"Several industry consultants said they thought IBM's primary motive for the change was to reduce its costs by freeing itself from contributions for employees who leave the company during the year, a move that would help the company remain competitive. This, they said, would likely be the goal of most other plan sponsors that might follow in IBM's footsteps.... Representatives of plan sponsor advocacy organizations disagreed, saying the primary driver for IBM was to retain existing employees and to use the funds that would otherwise need to be contributed earlier in the year. This, they said, would help the company maintain its competitiveness."

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