In our fast-changing environment with open markets, global competition and e-commerce, organisations` priorities change frequently, requiring decisive leadership to ensure increased staff performance and profitability.

IBM`s re-badging of its server lines comes at the tail-end of a spurt of activity in the high-end server market, reiterating the fact that the days of Unix on Big Iron are far from over.

This week: The US government is again taken to task for poor information security, mobile users can relax for the next six months, and another candidate for useless technology of the year.

High staff turnover and the need to make continual counteroffers are symptomatic of the poor management that currently pervades the IT industry.

We all love Napster because it gives us something for nothing, but in legalise that is often referred to as theft, which puts the music distribution company on the wrong side of the law.

This week: When it comes to system security, everyone is suspect, says famed hacker Kevin Mitnick; the Palm platform is still under attack; the industry sort of fights back; and American Express leads the e-commerce fraud fight.

Several large international mergers, acquisitions and pacts dominated international IT headlines last week.

While the government insists on employment equity, this may be a tall order in the IT industry, where there are still not enough affirmative action candidates with the requisite basic skills or qualifications in IT.

There were a host of international take-overs, investments and acquisitions last week, while Metropolis Transactive Holdings` financial woes dominated local headlines.

This week: Pornsweeper watches out for flesh-coloured graphics files, surfers troll for porn at work, hackers take control, cyber bounty hunters should be on the alert, and the wheels of justice gain momentum.

Successful companies understand that they can no longer implement "hands-off" strategies when it comes to employees.

The worlds depicted by science fiction writers could be closer to fact then fiction. The fields of cybernetics, artificial intelligence and robotics promise to revolutionise our world.

This week: US federal departments flunk Security 101, a virus that`s impossible to detect, hackers let rip about the spiralling petrol price, and the long arm of the law is chopped off at the elbow.