Big Blue: The Unmaking Of IBM, Paul Carroll

Out of print now, and only really available second hand, this tracks the gradual demise of IBM, from the company whose machines defined the space race and domination of the computing world, to giving up the home computer market, and slowly being beaten in every other market they either entered or were number one. A paean to unwieldy corporations where more energy is used just sync'ing between teams than is put into development... this should be a case study in what can go wrong if control of companies is given to those with a lack of insight, or an inability to understand that creation of value requires both serendipity and teams of people all pulling in a similar direction without encumberance.

Not looking at anyone in particular, but the drive to penny pinch and move power away from engineers to a corporate bureaucracy or cult or personaliy has killed more than the odd company in the past, and will do again in the future. Innovate, respond to your environment, but trust your workers to deliver good stuff.

Robert Cringley has a more up to date book on The Decline and Fall of IBM which I've been meaning to get hold of. His stuff is worth a gander.