The company is still in the growth phase, but has expansion potential taking into account production costs and new products the company depends on. The economy is a key factor in IBM's growth. The company should introduce marketing strategies that attract capital-conscious individuals. The company's future depends on their understanding of production costs and marketing strategies. To achieve goals, the company will need to develop aggressive external forces. The company will face challenges, such as rising production costs that could impact the company's customer base and profits. The industry indicates that IBM would have a very positive impact on our economy if it supplied many products to all electronics retailers. Michael Porter's main strength is to analyze the necessary five-point framework. The five Forces include: (1) the threat of new entrants, (2) the bargaining power of buyers, (3) the bargaining power of suppliers, (4) the threat substitutes, (5) competitive rivalry. These five forces will explain IBM's growth potential (1) The competitor threat: LOW: IBM is one of the most effective and popular computers in the industry. The reason why the threat of new competitors is low is because the rate is enormously high for software services, products, and industrial R&D (Murdick, 2001). The threat of new entrants in the industry has been found to be low for the reasons stated above. For example, IBM companies are very popular and expensive compared to other computer companies. Their prices are flexible and lower than IBM prices. Therefore, the way IBM is organized it is a very large company and ranked first among all other computer industries. In general, the competitor threat is low due to the co...... middle of paper ......connections of integrity.Works CitedBjfleisc. (2004, November 6). Analysis of the IT sector. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from Computer Slight: http://computersight.com/computers/computer-industry-analysis/Mbalectures. (2010, August 28). SWOT Analysis of IBM. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from MBA Lectures: http://mba-lectures.com/marketing/swot-analysis-marketing/1110/swot-analysis-of-ibm.htmlMurdick, R. G. (2001). Business Policy and Strategy: A Guide to Action. Boca Raton: CRC Press LLC.Rao, V.S. (2011, February 21). Formulation of a company-wide strategy. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from Cite Man Network: http://www.citeman.com/13944-formuring-corporate-level-strategy/Wray, R. (2010, July 26). IBM faces two competition investigations. Retrieved June 25, 2011, from the Guardian website: http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2010/jul/26/european-union-regulators-ibm