November 17, 1994
Dear Mr. Gibby
I am writing as a follow-on to my letter to you of October 28, 1994. In response to your request, I have reviewed your suggestion #921420144 which you submitted under the IBM Suggestion Plan, plus material from the IBM Suggestion Department's file on the processing of your submission. I am prepared to conclude that IBM acted properly in not paying you an award for your submission, for a number of reasons.
1. Submissions to the IBM Suggestion Plan are governed by the provisions of the booklet "Your Ideas Have Value" (Publ. ZV04-0210-01) and the provisions printed on the IBM Suggestion Form. Note that the IBM Suggestion Form incorporates the "Your Ideas Have Value" booklet by reference.
2. As stated on p. 21 of "Your Ideas Have Value":
"By submitting a suggestion for review and possible award, the suggester waives any right to compensation for use of the suggestion except under the terms of the IBM Suggestion Plan. ... Any decision of the company concerning the terms or administration of the Plan, including the eligibility of suggestions and suggesters, and the amount of any awards made shall be final, binding and conclusive, and is within its sole discretion."
3. According to the terms and conditions of the Plan:
"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. If the suggestion is published or used the decisions of the company shall be final, binding and conclusive as to the amount of a cash award, if any, and the person or persons entitled to the award, and all other matters concerning the suggestion and its publication and use."
(See p. 8 of "Your Ideas Have Value".)
4. A suggestion of an action which IBM already had under active consideration before receiving the suggestion is ineligible for an award. See p. 15 of the "Your Ideas Have Value" booklet, which states:
"Some subjects do not qualify for award consideration under any conditions. ... Examples are: ... ideas already under active consideration by the company."
See also p. 16 of the booklet, which states that:
"[i]n order for a suggestion to be awarded under the Plan, it should provide the earliest statement of the specific problem and solution to IBM. ... Suggestions can be predated by ... ideas already under active consideration by the company."
5. As stated on p. 15 of the booklet, under the section entitled "Subjects that are not normally awarded":
"[Y]ou should avoid suggestions concerning: ... ideas on subjects periodically reexamined by management."
6. As stated on p. 16 of the booklet:
"Suggestions submitted regarding subjects in the maturing process are normally not awarded under the IBM Suggestion Plan. ... Some examples are: ... changes to informational systems being developed. ... In these cases, management reserves +-he opportunity to apply known technology and make obvious improvements. only in situations where management determines that an action was taken solely as a result of a suggestion can an award be granted under the Plan."
7. If a suggestion is submitted, but is not adopted under the Plan for implementation, there is no entitlement to an award, because awards are payable under the Plan only "if ... your suggestion is adopted for implementation". (See p.10 of the "Your Ideas Have Value" booklet.)
This applies when a suggestion is not adopted under the Suggestion Plan and the suggested action is not implemented. It also applies even in situations where the suggestion is not adopted under the IBM Suggestion Plan but the action ends up being taken anyway (i.e., as a result of some impetus other than submission and adoption of the suggestion under the IBM Suggestion Plan ). The taking of an action which also happens to have been suggested in a submission to the IBM Suggestion Plan does not in itself constitute adoption of the suggestion, and thus it does not entitle the submitter to an award. See p.19 of the "Your Ideas Have Value" booklet, which states:
"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".
The results of my investigation indicate that IBM has acted in good faith in evaluating your submission, and has given it fair, ample, and (in accordance with your requests) repeated review, and that:
(a) Regarding the measures you suggested in your Suggestion # 921420144, they have not been taken by IBM, or, to the extent any of them has been taken, it was not as a result of your having submitted the suggestion. Your suggestion was not adopted. There is no entitlement to an award with respect to a suggestion not adopted.
(b) Even if some of your ideas had been adopted under the Suggestion Plan, you would not have been entitled to receive a Plan award with respect to them, because the suggestion involved a subject that is periodically reviewed by management, it involved the application of known technology to make obvious changes to informational systems, it was not the sole cause of an action being taken, the subject matter of the suggestion was already under active consideration at the time your suggestion was received, and the suggestion was predated by such consideration.
If you have evidence suggesting otherwise which you would like to present before I close out my review of this matter, feel free to send it to me at the above address. I am enclosing for your convenience copies of the "Your Ideas Have Value" pages referred to above.
Sincerely,
J. Lynch, Corporate Counsel
JRL:MF
Enclosure