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.
