CASE PROBLEM 3-A: Simplicity at Unisys

Lawrence A. Weinbach is the chairman and president of Unisys, one of the worlds largest computer
companies. Before that he was the chief executive for Anderson Worldwide, the giant accounting and consulting
firm. When he took over the Unisys job in the fall of 1997, the company faced substantial problems. Weinbach
noticed that no one in the halls of company headquarters in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, smiled. And when he
visited big customers he was asked whether Unisys was going to survive. After one year of Weinbachs
leadership, Unisyss debt load had been slashed, the company was profitable, and the stock price had doubled.
Now Weinbach is attempting to boost the companys service business (such as helping other companies manage
their networks). At the same time, he has to deal with the expected decline in the companys mainframe
business.
Should you visit Weinbach at company headquarters in Blue Bell, you will find his office decorated with
wooden, threelegged stools. You will also notice that he wears a lapel pin shaped like a three-legged stool.
Many Unisys employees are curious about all these stools in their CEOs office.
As Weinbach explains it, the three-legged stools are all about vision. Weinbach believes that vision has
always been important to effective leadership, but that vision can get overblown. He observes, At a lot of
companies, their vision statement is a dozen sentences hanging up on the wall, and nobody can remember it or
tell you what it is. Ive learned that its best to keep things simple.
Simplicity is where the stools come in. Here at Unisys, we wear our vision statement on our lapels,
Weinbach explains. Our vision statement is embodied by three words: customers, employees, and reputation. A
stool needs all three legs to remain stable; take one leg away, and it falls over. Likewise, as a company Unisys
needs to focus on its customers, its employees, and its reputation. If were taking care of these three things,
well be successful.
That simple vision helps employees stay focused and helps Weinbach deliver a crisp, consistent
message, regardless of audience. When I talk to the board, when I talk to employees, when I talk to investors,
when I talk to customers, I talk about those three things, he says. I say the same things over and over, and
people begin to realize its important. Its amazing how many employees can tell you those three words. In just
a few months weve embedded this concept into the organizationnot because its profound, but because its
simple.
My wife thinks its a little hokey, Weinbach laughs, pointing to his lapel pin. But it works. And when
people ask me about it, it gives me a chance to tell our story. They often ask for a pin for themselvesand Im
glad to share mine with them. In fact, Ive given away so many that I now keep a supply on hand.
Weinbach and other members of the Unisys executive team support the vision with several specific
plans, focusing on services, product, and talent. The three-part plan is as follows:
Services: Unisys intends to focus on key markets where the company has expertise, including financial
services, publishing, and transportation. The goal is to increase the operating income from services to about 65
percent of corporate revenues in a few years from about 39 percent now.

Products: The company plans to continue to upgrade the present line of mainframe computers. At
present, hardware sales, mostly from mainframes, account for 33 percent of total revenue. At the same time
Unisys will develop a line of servers that will run Microsofts Windows NT software.
Talent: After years of downsizing, the company is attempting to boost morale and upgrade the work
force. Unisys University is being established to upgrade the service expertise within the company. Also, the
company reinstated matching employee contributions to the 401(k) retirement program.
Discussion Questions
1. What is your opinion of the three-legged stool as a vision for a large, high-technology firm like Unisys?
2. What evidence would you need to be convinced that the Unisys vision works, as claimed by Larry Weinbach?
3. What would you add to the Unisys plans to help ensure the companys success?
Sources: Based on Peter Haapaniemi, The Power of Simplicity, Unisys Exec, September 1998, p. 11; Amy Barrett, Unisys Aims
for the Top of the Tree, Business Week, November 9, 1998, pp. 138140; www.unisys.com.

CASE PROBLEM 3-B: How Do You Put Wow in a Shoe-Repair Shop?

Derek Johnson owns and operates three shoe-repair shops in suburban Atlanta, Georgia. In addition to
repairing and restoring shoes, Johnsons shops also repair and renovate leather handbags and leather jackets.
Johnson has been moderately satisfied with the success of his business. He squeezes out an acceptable living
from the salary he draws from the business. Johnson is thinking of opening a fourth store, provided that he can
find a good location at an affordable price.
Johnson thought to himself, however, that before planning for expansion he should first improve his existing
business. He is concerned that profits are too thin to fund an expansion that might not be immediately
profitable. In search of good business ideas, Johnson enrolled in a seminar given by business consultant Tom
Peters. The subject of the seminar was achieving long-term competitiveness, with a special emphasis on smalland medium-size businesses. Johnson was concerned that he might be the owner of the smallest business of
anybody in the seminar.
The seminar room was packed, and Johnson was greeted warmly by the other serious-minded participants.
The people in attendance included business owners, corporate managers, consultants, and business professors.
By the end of the day, ideas were swimming around in Johnsons head. To focus his thinking, he circled several
key ideas in his seminar notebook:

Get to know at least one person who revels in telling you that you are full of hooey. A person of this type
would not be afraid to challenge your thinking. Johnson thought that his girlfriend Shawna could fit this

requirement.
Hire rebels who will challenge your preconceptions of how your business should be run. Johnson
reasoned that he can barely meet his payroll right now, so he might rely on people in his network to

perform this function for free.

Come up with a good next act. For Johnsons stores, this might mean offering a new service he is not
offering now. He had tentatively thought of promoting an attach-case repair and restoration service. Yet

he was concerned about the cost of promotion.

Put wow back in your business. Somehow your business should be different and interesting. The
owner should be getting an emotional charge when he or she walks through the store, franchise, or
factory. Johnson thought to himself, Someday Im not as charged up as I should be. Maybe I should
find a way to put more wow back in Dereks Shoe Repair.

Discussion Questions
1. What action steps, if any, should Johnson take to improve his business based on the first three points
circled in his notebook?
2. What do you recommend that Johnson do to put more wow back in Dereks Shoe Repair?
Source: Some of the facts in this case are based on Robert McGarvey, The Big Thrill: Top Management Guru Says Put the Wow Back In Your Business,
Entrepreneur, July 1995, p. 8691.