Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make The Leap ... and Others Don'tJim Collins (Collins Business, Oct 16, 2001)Reviewed by admin Mon 24 Nov 08 Bob's Rating: The basic concept of “Good to Great” is that there appear to be companies that outperform others quite spectacularly for a number of years. Jim Collins sets out the results of his research team that looked at “why?” I’m not a statistician, but whenever I read a book such as this I get worried about the selection criteria. Who says these companies are great? The key measure used by Collins is “Ratio of Cumulative Stock Returns to General Market". Such a measure only looks at the company through the eyes of one stakeholder – the owners. There are also stakeholders called customers, suppliers, staff, the industry and the community – these do not seem to be considered. Taking just one stakeholder measurement does not in my mind, deem the company “great”. The author lists eight reasons for the selected companies success. Ranging from what he calls “level 5 leadership” through to continual persistence – akin to pushing against a giant flywheel. These may or may not be accurate reflections of the reasons for success. But how does one emulate them? This is a dense book on leadership – perhaps a little too dense for me. Nothing wrong with the concepts, but I found it a little hard to concentrate. I would have liked to see shorter chapters that engaged my thinking, rather than long winded explanations. I’d also like to hear how these “great” companies manage their other stakeholders. If you liked “In Search Of Excellence”, you’ll like this book. |
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