After Poor Earnings, IBM CEO 'Reprimands' 443,000 Employees In 5-Minute Companywide Video Memo

APIBM CEO Ginny RomettyAfter last week's poor earnings, IBM CEO Virginia Rometty "delivered a rare companywide reprimand" in the form of a five-minute long video memo, Spencer Ante of the Wall Street Journal reports.

Rometty said, "Where we haven't transformed rapidly enough, we struggled. We have to step up with that and deal with that, and that is on all levels."

During IBM's earnings call, executives blamed IBM's sales team for the worse-than-expected quarter.

Rometty revisited this theme in her video.

"We were too slow to understand the value and then engage on the approval and the sign-off process," she said. "The result? It didn't get done."

She said that from now on, IBM will respond to all client contact within 24 hours.

"And if anything slows you down, call it out," she urged. "Engage management, engage leadership, and let's deal with it."

"Our fundamentals are strong and our future is in our own hands," Rometty concluded.

"I know we will confront this honestly and with urgency, and moments like this are when IBMers rise to the occasion. We don't retreat; we go on the offense."