Big blues

Carroll, Paul

"With the introduction of the IBM PC in the early 1980s, IBM stood poised to extend its dominance of the computer industry well into the twenty-first century." "The meteoric rise of competitors like Microsoft, Apple, Intel, Compaq, Sun, and others derailed IBM's dream of controlling the future. Tens of thousands of IBM employees consequently lost their jobs, their retirement hopes, and their security. And investors saw their savings shrivel." "In Big Blues, Wall Street Journal reporter Paul Carroll attributes IBM's downfall mainly to a lethal combination of corporate hubris, inflexibility, and an inability to understand what was happening in the computer marketplace. While tracing every misstep by this corporate giant and its leaders, Carroll fills Big Blues with behind-the-scenes revelations and entertaining anecdotes about major players in the computer and software industries such as IBM chieftain John F. Akers, and rivals Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Mitch Kapor and others. The result is the riveting inside story of the people and the policies that knocked IBM from its pedestal as a golden symbol of American corporate might." "In its depiction of how IBM's advantages became its handicaps, Big Blues tells one of the most instructive and important business stories of our time."--Jacket.