Case study ANSWER THE QUESTIONS GIVEN UNDER THIS CASE. EACH ANSWER CARRY'S 2 MARK. (3X2= 6 MARKS) IBM s strategy has become to deliver products on demand. In other words, they want to create technologies, products, and services that meet their customers' needs better and faster than any of their competitors. To accomplish this, IBM has increased its information gathering with customers and implemented a set of software application acquisitions. The firm has always had good creative ability. However, that ability has not always been focused on consumers. As a result, today, researchers spend as much as 25 percent of their time with customers. One means of R&D customer collaborations is through IBM s two Industry Solutions Laboratories in Hawthorne, New York, and in Zurich, Switzerland. A customer will come to one of these facilities for a day, hear presentations by IBM scientists, and have a collaborative dialogue on specific business issues and demonstrations of key strategic technologies. The second thrust for IBM means it is now the second largest software company (behind Microsoft). IBM dominates in middleware brands with Lotus, Tivoli, Websphere, Rational, and DB2 database businesses. How did IBM succeeded to have a strong create a competitive advantage? 2. How does IBM perform the collaboration with customers? Explain in detail. 3. Imagine you are appointed as a general manager of a technology company like IBM. What will be your main responsibilities as the leader of this company.