J. Bruce Harreld

Overview

As senior vice president for IBM Strategy, J. Bruce Harreld is responsible for the formulation and execution of the company's overall strategy. He leads IBM's Strategy team, which focuses on near- and longer-term growth opportunities for the company. As part of this responsibility, Mr. Harreld heads IBM's Emerging Business Opportunity (EBO) program, a unique management system that has produced more than 20 new businesses for IBM over the past four years - including multi-billion-dollar businesses in Life Sciences, Linux, Pervasive Computing, and Digital Media. The EBO program has become a model for growth inside IBM, and has attracted the attention of leading business organizations, including Harvard Business School, which recently published a case study on the EBO program. Mr. Harreld also leads IBM's Strategic Leadership Forum (SLF), a management skills training program that assists executives in understanding their business in the context of broader market forces and breakthrough opportunities. The SLF recently produced a company-wide initiative called Winning Plays, which is helping fuel IBM's future growth. Under the direction of IBM Strategy, Winning Plays is now being implemented across the company, with senior IBM executives leading each play. Mr. Harreld is also a member of the Technology Team that examines the near- and longer-term technical developments and trends which could impact both IBM and the IT industry. Prior to joining IBM in 1995, Mr. Harreld was president of Boston Chicken, Inc., and an adjunct professor at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Business Administration. He also held senior positions at Kraft General Foods, Inc., and began his career at The Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Harreld holds an MBA degree from Harvard University and a bachelor of science in industrial engineering and operational research from Purdue.