I have always believed a successful company must have a customer/marketplace orientation and a strong marketing organization. That’s why my second step in creating a global enterprise had to be to fix and focus IBM’s marketing efforts.

Many IT companies that have built their businesses on some proprietary product have tried to leap across that chasm. Few have made it across successfully.

There are fundamentals that characterize successful enterprises and successful executives.

• They are focused.

• They are superb at execution.

• They abound with personal leadership.

A good strategy will always identify critical holes, competitive weaknesses, and the potential to fill them with tactical acquisitions.

Thus, it is very hard to develop a unique strategy, and even harder, should you develop one, to keep it proprietary.