ers , ▁the ▁un ified ▁systems ▁were ▁so ▁general ▁that ▁it ▁lost ▁its ▁compet itive ▁advantage ▁to ▁all ▁indust ries . ▁ ▁The ▁new ▁company ▁was ▁pl ag ued ▁by ▁internal ▁disput es ▁over ▁which ▁suit ▁to ▁base ▁the ▁new ▁product ▁on ▁and ▁a ▁large ▁number ▁of ▁customers ▁disput es , ▁leaving ▁little ▁capacity ▁for ▁product ▁development . ▁At ▁the ▁time ▁software ▁developers ▁had ▁low ▁marg ins . ▁The ▁companies ▁had ▁been ▁bought ▁with ▁a ▁short - term ▁goal ▁to ▁sell ▁more ▁min ic om put ers ▁and ▁N D ▁lack ed ▁a ▁strateg ic ▁plan ▁for ▁them . ▁The ▁problem ▁was ▁acceler ated ▁because ▁the ▁sales ▁force ▁lack ed ▁intr icate ▁knowledge ▁of ▁the ▁indust ries ▁they ▁were ▁s elling ▁to . ▁ ▁After ▁th ir teen ▁years ▁of ▁high ▁annual ▁growth , ▁the ▁sales ▁fl atten ed ▁in ▁ 1 9 8 7 . ▁On ▁ 1 6 ▁October , ▁the ▁company ▁announced ▁that ▁its ▁sales ▁targets ▁for ▁the ▁year ▁would ▁not ▁be ▁met , ▁and ▁a ▁planned ▁pla cement ▁of ▁new ▁shares ▁was ▁can ce led . ▁On ▁the ▁morning ▁of ▁ 1 9 ▁October ▁ 1 9 8 7 , ▁the ▁share ▁price ▁fell ▁from ▁N OK   2 4 0 ▁to ▁ 1 8 0 . ▁By ▁the ▁end ▁of ▁trad ing ▁on ▁NAS DA Q , ▁the ▁share ▁price ▁was ▁down ▁to ▁N OK   1 2 0 . ▁The ▁price ▁continued ▁to ▁fall ▁and ▁hit ▁N OK   8 0 ▁some ▁days ▁later , ▁in ▁part