[photopress:historyofibm.jpg,full,alignright]Ossa has been moved to Pelion or, in another classical version, Pelion to Ossa. (Both are correct although scholars squabble over them.) Or, for more modern scholars who prefer Shakespeare, you can have Birnam Forest come to Dunisnane.
The modern day equivalent is that IBM will relocate its procurement headquarters from New York to Shenzhen.
The department primarily maintains relationships between its suppliers and the company’s global business affiliates so there is logic in the move. But if anyone had said five years ago that IBM would move a central department to China they would have been put in a secure home to be guarded by strong but kindly nurses.
John Paterson, Chief Procurement Officer (great title, John) said the relocation may help the company increase efficiency and save costs. He said the move won’t influence the jobs in other areas. What he might have said, in parenthesis is, is ‘for the time being.’
Of IBM’s US$40-billion purchasing budget, 15 percent is used in China. Indeed, China has become the world’s biggest high-tech products exporter.
In 2004, China exported US$180 billion worth of laptops, mobile phones and digital cameras, compared with the United States’ US$114.9 billion.
Source: Shanghai Daily