"This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about
visionary product concepts or visionary products or visionary market
insights. Nor is it about just having a corporate vision. This is a book
about something far more important, enduring, and substantial. This is a
book about visionary companies." 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 -- they have an average age of
nearly one hundred years and have outperformed the general stock market
by a factor of fifteen since 1926 -- 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 corporations. Throughout, the authors
asked: "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from other
companies?"
What separates General Electric, 3M, Merck, Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard,
Walt Disney, and Philip Morris from their rivals? How, for example, did
Procter & Gamble, which began life substantially behind rival Colgate,
eventually prevail as the premier institution in its industry? How was
Motorola able to move from a humble battery repair business into
integrated circuits and cellular communications, while Zenith never
became dominant in anything other than TVs? How did Boeing unseat
McDonnell Douglas as the world's best commercial aircraft company --
what did Boeing have that McDonnell Douglas lacked?
By answering such questions, Collins and Porras go beyond the incessant
barrage of management buzzwords and fads of the day to discover timeless
qualities that have consistently distinguished out-standing 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.
