"Good to Great is about turning good results into great results;
Built to Last is about turning great results into an enduring great
company." so write Jim Collins and Jerry Porras in this groundbreaking
book that shatters myths, provides new insights, and gives practical
guidance to those who would like to build landmark companies that stand
the test of time.
Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University
Graduate School of Business, Collins and Porras took eighteen truly
exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each company in
direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the
companies from their very beginnings to the present day, as start-ups,
as midsize companies, and as large companies. Throughout, the authors
asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other
companies?"
Collins and Porras go beyond the incessant barrage of management
buzzwords and fads of the day to discover timeless qualities that have
consistently distinguished outstanding companies. They also provide
inspiration to all executives and entrepreneurs by destroying the false
but widely accepted idea that only charismatic visionary leaders can
build visionary companies.
Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent
framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and
entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint
for building organizations that will prosper long into the twenty-first
century and beyond.
