years of apartheid, IBM profited from South Africa's booming computer sales. The company's
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