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Rating: 
Summary: You won't be disappointed
Review: After hearing Rothman on NPR's Marketplace I wanted to read more and was not disappointed. "50 Companies" is positioned as a kind of encyclopedic guide to the top businesses of our time, and it certainly is that. But even more so, I believe, it's about the reciprocal relationships between all of business and all of society and individual businesses with each other. And in this it succeeds even more. Rothman mentions in the beginning how many of these companies touched his life as he was writing the book, and I found even more connections with my own life.
Rating: 
Summary: Insightful!
Review: Howard Rothman, a writer who specializes in technology and management, profiles the 50 companies that had the strongest impact on the development of modern business. He sought input from high-tech executives, teachers, public relations professionals, engineers, business writers, shopkeepers, salespeople and managers in selecting the top 50, which he ranks in the order of their influence. While many of the stories in these four-page portraits are familiar, the book presents helpful historical profiles of how each company developed and influenced the business world and society. While some readers may like tackling all these capsule bios as a collection, many may prefer to regard the book more as an encyclopedia or directory and draw on the corporate information as needed. We [...] appreciate the solid work here, although the result may be more interesting as a reference book than as a cover-to-cover page-turner.
Rating:
Summary: Good for younger readers, too
Review: I am a high school social studies teacher. I found this book when I was searching for something I could assign to my students next fall that would show them how corporations have impacted our world. I particularly wanted one that contained stories about companies with which my kids could relate. This really fills the bill, especially with its short but complete profiles of Microsoft, American Online, McDonald's, Ben & Jerry's, and others that shape their lives every day. Even those that will be unfamiliar to many of them should hold their interest and teach them something at the same time. I can't wait to use it with them and see how they react.
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Summary: 50 Business Biographies in 1
Review: I just received this book as a gift and thought it was great. My wife bought it for me, knowing I like business biographies, and this book has fifty excellent ones. Starting with Microsoft and ending with Heinz, the author conveys the major moves and decisions that have made these the top corporations of all time, and he does so in a very readable way that keeps your interest throughout. The companies included here run the gamut from transportation to retail to communication to tech, so you get a very wide variety of examples of what makes a business a "world changer." You also get to see how many of these touch your own world on a regular basis, which may surprise you. I highly recommend this to others.
Rating:
Summary: Solid, Sensible, and Open to Disagreement
Review: The total number of companies on a list such as this need not be 50. Moreover, there can be (and is) honest disagreement about the inclusion of some companies and not others. My own opinion is that all of the 50 companies which Rothman selected are worthy of inclusion...as are several others. The great value of this book is that Rothman is more than a list maker and a writer of mini-profiles. As he explains in the Introduction, his purpose is to examine 50 companies "that have dramatically and permanently altered us. In the process, you will also see how the general structure of business -- and along with it, our society -- has evolved over the past few centuries. You will meet with some individuals with extraordinary vision, courage, and commitment who struggled to realize their ideas and drive their companies to success. n a very real sense, they are the true forces that have changed our world." According to criteria which are unclear to me, Rothman ranks the 50 in terms of their relative impact: Microsoft is #1 and H.J. Heinz is #50. In doing so, Rothman also invites honest disagreement about his ranking decisions. I certainly disagree with the ranking of Wal-Mart at #10. Oh well. He devotes about four pages to each of the 50 companies, with a "Fact File" preceding his brief commentary. He also includes a section called "Honorable Mentions" following by an extensive Bibliography. This is a solid and sensible but not especially thought-provoking book, except to those who disagree with Rothman's selections and ranking of them, one which provides quite a bit of information on companies which have obviously made significant contributions to our society and, in most instances, to the global marketplace in which they have competed. To his Bibliography, I presume to add H.W. Brands's Masters of Enterprise, Stuart Crainer's The Management Century, the Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time, and John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's The Company.
Rating:
Summary: Great history of business
Review: This is a terrific book for anyone interested in the history of business, and the impact that our leading institutions have had on the development of society. By identifying and profiling the most important corporations of the past couple of centuries, the author provides great insight into the way each has contributed to both business innovation and modern life. Some of the specific rankings might be debated (is Nike really more significant than Intel?) but the general lineup is definitely an appropriate one and it includes some real out-of-the-blue but on-target selections like CNN, Levitt & Sons, Disney and Ben & Jerry's Homemade (my personal favorite). The individual profiles, which primarily focus on the people who built these companies, are all pretty entertaining as well as informative. I also liked the way you could dive in at any point and find something really interesting.
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