IBM Names Robert Corrigan to Head Personal-Computer Business in the U.S.

By Laurence Hooper, Staff Reporter
The Wall Street Journal

November 12, 1990

International Business Machines Corp. named Robert Corrigan, a veteran of its chip-making operation, to head its personal-computer business in the U.S.

Mr. Corrigan, an IBM vice president, will report to James Cannavino, who had held the PC position since December 1988. In September 1989, Mr. Cannavino was promoted to general manager of IBM's Personal Systems line of business, a position that includes oversight of both PCs and more-powerful workstations.

At the time, Mr. Cannavino, also an IBM vice president, said he would retain day-to-day control of the PC business. But a spokesman at the Armonk, N.Y., computer concern said the move would free Mr. Cannavino from that responsibility, allowing him to focus on larger strategic issues.

Mr. Corrigan will bring considerable expertise in process management to the PC operation, the spokesman said, and will be charged with speeding up the development of new products, traditionally a sore spot for IBM.

"To me, this says that IBM is going to start acting rather than reacting at the low end," said Sam Albert, a former IBM employee who is a consultant in Scarsdale, N.Y.

IBM, famous for its big computers, is also credited with popularizing PC technology. But since the mid-1980s, it has lagged behind other PC makers in introducing leading-edge products. Most notably, IBM has yet to produce a "notebook" computer, and the company only recently unveiled a powerful "server" computer -- about a year after the competition did.

Notebook computers are portable and typically weigh six pounds or so; servers store data and act as the traffic cops on computer networks.

IBM's PC business in the U.S., called the Entry Systems Division, develops products for IBM's world-wide organization, and makes those products in the U.S. The division's responsibilities include the Personal System/2 and Personal System/1 computers; OS/2 personal computer software; and display terminals for all IBM computers.

Along with various workstation products, that business accounted for more than $12 billion in world-wide revenue for IBM in 1989.

Mr. Corrigan joined IBM in 1962 as an engineer in East Fishkill, N.Y. After holding a variety of technical and management posts, he worked for IBM in Europe from 1978 to 1981, returning to become a manager of a division in the chip-making operation.

After rising through the ranks, he was named president of IBM's Systems Technology Division -- which translates basic chip technology into usable products -- in 1988, and an IBM vice president in 1989. He holds a bachelor of science degree from Manhattan College, Riverdale, N.Y., and a master's of science from Union College, Schenectady, N.Y.

Mr. Corrigan's previous position will be filled by Lutz Hahne, an IBM vice president. Mr. Hahne, who joined IBM in 1967, has held a number of financial and managerial positions, both in Europe and in the U.S. Most recently, he was named assistant general manager for financial analysis in the U.S.