Exemplary Leaders in Managing Diversity In today's global marketplace, organizations face the challenge of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage while managing a diverse workforce. Therefore, achieving these goals requires leaders with vision, commitment and understanding of how diversity can positively impact business objectives. Therefore, the strategy used by Louis Gerstner, former CEO of IBM, to transform the way the company managed diversity to meet market changes was examined.Case Study: Louis V. Gerstner, Jr. IBMBackgroundLouis Gerstner became CEO of the International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) in 1993. Gerstner graduated magna cum laude with a degree in engineering from Dartmouth College in 1963 and earned an MBA from Harvard University in 1970. After college Gerstner worked as a management consultant for McKinsey & Co. While there, Gerstner rose through the ranks to become one of the youngest partners in the firm's history. Thus, Gerstner's meteoric rise was due to his business acumen. In 1978 Gerstner saved Penn Central Railway from bankruptcy and overhauled its operations. Additionally, before becoming CEO of IBM, Gerstner held a number of high-profile positions including executive vice president of travel and expense for American Express and CEO of RJR Nabisco. However, when Gerstner became CEO of IBM, this was considered by many to be the hardest job in America (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2011). Philosophy IBM values ​​diversity and has done so for a long time. So, before being a diverse company was popular or politically correct, IBM embarked on becoming a leader in diversity. So, as a result of the company's pioneering efforts, the top 50 different co...... middle of paper ......nt in particular and the overall success in general is due to Gerstner's passion. References Canas, K. A., & Sondak, H. (2010). Opportunities and challenges of diversity in the workplace: Theory, cases and exercises. (2nd ed.). New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Diversity Inc. (2011). The Diversity Inc: The 50 Best Companies for Diversity. Retrieved from http://diversityinc.com/the-2011-diversityinc-top-50/no-7-ibm-corp/Linden, B. (2011). Diversity done well is a competitive advantage. Retrieved from http://asiasociety.org/business/economic-trends/diversity-done-right-competitive-advantageLou Gerstner. (2011). In the online Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.biography.com/people/lou-gerstner-39353Thomas, D.A. (2004, September). Diversity as a strategy. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from http://www.tedchilds.com/files/HBRDiversityStrategy04.pdf