Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

Amazon.com Review:
Built to Last became an instant business classic. Thisaudio abridgement is read by the authors, who alternatechapters. Collins is a bit breathlessly enthusiastic, but clear andinteresting; Porras, unfortunately, is poorly inflected andwooden. They set out to determine what's special about "visionary"companies--the Disneys, Wal-Marts, and Mercks, companies at the verytop of their game that have demonstrated longevity and great brandimage. The authors compare 18 "visionary" picks to a control group of"successful-but-second-rank" companies. Thus Disney is compared toColumbia Pictures, Ford to GM, and so on.

A central myth, accordingto the authors, is that visionary companies start with a great productand are pushed into the future by charismatic leaders. Usually false,Collins and Porras find. Much more important, and a much more tellingline of demarcation between a wild success like 3M and an also-ranlike Norton, is flexibility. 3M had no master plan, little structure,and no prima donnas. Instead it had an atmosphere in which brightpeople were not afraid to "try a lot of stuff and keep what works."

If you listen to this audiocassette on your daily commute, you maydiscover whether you are headed to a "visionary" place of work--and,if so, whether you are the kind of employee who fits your employer'svision. (Running time: two hours, two cassettes) --Richard Farr

Product Description:


Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business, James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each 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 the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed throughout their history?"

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 21st century and beyond.

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Customer Reviews

Rating: - Amazing Book!!
I had to read this book for my management course and I thought it was going to be yet another boring business book, but IT IS AMAZING!! The authors made me completely rethink how I think companies achieve success and had some of the most in depth research I've come across.

It doesn't matter if you're in business or not, no matter who you are, you'll enjoy getting a fresh perspective that applies to business and our personal lives too. The book slows down towards the end, but overall ... Read More
Rating: - The "Core Values" of Corporate Business of the Yesterday and Today
Let me just say, I have read two books by Jim Collins and his research team and I have not been at all disappointed.All chapters were explained without complex sentence writings and without all the extra stuff.For example, "Resiliency (not perfection) is the signature of greatness, be it in a person, an organization, or a nation." Jim Collins provided within each chapter insights on how to achieve at any position within a corporate company such as an employee, manager, senior executive, board ... Read More
Rating: - Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant

This is one of my favorite book!!
Rating: - Built to Last
Finally, a book that includes ideas that are based on research, not just someone's good ideas and stories. If this doesn't change what you are doing in your business, you'd better stop reading, start writing and tell us all your secrets.
Jim Collins is a great, inspiring author wh will engage you the whole way through.
Rating: - A Must Read Together With Good To Great
I enjoyed reading this book very much. It seems the company and the organization as an organic system within a larger system, and which purpose is not simply to make money (although, companies managed this way always do). It brings also the importance of the human side into management and how important it is to have a solid system of core values, beliefs, principles and mission. I highly recommended together with Good To Great, even in spite of the fact that some of the covered companies (like Ford, ... Read More