IBM vs. Japan

Sobel, syndicated financial columnist and author of IBM, ITT, etc., offers valuable background on the growing battle for world supremacy in data processing. Clearly an admirer of IBM, he details the company's rise as a computer giant; its victories over domestic challengers; and its present international success as a ""highly efficient, powerful, well-managed'' company guided by an emphasis on elan, sales, high technology, service and risk-taking. Sobel analyzes the challenge posed by Japanese businesses, which attempt to apply to the U.S. computer market their imitate-and-improve approach used earlier and successfully in the auto, electronics and other industries. The author notes, however, that the computer industry's complexity and IBM's dominance pose formidable problems for the Japanese, leaving the battle's outcome uncertain. January