IBM's restructuring under Gerstner (1993)
IBM was weeks from running out of cash when Lou Gerstner became CEO in 1993. He cut 35,000 jobs in his first year and redirected the company from hardware toward software and services.
IBM returned to profitability within two years and stabilized its finances.
IBM stayed a major enterprise tech company for two more decades, though it later lost ground to cloud rivals.
Shows blunt headcount cuts can be part of a successful repositioning, not just a sign of decline.
