The Institute for Business Value (IBV) a calibrated concept of IBM - is a business research organization that focuses on managerial and economic issues faced by companies and governments around the world. It has offices in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, and it publishes between 35 and 50 major studies each year.

History

The IBM Institute for Business Value grew out of earlier research programs at IBM that were part of the firm’s

management consulting Management consulting is the practice of providing consulting services to organizations to improve their performance or in any way to assist in achieving organizational objectives. Organizations may draw upon the services of management consultant ...

organization. These predecessors included the IBM Institute for

Knowledge Management Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...

(IKM) and the IBM

e-business Electronic business (or "Online Business" or "e-business") is any kind of business or commercial transaction that includes sharing information across the internet. Commerce constitutes the exchange of products and services between businesses, grou ...

Innovation Institute (ebII). The IKM, founded in 1999, was a membership consortium of private and public organizations that conducted research on the managerial and organizational aspects of knowledge management. The ebII was formed in 2000 with a small group of IBM consultants doing research into the impact of current and future technologies on business issues across a wide range of industries. In August 2001, IBM acquired Mainspring, a small strategy consulting firm headquartered in

Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. As part of the Boston metropolitan area, the cities population of the 2020 U.S. census was 118,403, making it the fourth most populous city in the state, behind Boston, ...

, and in October combined its research capabilities with the IKM and ebII to create the IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV). From its early years the IBV focused on topics relevant to senior executives. It began publishing studies on business trends and management issues in such core industries as banking, automotive, and telecommunications. Most of the studies were global in scope, although a few focused on issues specific to a region, such as

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's countries and territories vary depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the ancient Mediterranean ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Additionally, the IBV began to conduct research concerning cross-industry issues, such as

customer relationship management Customer relationship management (CRM) is a process in which a business or other organization administers its interactions with customers, typically using data analysis to study large amounts of information. CRM systems compile data from a ra ...

(CRM). In 2002, IBM acquired PriceWaterhouseCoopers Consulting (PwCC), the consulting arm of

PriceWaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...

, thereby increasing IBM’s consulting population by some 30,000 employees and augmenting its expertise in the business issues of over a dozen industries and key functions, such as

financial management Financial management is the business function concerned with profitability, expenses, cash and credit, so that the "organization may have the means to carry out its objective as satisfactorily as possible;" the latter often defined as maximizin ...

, and

supply chain management In commerce, supply chain management (SCM) is the management of the flow of goods and services including all processes that transform raw materials into final products between businesses and locations. This can include the movement and stor ...

. The IBV became part of the merged consulting organization, now known as IBM Global Business Services (GBS). The inclusion of PwCC into IBM led to important changes in the IBV. First, the number of full-time consultants working at the IBV grew from about 35 in 2002 to about 55 by 2008 and with the addition of specialized groups in Japan, India and China to about 80 in 2011. Second, many came in with a combination of advanced academic research degrees and consulting experience. Third, the staff became more international, although two main offices were established: one in Cambridge, Massachusetts and the other in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

. Studies were now organized more expansively by industry and management function (e.g., finance, HR). One type of study brought over from PwCC was the “future agenda” that explored the economic and business trends affecting an industry over a 5 to 10-year period. Within several years, the IBV had published nearly a dozen of such studies. The staff also published books dealing with such issues as

knowledge management Knowledge management (KM) is the collection of methods relating to creating, sharing, using and managing the knowledge and information of an organization. It refers to a multidisciplinary approach to achieve organisational objectives by making ...

, the

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

industry, and the role of IT in myriad

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

industries.

Key activities

The IBV continues to conduct primary research, publish

white papers A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...

, present research findings at industry conferences, and write bylined articles for trade and business publications. Global activities continue to expand through IBV satellite programs in China, Japan, India and South Africa. A high-profile collaboration, begun in 2001, with the

Economist Intelligence Unit The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) is the research and analysis division of the Economist Group, providing forecasting and advisory services through research and analysis, such as monthly country reports, five-year country economic forecasts, ...

(EIU) produces a ranking of scores of nations in their use of IT, called the

E-Readiness E-readiness refers to a country's capacity and state of preparedness to participate in the electronic world. The state of maturity is commonly measured by the country's information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and the ability ...

Ranking. Published annually in the spring, by 2008 it was the longest-running review of economic, political, social and technological issues affecting countries around the world The IBV also has continued and broadened a series of CxO studies originated by PwCC. The CxO studies conduct extensive (often involving over 1,000 participants from across the world and from a wide range of sectors) in-office surveys and interviews with senior executives around the globe –

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

s, chief information officers (CIOs),

chief financial officer The chief financial officer (CFO) is an officer of a company or organization that is assigned the primary responsibility for managing the company's finances, including financial planning, management of financial risks, record-keeping, and financ ...

s (CFOs), chief human resource officers (CHROs), chief supply chain officers (CSCOs) and

chief marketing officer A chief marketing officer (CMO), also called a global marketing officer or marketing director, or chief brand officer, is a corporate executive responsible for managing marketing activities in an organization. Whilst historically these titles may ...

s (CMOs), – publishing the results every two years for CEOs and CIOs in May and every four years for CFOs, CHROs, CSCOs and CMOs in October.

External links

Institute for Business Value

References

{{Reflist International management consulting firms