International Business Machines (IBM) was the leading office machine and computer business in the world, but in recent years it has encountered stiff competition. The company achieved its position in terms of office machines such as typewriters before also cornering the mainframe business computer sector. The company followed the trend toward personal computers and achieved a certain position in that realm as well, but its preeminence in all fields was challenged with the ascension first of Apple Computer and then of a variety of companies making IBM-clones that delivered the same power and features at a lower price. As a result, the company set out to reorganize and to downsize in order to be more competitive. Recent reports show that this effort has been unsuccessful, and the company now faces further changes if it is to survive. The company faces the need to make a decision regarding its future in terms both of structure and operation and must develop alternative strategies for addressing the changing nature of the computer business, its own competitive advantages and disadvantages, its dedication to new product development, its ability to fulfill its research and development needs, and so on. The company has a new leader, and this choice alone points in a certain direction for the future of the company. Yet, whether that decision has been made yet or not is uncertain.
IBM announced in 1991 that it would reorganize into a federation of smaller, nimbler companies to respond more rapidly to market demands. This announcement was made by chairman John F. Akers. He said that the company might sell major portions of its operations to help revive stagnating product lines. He also said that IBM, which had sharply cut its payroll in the previous 4 years, would cut its worldwide workforce further by offering incentives, for which it budgeted $3 billion in fourth quarter 1991. The company was also considering spinning off mature...