Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
by: Jim Collins
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Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good companybecome a great company and if so, how?" In Good to GreatCollins, the author of Built to Last,concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silverbullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest bysorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that madesubstantial improvements in their performance over time. They finallysettled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and WellsFargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of theconventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition fromgood to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latesttechnology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tunedbusiness strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly greatcompanies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoteddisciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Pepperedwith dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great,the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that anyorganization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last,Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs willbe reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Product Description:
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
Level 5 Leaders: The research team was shocked to discover the type of leadership required to achieve greatness. The Hedgehog Concept (Simplicity within the Three Circles): To go from good to great requires transcending the curse of competence. A Culture of Discipline: When you combine a culture of discipline with an ethic of entrepreneurship, you get the magical alchemy of great results. Technology Accelerators: Good-to-great companies think differently about the role of technology. The Flywheel and the Doom Loop: Those who launch radical change programs and wrenching restructurings will almost certainly fail to make the leap.
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Five years ago, Jim Collins asked the question, "Can a good companybecome a great company and if so, how?" In Good to GreatCollins, the author of Built to Last,concludes that it is possible, but finds there are no silverbullets. Collins and his team of researchers began their quest bysorting through a list of 1,435 companies, looking for those that madesubstantial improvements in their performance over time. They finallysettled on 11--including Fannie Mae, Gillette, Walgreens, and WellsFargo--and discovered common traits that challenged many of theconventional notions of corporate success. Making the transition fromgood to great doesn't require a high-profile CEO, the latesttechnology, innovative change management, or even a fine-tunedbusiness strategy. At the heart of those rare and truly greatcompanies was a corporate culture that rigorously found and promoteddisciplined people to think and act in a disciplined manner. Pepperedwith dozens of stories and examples from the great and not so great,the book offers a well-reasoned road map to excellence that anyorganization would do well to consider. Like Built to Last,Good to Great is one of those books that managers and CEOs willbe reading and rereading for years to come. --Harry C. Edwards
Product Description:
The Challenge
Built to Last, the defining management study of the nineties, showed how great companies triumph over time and how long-term sustained performance can be engineered into the DNA of an enterprise from the verybeginning.
But what about the company that is not born with great DNA? How can good companies, mediocre companies, even bad companies achieve enduring greatness?
The Study
For years, this question preyed on the mind of Jim Collins. Are there companies that defy gravity and convert long-term mediocrity or worse into long-term superiority? And if so, what are the universal distinguishing characteristics that cause a company to go from good to great?
The Standards
Using tough benchmarks, Collins and his research team identified a set of elite companies that made the leap to great results and sustained those results for at least fifteen years. How great? After the leap, the good-to-great companies generated cumulative stock returns that beat the general stock market by an average of seven times in fifteen years, better than twice the results delivered by a composite index of the world's greatest companies, including Coca-Cola, Intel, General Electric, and Merck.
The Comparisons
The research team contrasted the good-to-great companies with a carefully selected set of comparison companies that failed to make the leap from good to great. What was different? Why did one set of companies become truly great performers while the other set remained only good?
Over five years, the team analyzed the histories of all twenty-eight companies in the study. After sifting through mountains of data and thousands of pages of interviews, Collins and his crew discovered the key determinants of greatness -- why some companies make the leap and others don't.
The Findings
The findings of the Good to Great study will surprise many readers and shed light on virtually every area of management strategy and practice. The findings include:
“Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”
Perhaps, but who can afford to ignore these findings?
Alternate Versions:
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- What's Beyond Great?
I speak all over the country--in almost every presentation, I mention Good to Great. Based on a study that took five years to complete; Collins studied 28 companies. He then identified 11 of them that transitioned from good to great. It's about leadership; it's about dealing with mediocrity; it's about breaking rules and stepping on feet when necessary.
This isn't light reading... but if you are in management and leadership anywhere, this book should be one of your reads.
Dr. Judith ... Read More
Rating: - Overall great, but a lot of research
This book has some excellent concepts. The research was very well done, but there is a ton of schloarly talk before getting to the main points of the book. I found reading it cover-to-cover challenging.The main points may probably be summarized in 50 pages.
Overall, it's a great book to read... especially for business leaders, and any leading within an organization. The conclusions that are made are pretty astounding, and if correctly and consistently applied, I do believe your organization ... Read More
Rating: - Don't order from Famous Books
I never received my order, and it is so old now that Amazon does not even consider it a "recent order".I have received no responses from the seller, and the way this Amazon thing is set up, I don't know if I will ever receive a refund for the $73+ that I paid for 5 copies of what I believe to be a great book.Think carefully before ordering through Amazon and definately before ordering from Famous Books.You may have no recourse or protection from Amazon at all.
Rating: - Good to Great is not good, it's great!
Jim Collins paints an interesting picture of corporate America and what it takes to make the leap from good to great. His observations are backed up by statistical data compiled by a worthy team of researchers. Covering the rapid rise and fall of some companies, such as Hasbro, and the continual rise and steady pace of great companies like Kimberly Clark and Walgreens, Collins points out the specific reasons why the company made it, and continue to make it even in bear markets, economic downturns, or unexciting ... Read More
Rating: - Great easy-to-read Business Literature
Jim Collins' Good to Great gives a comprehensive breakdown of the key facets driving commercial success.This book did not go over recent companies for good reason, as it sought to avoid falling in the technology trap along with giving companies too much credit for results that have not been sustained.This book is a great read that does not bore the reader with an enormous amount of business vocabulary that only CEO's could understand.This book was meant for any person or company looking to understand from ... Read More
- What's Beyond Great?I speak all over the country--in almost every presentation, I mention Good to Great. Based on a study that took five years to complete; Collins studied 28 companies. He then identified 11 of them that transitioned from good to great. It's about leadership; it's about dealing with mediocrity; it's about breaking rules and stepping on feet when necessary.
This isn't light reading... but if you are in management and leadership anywhere, this book should be one of your reads.
Dr. Judith ... Read More
- Overall great, but a lot of researchThis book has some excellent concepts. The research was very well done, but there is a ton of schloarly talk before getting to the main points of the book. I found reading it cover-to-cover challenging.The main points may probably be summarized in 50 pages.
Overall, it's a great book to read... especially for business leaders, and any leading within an organization. The conclusions that are made are pretty astounding, and if correctly and consistently applied, I do believe your organization ... Read More
- Don't order from Famous BooksI never received my order, and it is so old now that Amazon does not even consider it a "recent order".I have received no responses from the seller, and the way this Amazon thing is set up, I don't know if I will ever receive a refund for the $73+ that I paid for 5 copies of what I believe to be a great book.Think carefully before ordering through Amazon and definately before ordering from Famous Books.You may have no recourse or protection from Amazon at all.
- Good to Great is not good, it's great!Jim Collins paints an interesting picture of corporate America and what it takes to make the leap from good to great. His observations are backed up by statistical data compiled by a worthy team of researchers. Covering the rapid rise and fall of some companies, such as Hasbro, and the continual rise and steady pace of great companies like Kimberly Clark and Walgreens, Collins points out the specific reasons why the company made it, and continue to make it even in bear markets, economic downturns, or unexciting ... Read More
- Great easy-to-read Business LiteratureJim Collins' Good to Great gives a comprehensive breakdown of the key facets driving commercial success.This book did not go over recent companies for good reason, as it sought to avoid falling in the technology trap along with giving companies too much credit for results that have not been sustained.This book is a great read that does not bore the reader with an enormous amount of business vocabulary that only CEO's could understand.This book was meant for any person or company looking to understand from ... Read More
