I was reading a great investing book this weekend which mentioned that companies seldom stay leaders if they only dominate in one discipline. The author cited

I was reading a great investing book this weekend which mentioned that companies seldom stay leaders if they only dominate in one discipline. The author cited technology companies and how sometimes a great engineering culture simply isn't enough to maintain leadership, you often need to combine it a strong position in another discipline such as sales/marketing. I think this rings true for IBM. I would guess that around 20 years or so ago, they stopped being primarily a technology company and shifted to offering services that were sold be a great sales force to keep customers hooked.