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{{Short description|2001 management book by Jim C. Collins}}
{{Infobox book
{{Infobox book
| name = Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
| name = Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
| title_orig =
| title_orig =
| translator =
| translator =
| image = Cover Good 2 Gr8.jpg
| image = Cover Good 2 Gr8.jpg
| image_size = 150px
| image_size = 150px
| caption = Front cover
| caption = Front cover
| author = [[Jim C. Collins]]
| author = [[Jim C. Collins]]
| illustrator =
| illustrator =
| cover_artist =
| cover_artist =
| country = United States
| country = United States
| language = [[English language|English]]
| language = [[English language|English]]
| series =
| series =
| subject = Corporate strategy
| subject = Corporate strategy
| genre = Non-fiction
| genre = Non-fiction
| publisher = [[William Collins (publisher)|William Collins]]
| publisher = [[HarperCollins]]
| release_date = October 16, 2001
| release_date = October 16, 2001
| english_release_date =
| english_release_date =
| media_type = [[Hardcover]]
| media_type = [[Hardcover]]
| pages = 320
| pages = 320
| isbn = 978-0-06-662099-2
| isbn = 978-0-06-662099-2
| dewey = 658 21
| dewey = 658 21
| congress = HD57.7 .C645 2001
| congress = HD57.7 .C645 2001
| oclc = 46835556
| oclc = 46835556
| preceded_by =
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| followed_by =
}}
}}
'''''Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't''''' is a management book by [[Jim C. Collins]] that aims to describe how companies transition from being average companies to great companies and how companies can fail to make the transition. The book was published on October 16, 2001 by [[William Collins (publisher)|William Collins]]. "Greatness" is defined as financial performance several multiples better than the market average over a sustained period. Collins finds the main factor for achieving the transition to be a narrow focusing of the company’s resources on their field of competence.
'''''Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't''''' is a management book by [[Jim C. Collins]] that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. The book was a bestseller, selling four million copies and going far beyond the traditional audience of business books.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bryant|first=Adam|title=For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/business/24collins.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 23, 2009}}</ref> The book was published on October 16, 2001.


⚫
==The Good to Great companies==
The book was a bestseller, selling four million copies and going far beyond the traditional audience of business books.<ref>{{cite news|last=Bryant|first=Adam|title=For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/24/business/24collins.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all|newspaper=New York Times|date=May 23, 2009}}</ref>
===Great companies and their comparators===

⚫
Collins finds eleven examples of "great companies" and comparators, similar in industry-type and opportunity, but which failed to achieve the good-to-great growth shown in the great companies:
==Writing==
Collins used a large team of researchers who studied "6,000 articles, generated more than 2,000 pages of interview transcripts and created 384 megabytes of computer data in a five-year project".<ref name=pw/>

==Seven characteristics of companies that went from "good to great"==
* Level 5 Leadership: Leaders who are humble, but driven to do what's best for the company.
* First Who, Then What: Get the right people on the bus, then figure out where to go. Finding the right people and trying them out in different positions.
* Confront the Brutal Facts: The Stockdale paradox—Confront the brutal truth of the situation, yet at the same time, never give up hope.
* Hedgehog Concept: Three overlapping circles: What lights your fire ("passion")? What could you be best in the world at ("best at")? What makes you money ("driving resource")?
* Culture of Discipline: Rinsing the cottage cheese.
* Technology Accelerators: Using technology to accelerate growth, within the three circles of the hedgehog concept.
* The Flywheel: The additive effect of many small initiatives; they act on each other like compound interest.

⚫
==Great companies==
⚫
Collins finds eleven examples of "great companies" and comparators, similar in industry-type and opportunity, but which failed to achieve the good-to-great growth shown in the great companies:


{|
{|
Line 51: Line 39:
| [[Abbott Laboratories]] || [[Upjohn]]
| [[Abbott Laboratories]] || [[Upjohn]]
|-
|-
| [[Circuit City Stores]] || [[Silo (store)|Silo]]
| [[Circuit City Stores]] (declared bankruptcy in 2008; brand relaunch in 2016) || [[Silo (store)|Silo]]
|-
|-
| [[Fannie Mae]] || [[Great Western Bank]]
| [[Fannie Mae]] || [[Great Western Bank (1919–1997)|Great Western Bank]]
|-
|-
| [[Gillette (brand)|Gillette Company]] (now a [[Procter & Gamble]] brand) || [[Warner-Lambert|Warner-Lambert Co]]
| [[Gillette (brand)|Gillette Company]] (now a [[Procter & Gamble]] brand) || [[Warner-Lambert|Warner-Lambert Co]]
Line 59: Line 47:
| [[Kimberly-Clark]] || [[Scott Paper Company]]
| [[Kimberly-Clark]] || [[Scott Paper Company]]
|-
|-
| [[Kroger]] || [[The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company|A&P]] (declared [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]] in 2010)
| [[Kroger]] || [[The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company|A&P]] (declared [[Bankruptcy in the United States|bankruptcy]] in 2010 and 2015; all supermarkets sold or shut down in 2015)
|-
|-
| [[Nucor]] || [[Bethlehem Steel]]
| [[Nucor]] || [[Bethlehem Steel]]
Line 72: Line 60:
|}
|}


==Unsustained Companies==
===Unsustained companies===
Collins include 6 examples of companies who did not sustain their change to greatness. These companies, "... are looked at separately as a clump"<ref>http://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/good-to-great-why-some-companies-make-the-leap-and-others-dont/83046</ref>:
Collins includes six examples of companies that did not sustain their change to greatness. These companies, "... are looked at separately as a clump":<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.audiobooks.com/audiobook/good-to-great-why-some-companies-make-the-leap-and-others-dont/83046|title = Good to Great}}</ref>


{|
{|
Line 79: Line 67:
| '''Unsustained Comparisons'''
| '''Unsustained Comparisons'''
|-
|-
| [[Burroughs Corporation|Burroughs]]
| [[Burrows]]
|-
|-
| [[Chrysler]]
| [[Chrysler]]
|-
|-
| [[Harris]]
| [[Harris Corporation|Harris]]
|-
|-
| [[Hasbro]]
| [[Hasbro]]
Line 90: Line 78:
|-
|-
| [[Teledyne]]
| [[Teledyne]]
|-
|}
|}


==Response==
==Response==
⚫
The book was "cited by several members of [[The Wall Street Journal]]'s CEO Council as the best management book they've read."<ref>{{cite book | author=Alan Murray | title=The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management | publisher=New York: HarperCollins | year=2010 | pages=11 | isbn=978-0-06-184033-3}}</ref>


===Praise===
⚫
Publishers Weekly called it "worthwhile", although "many of Collins's perspectives on running a business are amazingly simple and commonsense".<ref name=pw>{{cite news|title=GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't (Review)|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-662099-2|accessdate=2012-07-13|date=September 3, 2001}}</ref> Similarly Holt and Cameron state the book provides a "generic business recipe" that ignores "particular strategic opportunities and challenges."<ref name=CultStrat>{{cite book |last=Holt |first=Douglas |last2=Cameron |first2=Douglas |year=2010 |title=Cultural Strategy |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-958740-7}}</ref>
⚫
The book was "cited by several members of ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'''s CEO Council as the best management book they've read."<ref>{{cite book | author=Alan Murray | title=The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management | publisher=New York: HarperCollins | year=2010 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/wallstreetjourna0000murr/page/11 11] | isbn=978-0-06-184033-3 | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/wallstreetjourna0000murr/page/11 }}</ref>

⚫
''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' called it "worthwhile", although "many of Collins' perspectives on running a business are amazingly simple and commonsense".<ref name=pw>{{cite news|title=GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't (Review)|url=http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-06-662099-2|accessdate=2012-07-13|date=September 3, 2001}}</ref>

It was described as "a deeply-researched analysis..." in the ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' list of ''The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books''.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books |url=https://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,2086680_2086683_2087673,00.html |magazine=Time |date=9 August 2011 |access-date=29 August 2022|last1=Sanburn |first1=Josh }}</ref>

===Criticism===
In his 2012 article, The Moral Fox, Peter C. DeMarco identifies the fatal error in Collins' book is placing the good in direct opposition to greatness and, thus, Collins' unintendedly created a proxy for greed.<ref>{{cite web|last=DeMarco|first=Peter|title=The Moral Fox|url=https://prioritythinking.com/leadership/the-moral-fox/|website=Priority Thinking|date=2023-01-30}}</ref> DeMarco goes back to Aesop's original fable to expose and correct the error.

Holt and Cameron state the book provides a "generic business recipe" that ignores "particular strategic opportunities and challenges."<ref name=CultStrat>{{cite book |last1=Holt |first1=Douglas |last2=Cameron |first2=Douglas |year=2010 |title=Cultural Strategy |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-958740-7}}</ref>

⚫
[[Steven D. Levitt]] noted that some of the companies selected as "great" have since gotten into serious trouble, such as [[Circuit City]] and [[Fannie Mae]], while only [[Nucor]] had "dramatically outperformed the stock market" and "Abbott Labs and Wells Fargo have done okay". He further states that investing in the portfolio of the 11 companies covered by the book, in the year of 2001, would actually result in ''underperforming'' the [[S&P 500]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://blog.asmartbear.com/business-advice-plagued-by-survivor-bias.html|title=Business Advice Plagued by Survivor Bias|date=17 August 2009}}</ref> Levitt concludes that books like this are "mostly backward-looking" and can't offer a guide for the future."<ref>{{cite web|last=Levitt|first=Steven D.|title=From Good to Great … to Below Average|url=http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/07/28/from-good-to-great-to-below-average/|work=Freakonomics|date=2008-07-28}}</ref>


John Greathouse alleges in a critical review that Collins once made a comment stating, "The books never promised that these companies would always be great, just that they were once great." Greathouse claims the statement was an attempt by Collins to defend the book, and other previous works. Greathouse also represents the view that Collins' book ''How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In'' blames some of the failed companies themselves for having drastically changed after Collins' books were printed.<ref>{{cite web |title=How The Mightily Unaware Fall |url=https://infochachkie.com/fall/ |website=infochachkie.com |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref>
⚫
[[Steven D. Levitt]] notes that some of the companies selected as "great" have since got into serious trouble, such as [[Circuit City]], while only [[Nucor]] had "dramatically outperformed the stock market" and "Abbott Labs and Wells Fargo have done okay". He further states that investing in the portfolio of the 11 companies covered by the book, in the year of 2001, would actually result in ''underperforming'' the [[S&P 500]]<ref>http://blog.asmartbear.com/business-advice-plagued-by-survivor-bias.html</ref> Levitt concludes that books like this are "mostly backward-looking" and can't offer a guide for the future."<ref>{{cite web|last=Levitt|first=Steven D.|title=From Good to Great … to Below Average|url=http://www.freakonomics.com/2008/07/28/from-good-to-great-to-below-average/|work=Freakonomics|date=2008-07-28}}</ref>


Phil Rosenzweig describes errors in the fundamental research assumptions of Good to Great. First, heavy reliance on magazine articles as research introduce sources littered with halo effects. He also notes the Wrong End of the Stick delusion used in the hedgehog claims of the book in that successful companies have a luxury of focus which is not possible for less successful companies. Finally, he notes the presence of the Organizational Physics delusion in that Collins does not carefully avoid confusing correlation with causation. <ref>{{cite book |last1=Rosenzweig |first1=Phil |year=2007 | title=The Halo Effect..and Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers |publisher=Free Press |isbn=978-0-7432-9125-5}}</ref>
Collins reaffirmed that "The books never promised that these companies would always be great, just that they were once great."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.inc.com/by-the-book/2009/09/paranoia_your_best_friend.html|date=September 14, 2009|title=Paranoia: Your Best Friend|author=Clint Greenleaf|publisher=''[[Inc. (magazine)]]''|accessdate=2015-07-17}}</ref>


==See also==
==Similar books==
{{Portal|Business}}
{{Portal|Business}}
*''[[Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies]]''
*''[[Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies]]'' by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras
*''Great by Choice: Uncertainty, Chaos and Luck - Why Some Thrive Despite Them All'' by James C. Collins
*''Great at Work: How Top Performers Do Less, Work Better, and Achieve More'' by [[Morten T. Hansen]]
*''[[The Halo Effect (business book)|The Halo Effect]]''
*''[[The Halo Effect (business book)|The Halo Effect]]''
*''[[In Search of Excellence]]''
*''[[In Search of Excellence]]'' by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman


==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist|2}}


==External links==
==External links==
* [http://wikisummaries.org/Good_to_Great:_Why_Some_Companies_Make_the_Leap..._and_Others_Don%27t Wiki Chapter Summaries of ''Good to Great'']
* [http://wikisummaries.org/Good_to_Great:_Why_Some_Companies_Make_the_Leap..._and_Others_Don%27t Wiki Chapter Summaries of ''Good to Great'']
* [https://123audiobook.com/audiobook/good-to-great Good To Great Best Business & Economics Audiobook]


[[Category:2001 books]]
[[Category:2001 non-fiction books]]
[[Category:Business books]]
[[Category:Business books]]
[[Category:William Collins, Sons books]]

Latest revision as of 05:51, 17 November 2024

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't
Front cover
AuthorJim C. Collins
LanguageEnglish
SubjectCorporate strategy
GenreNon-fiction
PublisherHarperCollins
Publication date
October 16, 2001
Publication placeUnited States
Media typeHardcover
Pages320
ISBN978-0-06-662099-2
OCLC46835556
658 21
LC ClassHD57.7 .C645 2001

Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't is a management book by Jim C. Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition. The book was a bestseller, selling four million copies and going far beyond the traditional audience of business books.[1] The book was published on October 16, 2001.

The Good to Great companies

[edit]

Great companies and their comparators

[edit]

Collins finds eleven examples of "great companies" and comparators, similar in industry-type and opportunity, but which failed to achieve the good-to-great growth shown in the great companies:

Great Company Comparator
Abbott Laboratories Upjohn
Circuit City Stores (declared bankruptcy in 2008; brand relaunch in 2016) Silo
Fannie Mae Great Western Bank
Gillette Company (now a Procter & Gamble brand) Warner-Lambert Co
Kimberly-Clark Scott Paper Company
Kroger A&P (declared bankruptcy in 2010 and 2015; all supermarkets sold or shut down in 2015)
Nucor Bethlehem Steel
Philip Morris R. J. Reynolds
Pitney Bowes Addressograph
Walgreens Eckerd
Wells Fargo Bank of America

Unsustained companies

[edit]

Collins includes six examples of companies that did not sustain their change to greatness. These companies, "... are looked at separately as a clump":[2]

Unsustained Comparisons
Burroughs
Chrysler
Harris
Hasbro
Rubbermaid
Teledyne

Response

[edit]

Praise

[edit]

The book was "cited by several members of The Wall Street Journal's CEO Council as the best management book they've read."[3]

Publishers Weekly called it "worthwhile", although "many of Collins' perspectives on running a business are amazingly simple and commonsense".[4]

It was described as "a deeply-researched analysis..." in the Time list of The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books.[5]

Criticism

[edit]

In his 2012 article, The Moral Fox, Peter C. DeMarco identifies the fatal error in Collins' book is placing the good in direct opposition to greatness and, thus, Collins' unintendedly created a proxy for greed.[6] DeMarco goes back to Aesop's original fable to expose and correct the error.

Holt and Cameron state the book provides a "generic business recipe" that ignores "particular strategic opportunities and challenges."[7]

Steven D. Levitt noted that some of the companies selected as "great" have since gotten into serious trouble, such as Circuit City and Fannie Mae, while only Nucor had "dramatically outperformed the stock market" and "Abbott Labs and Wells Fargo have done okay". He further states that investing in the portfolio of the 11 companies covered by the book, in the year of 2001, would actually result in underperforming the S&P 500.[8] Levitt concludes that books like this are "mostly backward-looking" and can't offer a guide for the future."[9]

John Greathouse alleges in a critical review that Collins once made a comment stating, "The books never promised that these companies would always be great, just that they were once great." Greathouse claims the statement was an attempt by Collins to defend the book, and other previous works. Greathouse also represents the view that Collins' book How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In blames some of the failed companies themselves for having drastically changed after Collins' books were printed.[10]

Phil Rosenzweig describes errors in the fundamental research assumptions of Good to Great. First, heavy reliance on magazine articles as research introduce sources littered with halo effects. He also notes the Wrong End of the Stick delusion used in the hedgehog claims of the book in that successful companies have a luxury of focus which is not possible for less successful companies. Finally, he notes the presence of the Organizational Physics delusion in that Collins does not carefully avoid confusing correlation with causation. [11]

Similar books

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Bryant, Adam (May 23, 2009). "For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big". New York Times.
  2. ^ "Good to Great".
  3. ^ Alan Murray (2010). The Wall Street Journal Essential Guide to Management. New York: HarperCollins. pp. 11. ISBN 978-0-06-184033-3.
  4. ^ "GOOD TO GREAT: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... And Others Don't (Review)". September 3, 2001. Retrieved 2012-07-13.
  5. ^ Sanburn, Josh (9 August 2011). "The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books". Time. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  6. ^ DeMarco, Peter (2023-01-30). "The Moral Fox". Priority Thinking.
  7. ^ Holt, Douglas; Cameron, Douglas (2010). Cultural Strategy. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-958740-7.
  8. ^ "Business Advice Plagued by Survivor Bias". 17 August 2009.
  9. ^ Levitt, Steven D. (2008-07-28). "From Good to Great … to Below Average". Freakonomics.
  10. ^ "How The Mightily Unaware Fall". infochachkie.com. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  11. ^ Rosenzweig, Phil (2007). The Halo Effect..and Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers. Free Press. ISBN 978-0-7432-9125-5.
[edit]
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