Written Case Analysis – IBMOverview of Case Highlights: John Akers became CEO of IBM in 1985. At that time, IBM had experienced a decline in profits for the first time. This trend continued, creating various other problems until John Akers was forced to resign in 1993. IBM was seen as a ruthless giant with meteoric growth. Naturally, he was singled out by critics across the industry and government. As a result, IBM has also attracted antitrust legislation. IBM lost once the personal computer industry began to boom. He found that the old paradigm of closed proprietary systems applicable to the mainframe industry was not relevant to PCs. The reasons for IBM's decline in the late 1980s and early 1990s: · IBM's previous investments had not yet borne fruit and planned future investments were high. · IBM's products were treated as generic products. PC parts were available cheaply and assembly was also cheap. So customers opted for cheap clones. A high-cost manufacturer like IBM had a clear disadvantage. · IBM failed to read industry trends and was still banking on the mainframe business to earn significant revenue. It was losing market share in the PC and laptop segments, which were growing rapidly and had enormous potential. · IBM had a surplus workforce, leading to heavy overhead costs. · IBM was seen as a single entity by customers. Dividing the company into independent business units was therefore not acceptable to customers. Customers would have difficulty dealing with IBM's various divisions. · IBM also failed to understand that software was becoming more important than hardware in light of the computer revolution. Louis Gerstner took over as CEO in 1993. The main policy initiatives he launched included a decision not to split the company but to make it even more closely linked, to focus on networking and to minimize the bureaucracy. Under his leadership, IBM's profits saw a remarkable turnaround over the next two years after posting a huge loss in 1993. PC Industry - Structural Analysis: (using Michael Porter's model) Based on the information provided in the case, we can carry out a structural analysis of the PC industry, which will help us to analyze the case better. Threat of New Entrants: Entry into the industry has been easy due to its huge potential. However, the major market share was held only by a few players. Rivalry: tough competition between a few major players with the same strength and potential. This led to an intense rivalry. Bargaining power of customers: High bargaining power due to fierce competition and a large number of suppliers offering similar products. Bargaining power of suppliers: the bargaining power of suppliers is