UK: BEATEN BY THE GADFLIES - IBM.

IBM's corporate conceit has blinded it to the changes in the industry.

For 30 years the world computer industry was captured by the belief that IBM was unassailable. It was a conviction that IBM's top management came to share as well. Now they and the company, whose value has slipped to a mere quarter of what it was five years ago, are paying for their complacency. A moment's historical reflection should have reminded John Akers and his colleagues that the greatest empires can slip into decline, however invincible they may seem. But it was a lesson that went unheeded. Now Akers is standing down as chief executive.