After reading the newspapers and following the sharp oscillations of the stock market, it becomes apparent that hi-tech companies are of a different breed. Never before have the chances of making a fortune been so realistic and never before have large companies been so fragile. What is really going on inside these hi-tech companies? What types of pressures and challenges are they facing? And how do they cope? Computer software providers, especially the ones that specialise in handling the data needs of organizations, are prime examples of these volatile companies. In the nineties we witnessed...