Table of Contents
IBM Ideas is a program designed and administered for the IBM Corporation and its wholly owned domestic subsidiaries by Workforce Solutions, an IBM company.
Purpose of the Program
To succeed, and even to survive, in an increasingly competitive world, every business must strive for continuous improvement in both quality and customer satisfaction. To achieve this goal, IBM has adopted its Market-Driven Quality strategy-
Such a strategy will succeed only if all employees participate in finding better ways to conduct IBM's business by coming up with good ideas and then taking the steps necessary to get them implemented.
The IBM Ideas Program described in this brochure has been designed to make it easier for you to get your ideas evaluated and implemented. All IBM employees can submit ideas, ideas on virtually any subject are welcome, and procedures have been simplified for faster cycle time.
The rest is up to you.
Highlights
Evaluators will be recognized too.
Who Can Submit Ideas
All active employees of the IBM Corporation and its wholly owned domestic subsidiaries-including regular full-time, part-time, supplemental, and term-can submit ideas under the IBM Ideas Program. This includes both managers and nonmanagers.
Typical Subjects
The intent of the 113M Ideas Program is to recognize employees whose ideas cause action resulting in savings or intangible value to IBM. A suggestion should be timely, practical, and, if implemented, benefit IBM. The suggestion should focus on a specific situation and make a recommendation that can be implemented cost effectively.
Suggestions on virtually any subject are encouraged in the IBM Ideas Program. Look for specific problems that can be solved or situations that can be improved to benefit IBM's business. Here is a sampling of subjects that have the potential for award-winning ideas:
Ideas which are frequently recurring or opinion in nature might not be formally evaluated. Instead, such ideas may be responded to using information provided by the appropriate functional staffs. Examples include suggestions involving changes to benefits, compensation, or staffing and ideas which propose new areas for investment of IBM resources.
Suggestions pertaining to the contents of software released (or to be released) for external customer use (such as proposed program code or proposed text or graphics for documentation) are outside the scope of the 113M Ideas Program and should not be submitted.
Types of Ideas
IBM Ideas are classified by the submitter's manager as Tier 1, 2, or 3.
Tier 1 -An idea which meets any of the following criteria, including ideas which may have formerly been submitted under Cost Effectiveness or similar programs:
Tier 1 ideas will be reviewed by the immediate manager. The submitter is encouraged to implement the idea prior to I management review if empowered to do so.
If an idea is not classified as Tier 1, it will be classified as Tier 2 or Tier 3.
Tier 2-Ideas which pertain to operations within the submitter's department, function, or branch but fall outside the definition of Tier 1.
Tier 2 ideas will be evaluated by the submitter's manager, or by a person he or she designates.
T'ier 3- Ideas which are not classified as Tier 1 and meet one of the following criteria:
Tier 3 ideas will be forwarded online by the submitter's manager to the IBM Ideas Department for handling.
Awards and Recognition
If a Tier 2 or Tier 3 idea is implemented as a result of the suggestion, the submitter or team will receive an award of between $50 and $5,000. Awards of $50 to a team of two or more submitters may be presented in the form of a team luncheon at local management's option.
Ideas receiving $5,000 awards that prove to have exceptional value to IBM will be reviewed again later and may be given additional cash awards up to $145,000. The maximum total award that a suggestion may receive is $150,000. Nonrecoverable savings-that is, those savings which do not reduce operating budgets-will not be taken into consideration when determining these additional cash awards.
Tier 1 ideas will not be recognized with cash awards through the IBM Ideas Department. Tier 1 ideas may, however, receive nominal recognition at the option of local management.
Award Determination
Award amounts for Tier 2 and Tier 3 ideas are determined as a function of IBM's estimate of the value of the suggestion to IBM over a two-year period from the date of implementation. This estimate includes both tangible savings which can be determined or approximated and intangible value which results from the implementation of the idea. Recoverable cost savings (for example, reduction of parts, scrap, vendor charges) are given a higher value than nonrecoverable savings (such as savings of small increments of labor).
The following aspects of the idea are considered in determining an award:
An idea that is expected to provide a benefit for less than two years will be awarded based on the period for which the idea is expected to provide a benefit.
An award for a suggestion submitted by a team (two or more employees who develop the idea together) will be divided equally among the team members. Awards for action prompted by multiple suggestions will be divided equally among all submitters.
Evaluator Recognition
The IBM Ideas Program recognizes the vital role played by evaluators. They too will be recognized in this program. Employees who evaluate Tier 3 suggestions at the request of the IBM Ideas Department will share in an annual award based on points accumulated during the year.
Evaluators will receive credit for (1) conducting an evaluation, (2) being timely in their response, and (3) communicating with the submitter. Emphasis, however, is placed on finding ways to adopt good ideas. Therefore, evaluators who adopt ideas will receive additional points.
Minimums and maximums for evaluator recognition awards will be determined annually.
The Process
The IBM Ideas Program is supported by an easy-to-use online application which routes the idea to the advocate manager and to any other individuals or departments who will be involved in the process of evaluating it. The roles of the various participants in this process are as follows:
1. The submitter, working individually or in a team, should study various aspects of IBM's business in an effort to identify alternatives that will result in improvements. The suggestions which the submitter or team originates should be presented to an immediate manager on an electronic or hard-copy IBM Ideas submission form. The suggestion should be presented logically and supported by facts. It should include a summary of the current situation, identify the specific location and subject of the idea, describe the solution, and explain the benefit to IBM.
2. Upon receiving an idea, the manager classifies it as Tier 1, 2, or 3.
Tier 1: If the idea qualifies for local recognition, the manager informs the submitter or team.
Tier 2: If the idea can be implemented locally within a department, function, or branch, the manager will evaluate it or arrange for an evaluation. If the suggestion is not adopted, the manager tells the submitter why. If the idea is found to have nominal value, the manager processes an award of $50. Managers may choose to recognize team suggestions by using the $50 for a recognition luncheon.
Suggestions expected to have significant value to IBM will be forwarded online by the manager to the IBM Ideas Department for award processing.
Tier 3: The manager forwards the idea to the IBM Ideas Department.
3. The IBM Ideas Department administers the IBM Ideas Program, which includes ensuring the appropriate referral of Tier 3 ideas for evaluation; reviewing evaluations for relevance and completeness; processing suggestions for potential extended application where appropriate; and reviewing award decisions to ensure adherence to program provisions.
4. Tier 3 suggestions are forwarded to coordinators who facilitate proper routing to local evaluators and follow up to expedite the completion of evaluations and their return to the IBM Ideas Department.
5. The evaluator performs an open-minded, thorough assessment of a suggestion, concentrating on the question, "How can IBM benefit from this idea?" The evaluator may contact the submitter to obtain further clarification. The evaluator prepares a clear explanation of the conclusion and attempts to identify other locations that may benefit from adopting the suggestion and returns the suggestion to the coordinator.
When an evaluator decides not to adopt a suggestion, the IBM Ideas Department closes its file and forwards the response to the advocate manager. The suggestion, however, can be reopened if the manager demonstrates that the response did not address the issue. Simple disagreement with the evaluation is not sufficient reason to warrant a reopening and new review. The submitter may also provide new or clarifying information that will hell) advance the idea and resubmit it as a new suggestion through the advocate manager, with enhancements noted.
6. Security Classification
An idea should not include information that is classified as IBM Confidential-Restricted or higher. It is the submitter's responsibility to properly classify all information included in the suggestion.
7. Terms and Conditions
The online or hard-copy IBM Ideas submission form required for Tier 2 and Tier 3 ideas includes terms, conditions, and representations which the submitter must read and indicate agreement to, as a prerequisite for submission of the suggestion. For team suggestions, all members of the team must read and indicate agreement.
8. Publicity
If a suggestion is adopted, IBM may publicize it. If submitters prefer to avoid such publicity, they should indicate that on the submission form.
General Conditions
All decisions of the company shall be final, binding, and conclusive and in its sole discretion in all matters pertaining to the IBM Ideas Program and suggestions submitted under the program, their publication or use, including but not limited to eligibility of suggestions and submitters, the amount and calculations of awards (if any), time of payment, and the person or persons entitled to the award.
Under no circumstances will the total amount awarded for a suggestion exceed the program maximum of $150,000, nor will interest on awards be paid by IBM.
By submitting a suggestion for review and possible award, the submitter waives any right to any compensation for any use by IBM of the suggestion except under the terms of the IBM Ideas Program. The submitter grants to IBM from the date the suggestion is received by the recipient (for example, the employee's management, a delegate, or the IBM Ideas Department an irrevocable, nonexclusive, unrestricted, and royalty free license and right to sublicense, throughout the world:
1. To make, have made, use, have used, lease and/or sell the subject matter of the suggestion and
2. If the subject matter of the suggestion is copyrightable, to reproduce it, prepare and/or have prepared derivative works of it, distribute it, perform it publicly, display it publicly, and to do any o the foregoing with any derivative work.
The processing of a suggestion or payment of an award under the IBM Ideas Program shall not be deemed a waiver of, or in any way affect, any rights which the company may already have to the subject matter of the suggestion according to law or under the "Agreement Regarding Confidential Information and Intellectual Property," "Employee Confidential Information and Invention Agreement," or other agreement regarding inventions and/or confidential information.
The purpose of the IBM Ideas Program is not to seek out and protect inventions, which is accomplished by the IBM Invention Achievement Award Plan.
In cases where the submitter or management believes that patentable subject matter may be included in the suggestion, the submitter should realize that the suggestion submission, by itself, is not a substitute for submitting an Invention Disclosure to the Intellectual Property Law Department. Thus, it is the submitter's responsibility to submit an Invention Disclosure to the Intellectual Property Law Department in such situations to see that IBM's rights to such inventions are protected. If an Invention Disclosure has already been submitted, the submitter must indicate on the IBM Ideas submission form that the Invention Disclosure has been submitted to the Intellectual Property Law Department and must identify the Invention Disclosure to the extent possible (disclosure number, title, and so on) and attach a photocopy of the Invention Disclosure which was sent to the Intellectual Property Law Department.
Recognition will be given only for suggestions originated, or works created, by the submitters themselves, and only such suggestions should be submitted.
At times, the same action proposed in a suggestion submitted to one location is taken by another location which was not aware of the suggestion. In these situations, the action of such other location will not be taken into account in determining whether to make an award, or the amount of any award.
If an employee or team submits multiple suggestions which seek to apply the same idea to a number of locations or organizations, IBM reserves the right to treat the multiple suggestions as a single suggestion (including for purposes of award amount) to the extent that IBM, in its sole discretion, considers it appropriate to do so.
No action which IBM takes, including implementation of an identical or similar solution, shall be deemed to constitute an agreement to pay for a suggestion. Managers are not authorized to make on behalf of IBM any commitments, representations, or promises (written or oral) which are inconsistent with the terms of the IBM Ideas Program, and no such commitment, representation, or promise will be binding on IBM.
Each suggestion submitted to IBM is with the understanding that it will be within the complete discretion of the company to publish, use, or refuse it. No award will be paid with respect to any suggestion in the case that IBM neither uses the suggestion nor publishes material which was submitted in the suggestion.
IBM is required to withhold taxes from awards paid under the IBM Ideas Program.
Awards payable to submitters now deceased will be paid to the legal representative of the submitter's estate.
IBM assumes no responsibility for not adopting a suggestion or for forwarding a suggestion for extended application.
Suggestions are governed by the terms of the IBM Ideas Program in effect on the date they are received. IBM reserves the right to change the program at its discretion and without prior notice.