IBM’s management was proactive, while RIM was late in responding to what competitors were doing, says Michael Lombardi of US-based firm Profit Confidential.

According to a recent article by US-based financial newsletter provider Profit Confidential the co-CEOs of Research In Motion Limited (RIM) stepped down amid a falling stock price, poor investor sentiment, falling corporate earnings growth, and increased shareholder pressure to find a way to compete with Apple and Google.

Michael Lombardi, lead contributor to the financial newsletter Profit Confidential, was not surprised to hear the news. He thinks that RIM can learn a lot from International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).

“I was not surprised to hear that IBM not only beat fourth-quarter 2011 estimates with its corporate earnings, but also painted a strong picture for 2012,” says Lombardi.

According to the Profit Confidential article, in 2004, IBM sold its personal computer business to Lenovo Group Ltd. “Some people were very surprised. IBM’s management team understood that the personal computer business had become a commodity business. Future corporate earnings growth would have to come from focusing on the services side of the business,” says Lombardi.

Lombardi contrasts IBM’s decision to RIM’s.

IBM’s management team was proactive and responded to the changing dynamics of its industry. Lombardi points out, “RIM was late in responding to what competitors were doing. They stopped taking the lead in introducing new products or entering new market segments.”

According to him, RIM is now in a reactive mode to what the market is already doing. “The stock is a very risky proposition here, in my opinion, because the next stage is going to be a critical one,” cautions Lombardi.

Lombardi stresses how important leadership and ingenuity are for a company’s success.

(Profit Confidential is a Lombardi Publishing Corporation’s free daily investment e-letter that analyzes and comments on the actions of the stock market, precious metals, interest rates, real estate, and the economy)