This course focuses on four high-tech companies which have prospered in the last five to ten years, while others have failed or gone bankrupt. Dr. Locke discusses IBM, which floundered after the retirement of John Watson, Jr., and was saved from bankruptcy by Lou Gerstner; Intel, which became the leading chip-maker under the leadership of Andy Grove, but not before having to change its business radically; Microsoft, which came to dominate the computer software industry and was ruthlessly attacked by the government as a result; and eBay, which is one of the very few Internet companies to become profitable, thanks to the brilliant leadership of Meg Whitman. The course addresses not only the challenges that these companies faced, but also the causes of their successes.