Recommended by: WiseSuit Staff 

A six-year research project is discussed at length in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies. The research project expressed in the book was designed in order to help the researchers and subsequently the world at large learn what it was that makes successful, long-term companies in the business world. 

The researchers wanted to be able to clearly identify "underlying characteristics... common to highly visionary companies" as well as to "effectively communicate findings so they can influence management" - Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

First, the author works on identifying eighteen different companies that had been defined as ‘true visionaries'.  For purposes of research, a visionary was defined as one that is premier in their industry and that was widely admired, influential to the world around it, had multiple generations of CEOs and product or service lifecycles which had been founded prior to 1950.

One thousand CEOs were polled in order to get their input on which companies they believed were visionaries.  The eighteen companies found to be visionaries were 3M, American Express, Boeing, Citigroup, Disney, Ford, General Electric, Hewlett Packard, IBM, Johnson and Johnson, Marriott, Merck, Motorola, Nordstrom, Philip Morris/Altria, Proctor and Gamble, Sony and Wal-Mart.

Through the work found in Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies, individuals are able to change the way they look at business after reading the book. One of the most important lessons an individual can take away from this book is that these visionary companies have strong values and the people who handle and lead them live normal, basic day-to-day lives, which allows them to remain connected to their workers and the company, as well as to the needs and desires of their consumers. These values also help the companies to focus on important issues that were facing their companies.

"The critical question asked by a visionary company is not ‘How well are we doing?' or ‘How can we do well?' or ‘How well do we have to perform to meet the competition?' For these companies, the critical question is ‘How can we do better tomorrow than we did today?" They institutionalize this question as a way of life - a habit of mind and action." - Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies

Over the course of nine different chapters, Collins and Porras are able to address a number of important concepts, such as management, personnel, operational practices, business behavior and business attitudes. The authors also express in the book that companies need to define their narrow objective and then focus the company's resources on their areas of strength.

This book really needs no introduction to most successful executives. It can be found in their libraries. It simply is a classic.

Reviews:

"Built to Last...is one of the most eye-opening business studies since In Search of Excellence." - Kevin Maney, USA Today 

"A 'must read' for any CEO who aspires to create a great company." - T.J. Rodgers, President and CEO, Cypress Semiconductor Corp.

About the Author:

Born in Boulder, Colorado, in 1958, Jim Collins has written for a number of journals and magazines, including Harvard Business Review, Business Week and Fortune. Not only an author, Jim Collins has also worked as a business consultant and lecturer on the topics of companies, their sustainability and their growth. 

Category:  Leadership