Part I: The Purpose of the Report and Research Experience The purpose of this document was to evaluate the financial statements of IBM Corporation over the past five years to assess the future profitability of the company. Unfortunately, this report only reflects a maximum four-year period, as opposed to a five-year analysis. I used the Plaza College Library along with the Queens Library to do my research. This helps me with the database I needed to access and couldn't do at home. My professor helped me with my research; It helped me understand the things I didn't understand. It also guided me to web pages that help me in my research. I have used many search engines such as IBM company web page, Google, ProQuest, MSN Money and Yahoo Finance. The IBM web page was the best because most of my information came from the company web pages. Google was helpful because it helped me find information about my company that wasn't on the web page. ProQuest is useful for the database but was not useful for my research. MSN money was very helpful, I was able to get my 10k report and many other things. Yahoo Finance, I was able to get all my financial information without any problems. All the information I received, I was able to put it into my research paper to create a 10 to 12 page research paper. In this article I have applied knowledge of business concepts, computer literacy techniques and critical thinking. Part II: Introduction and History IBM's headquarters is at Orchard Road Armonk, New York, 10504. The IBM company has been in existence for more than 100 years. IBM and its predecessor companies take the time to maintain equipment for schools and businesses. Many of these products are now considered collector's items. According to the “IBM History Timeline” “IBM was founded in June… middle of the paper… retains customers, develops new sources of revenue, streamlines operations, proactively addresses risks and regulatory requirements with which I agree with the manager because IBM is an old company that needs some upgrades so it can survive against the competition I think if IBM doesn't upgrade their technology they will have sustained losses I couldn't find a net income from them in the last two years. To bring back IBM they would have to upgrade or they will lose all their customers. Based on the annual report, the company's website is also a good place to find out all the financial information about IBM the chairman of the board and other important investor relations factors The charts in section 6-8 illustrate the financial information I was able to find in my four-year analysis report.