ABSTRACT
The various challenges a company meets when facing globalization emphasize more than ever the role of strategic management. Many companies conduct SWOT analysis as part of the strategic planning process, yet criticism in employing SWOT pinpoints the fact that the analysis lacks the possibility of comprehensively appraising the strategic decision-making situation.
On another hand, a company’s strategic decision making impacts and is impacted at the same time by the different groups that contour its direct environment. The three most important ones are the shareholders, the organization’s employees, represented by the unions, and the board of directors.
This paper sets out to take an integrative approach to SWOT analysis through the use of an econometrics model in order to quantitatively determine the importance of each of the factors to be evaluated. Therefore, this paper introduces ESWOT as a theoretical framework through the integration of econometrics and SWOT analysis, in order to measure the impact of global strategies, strategic business units, human resource policies and policy change strategies on IBM’s evolution from three perspectives: the board, the shareholders and the employees.
The focus of the research is hence twofold: it provides a novel, quantitative approach to a veteran strategic analysis tool, as well as it tackles IBM’s strategy through this new perspective.
By using the ESWOT analysis we successfully explain the relationships between the border, the stockholders and the unions’ interests. IBM must focus its future objectives on its core business that enables it to create a niche in the market, and recruiting the right staff, especially the right CEO to lead the team in achieving the substantial goals of the company and guiding it through the future challenges brought upon by the global financial crisis.

REFERENCES
Anonymous (2009). Unions address the challenges of globalization. Dispute Resolution Journal. 63(4), 90-91.
Bartol, K. M., & Martin, D. C. (1991). Management. New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
Bernroider, E. (2002). Factors in SWOT analysis applied to micro, small-to-medium, and large software enterprises: an Austrian study. European Management Journal, 20(5), 562-573.
Board of directors’ information. Retrieved December 27, 2008, from ftp://ftp.software.ibm.com/annualreport/2007/2008_ibm_proxy.pdf
Borland, J, Ouliaris, S. (1994). The determinants of Australian trade union membership. Journal of Applied Econometrics. 9(4), 453-469.
Copeland, T. (2002). Want to create value? Strategic Finance. 83(9), 48-55.
Dahl, H. L. Jr. (1998). Human resource cost and benefit analysis: New power for human resource approaches. Human Resource Planning. 11(2), 69-70.
Dyson G. R. (2004). Strategic development and SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick. European Journal of Operational Research, 152, 631–640.
Econometrics definition. Retrieved April 4, 2009, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/econometrics.asp
Eden, C. & Ackermann, F. Making strategy. Retrieved November 03, 2008, from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=XD-zCs43eHUC&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=strategic+management+swot&ots=YnLR1z1Xwv&sig=cUIQBh7P8ByH09h_dFaMtJWpZiY#PPP1,M1
Forter, P. L. (1997). Master of the game - CEO Lou Gerstner's strategy to make IBM into a dominant network-computing software player. Software Magazine.
Gandolfi, F. (2008). HR strategies that can take the sting out of downsizing-related layoffs. Ivey Business Journal Online. Retrieved November 03, 2008, from http://www.iveybusinessjournal.com/article.asp?intArticle_ID=768
Gerstner, L. & Herrmann, E. (2002). Who says elephants can't dance? Inside IBM's historic turnaround. New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers.
Goodrich, P.S., Rossiter, N. (2009). Remote ownership shareholders in the 21st century: Theoretical implications for corporate governance, profitability and long term wealth creation. Journal of American Academy of Business. 14(2), 40-47.
Hill, T. & Westbrook, R. (1997). SWOT analysis: It's time for a product recall. Long Range Planning, 30(1), 46-52.
Houben, G. Lenie, K. & Vanhoof, K. (1999). A knowledge-based SWOT-analysis system as an instrument for strategic planning in small and medium sized enterprises. Decision Support Systems, 26(2), 125-135.
IBM History Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www03.ibm.com/ibm/history/history/history_intro.html
IBM Timeline Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www.allianceibm.org/
Jackson, S. E. (2003). Recent research on team and organizational diversity: SWOT analysis and implications. Journal of Management, 29(6), 801-830.
Johnson, G., Scholes, K., & Sexty, R. W. (1989). Exploring strategic management. Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice Hall.
Kaplan, S. R., & Norton, D. P. (2002). Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system. Harvard Business Review, 1-13.
Kerzner, H. (2006). Project management. A systems approach to planning, scheduling, and controlling. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Kurttila, M. Pesonen, M., Kangas J. & Kajanus, M. (2000). Utilizing the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in SWOT analysis — A hybrid method and its application to a forest-certification case. Forest Policy and Economics, 1(1), 41-52.
Kurttila, M., Kangas, J., & Kajanus, M. (2003). The use of value focused thinking and the A’WOT hybrid method in tourism management. Tourism Management, 25(4), 499-506.
Louis Gerstner profile. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www.washingtonspeakers.com/speakers/speaker.cfm?SpeakerId=2738
Mello, J. A. (2002). Strategic human resource management. Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.
Mello, J. A. (2006). Strategic human resource management (2nd ed.). Cincinnati, OH: South-Western College Publishing.
Mellor, S. (2009). Self-evaluation and union interest: The empirical relevance of a mediated model. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology. 82(2).
Mendelson, H., & Pillai, R.R. (1998). Clockspeed and information response: Evidence from the IT industry. Information Systems Research 9, 415–433.
Mendelson, H., & Pillai, R.R. (1999). Industry clockspeed: Measurement and operational implications. Series Operations Management, 1, 1–20.
Moore, D. McCabe, G., Duckworth, W. & Alwan, L. (2009). The practice of business statistics. Using data for decisions. New York: W. H. Freeman and Company.
OECD (1996). The knowledge-based economy. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/51/8/1913021.pdf
OECD (1999). Benchmarking knowledge-based economies. Retrieved November 17, 2008, from http://www.oecd.org/document/4/0,3343,en_2649_34409_2087236_1_1_1_1,00.html
Orr, D. (2004). Recipe for an Honest Salary. Forbes, 173(10).
Osterman, P. (2000). Work reorganization in an era of restructuring: Trends in diffusion and effects on employee welfare. Industrial and Labor Relations Review, 53(2), 179-196.
Puffer, S. M. & Weintrop, J. B. (1991). Corporate performance and CEO turnover: The role of performance expectations. Administrative Science Quarterly. 36(1).
Rashidah A, R. & Fairuzana H. M. A. (2006). Board, audit committee, culture and earnings management: Malaysian evidence. Managerial Auditing Journal. 21(7), 783-803.
Robbins, S., & Coulter, M. (2005), Management. New Jersey: Pearson Education.
Shamsul, N. A. (2004). Board composition, CEO duality and performance among Malaysian listed companies. Corporate Governance. 4(4), 47-62.
Shih, C. P., & Plescan, M. (2007, October). Global strategies, strategic business units and the impact of a charismatic leader on IBM’s performance. Paper presented at the International Conference on Workforce Education and Development, Taipei, Taiwan.
Stockholder information. Retrieved December 27, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shareholder
Toulmin, L. M. (1988). The treasure hunt budget search behavior by public employee. Public Administration Review. 48(2), 620-631.
Weirich, H. (1982). The tows matrix-a tool for situational analysis. Long Range Planning, 60(4).
Yuksel, I., & Dagdeviren, M. (2007). Using the analytic network process (ANP) in a SWOT analysis - A case study for a textile firm. Information Sciences: An International Journal, 177(16), 3364-3382.