The news broke late yesterday that Oracle pulled a fast one on IBM by acquiring Sun Microsystems in a $7.38 billion deal. Larry Ellison, Oracle’s CEO, says Sun’s Java programming is “the single most important software asset we have ever acquired.” He may be right, and this deal may go down as Ellison’s master stroke.

On the other hand, it could be a big flop. Java accounts for a small percentage of Sun’s revenue, the bulk of which comes from hardware in which Oracle has precious little experience. Oh, and Sun’s hardware business is currently unprofitable.

Let’s not forget that companies like Sun, Oracle and IBM are run by larger-than-life CEOs who are continually trying to out-maneuver one another for competitive advantage (and bragging rights). It’s possible that Oracle’s interest in Sun was piqued by IBMs overtures, and only then did they find a way to justify doing the deal. Very few decisions in business are completely rational–especially decisions of this magnitude and urgency, around which the adrenaline can’t help but flow.

I’m no computer industry analyst, so I will leave the professional prognosticators to analyze how a purchase that will take a big bite out of Oracle’s margins may be overcome by giving them a leg up in software development. What I will say is this: when companies of this size and importance merge (particularly in industries as competitive as hardware and software) in an economy this unstable, issues surrounding consensus, focus and consistency are sure to arise. As I detail in When Growth Stalls, these are the unexpected internal dynamics that often take companies down.

I wouldn’t be surprised if a year or two from now we were reflecting on the acquisition that should have worked, but didn’t. It’s all too common when growth stalls.

I was speaking to a group of CEOs the other day about the importance of the consensus and consistency principles in When Growth Stalls. We agreed that the healthiest companies are those in which internal consensus doesn’t just extend through one or two layers of management, but all the way down to street level.

The extent to which an organization’s core competency is understood and embraced by even the lowest-level employees is the extent to which their everyday decisions will be consistent with it. That usually means good things in the marketplace.

There are a handful of companies that might be held up as examples of this principle, including Southwest Airlines, Ritz-Carlton, Apple and Starbucks. But where Southwest and Ritz have demonstrated an institutionalized culture–as evidenced by uninterrupted continuity beyond the founders’ tenure–the jury is still out on Apple and Starbucks. Both companies drifted when their founders stepped away, requiring them to come back and retake the wheel.

What about your company? When you exit (and one way or another you will), will your organization retain its culture and core competency, or are you unconsciously relying on the power of your own gravitational pull?

It’s a question that set all of us in the room that day to pondering, and not everyone liked the answers they came up with. The good news is that, like most things, becoming aware of the problem is the first step toward doing something about it.

Neiman Marcus is a powerful case study of how consistency pays off over time. The brand is among the most famous names in luxury retailing and has survived more than one recession with its focus intact. The company is dealing with perhaps its biggest challenge to date in this economy, but is rising to the occasion again.

Neiman’s longtime CEO, Burt Tansky, demonstrated his resolve last week by telling shareholders, “Full-price selling is what we are concerning ourselves with.” Does Tansky have his head in the sand? Not at all. Neiman Marcus has felt the full effects of significant and sustained consumer belt-tightening, which has hit the luxury sector particularly hard—sales at the famous retailer are down more than 20%. But instead of resorting to lazy, equity-burning discounting, Neiman Marcus is working hard with its designers and suppliers around the world to offer more for less.

Tansky and his team have maintained their commitment to bring fashion-forward, high-end merchandise to their loyal clientele, while taking some of the edge off of the more ostentatious prices. “We have to get the customer to buy [at] full-price,” says Vice President Rachel Golberger. “If you offer the value up front, you won’t get this discounting nonsense.”

Neiman Marcus is standing strong behind its belief that taking the long view is what counts. Here’s hoping—and believing—they will succeed.

There was an interesting article in today’s Wall Street Journal that says Michael Dell was “revamping the team hired to overhaul Dell.” In other words, he’s overhauling the overhaul. Now I’ve long been a big fan of Dell, so I don’t want to pile it on. But the company is also a classic case study of what can happen when growth stalls. Like most companies, Dell has had to contend with stepped up competition (primarily a resurgent HP) and the nasty economy. And like many companies, it has tried to reverse its fortunes by expanding beyond its traditional core competency. Michael Dell has been famously quoted as saying he now wants his namesake to be such an innovator that it creates “lust” for its products.

That’s what I don’t get. Dell built its strength on being cheaper, faster, and more reliable than any PC maker on the planet. That’s how they won me and millions of other customers over on their way to becoming the world’s #1 market share leader. Any “lust” they created was lust for getting a well-built PC quickly and to custom specifications, not on developing innovative new products.

I’m not a computer industry expert and I won’t pretend the playing field hasn’t changed, but it seems like Austin-based Dell is playing Dallas Cowboys to HP’s San Francisco 49ers, relinquishing their hard-won dominance in the face of resurgent competitor. But this isn’t the NFL of the 1980s and there’s no reason Dell can’t reclaim its lead if it focuses on its strengths and leaves technological lust creation to companies born to it, like Apple. Which, by the way, somehow managed to get Wal-Mart, the world’s most powerful discounter, to distribute the iPhone at full price (OK, a $2 discount). If that doesn’t prove the power of focus and consistency, I don’t know what does. Dell should get back to being Dell again.