Rating: 
Summary: Good Stuff but Could Have Been More Believable If .......
Review: Despite my doubts about the validity of some of Mr. Collins data, the book is worth reading - if only to learn the buzz words and phrases it creates for business folks today. That said, as a former researcher and current business person, I am very dubious of his studies results. Time after time in the book, Mr. Collins brings the reader into the team's preliminary discussion of their findings - frequently offering study snippets like "we didn't want to conclude this but every single one of our Great companies did x,y or z" whatever the point of his chapter happened to be. The problem is that I just don't buy that all of his major points were universally true across every single company they compared - both the great and the not so great. Objective data analysis just does not turn out this conveniently true if the researcher is unbiased. In fact, many important truths are found because of the data contradicting preconceived ideas.I am not implying that Mr. Collins and his team are not honest. Rather, I think they may be guilty of assuming there must be universal, simple truths rather than general principles, when life or business simply don't turn out that way in the real world. At times, the writer's tone seems ike an evangelical preacher trying to get everyone to agree with him or they will perish in the fire's of hell. Why does he spend so much time trying to convince us of the universal, absolute truth of each of his findings? Why are there no "truths" that were not always present in the Great companies? Wouldn't we have still believed him if Level 5 leaders, for example, were only present in 72% of the Great companies? For me, the book would have been more powerful and I would have taken it more seriously if the findings weren't proclaimed to be quite so universal. But, such real truth was not going to happen for this team because that would not fit their preconceived models and apparent need to find black and white truths only.
Rating: 
Summary: Worthless
Review: Yet another engagingly well written, but essentially useless, book on how to run a great company. Collins presents a number of case studies purporting to show what he says are the keys to running a great company. Problem is, they're also characteristics of many failed companies. And his insights aren't terribly deep, either: Hire good people. Know your market. The secret, if there is one, to running a great company isn't going to be found in a book; if it was, the business schools wouldn't be full of MBA candidates. There is no secret. It's a matter of knowledge, experience, vision, and perhaps a certain amount of good fortune, none of which are cheap or easy to acquire.
Rating: 
Summary: Research-Based Principles for Success
Review: I don't work in a big corporation... I run my own business. Yet, I am a student and raving fan of Jim Collins' corporate studies. I'll tell you why. The previous book, "Built to Last," was good, but as Jim explains in his preface, people still didn't know how to get there from here. I admire two things in particular about Collins' work. 1. He demonstrates good leadership by humbly acknowledging his team. He even includes a picture of them!
2. The team's passion for research brings us closer to a scientific explanation of corporate success. The principles they discovered can be applied to big companies, or to individuals. Big or small, you can benefit from this book. Last point- Bring a pen and paper. This book'll give you enough ideas for the rest of the year.
Rating:
Summary: Greatness is achievable
Review: Thouroughly researched, Collins and his team bring to light the keys for any organization to go from decent to extraordinary. His style if very readable, and there are plenty of examples to learn from. Also, he breaks down myths and sterotypes of what kind of leader you need to have effective change.
Rating:
Summary: Good to Great
Review: I hope this is okay, but I am interested in knowing where Jim Collins may be doing speaking engagements...is this something you can assist me with? Or direct me to the appropraite person. Thank you in advance for your assistance. Cynthia Miller
Rating: 
Summary: Nice, but get real with bpm3.com
Review: I agree with the last reviewer (copykat). I too question the validity of discussing past practices rather than current trends. What Jim Collins describes is the softer side of business leadership, but gives me no advice on how companies can put new business processes into practice. Remember Hammer and Champy's Reengineering the Corporation from the 90s, well I've just read CSC's new one, Business Process Management The Third Wave. Way cool. My advice - read Jim Collins to find out what to do, read bpm3.com to find out how to do it.
Rating: 
Summary: The legitimate route in becoming a savant in any business
Review: Jim Collins new book is titled Good To Great. If you haven't read it yet, buy, beg, or borrow it. It is that important if you are in any business.
Collins and his team identified 11 companies that followed a pattern of "fifteen-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market, punctuated by a transition point, then cumulative returns at least three times the market over the next fifteen years." Public companies were selected because of the availability of comparable data. Fifteen-year segments were selected to weed out the one-hit wonders and luck breaks. While these selection criteria exclude "new economy" companies, Collins contends that there is nothing new about the new economy, citing earlier technology innovations of electricity, the telephone, and the transistor.Collins maps out three stages, each with two key concepts. These six concepts are the heart of Good To Great and he devotes a chapter to explaining each of them.
1) Level 5 Leadership
2) First Who... Then What
3) Confront the Brutal Facts
4) The Hedgehog Concept
5) A Culture of Discipline
6) Technology Accelerators In this book, Jim Collins also challenges the notion that "people are your most important asset" and theorizes instead that "the right people are." I don't know that I yet completely agree with his philosophy that it's more important to get the right people on the bus and then see where it goes than it is to figure out where to go and get the right people on the bus who can get you there. However, he makes his point clearly and you can decide if you agree with him.
This nearly 300-page book is packed with leading edge thinking, clear examples, and data to support the conclusions. It is a challenge to all business leaders to depict the discipline required to move their companies from Good To Great.
With this type of book one can always argue that the author is just writing up common sense ideas. Of course, but common sense is hard to find sometimes. What Collins did is to study companies that made a dramatic transition. Looking at companies commulative stock returns, compare with the market and direct comparison companies, Collins identify companies that, at some transition point, resulted in great performances compare with all others. Specifically, at least three times the market performance over fifteen years.
What I have here are some notes from the keypoints in the book for myself. You really need to read the entire book to understand what this is all about!
Rating:
Summary: GOOD TO GREAT: BOARDOPTIONS.COM PERSPECTIVE
Review: Twenty-one researchers looked for public companies with the following patters: Fortune 500 Companies with fifteen-year cumulative stock returns at or below the general stock market, a transition period followed by cumulative returns at least three times the general market over the next fifteen years. Eleven companies were identified and compared to similar companies within industry that had not transitioned from good to great. For example, Abbott was compared with Upjohn; Circuit City with Silo; Gillette with Warner-Lambert, Kroger with A&P, etc. The project involved coding 6,000 articles, 2,000 pages of interview transcripts, and 384Million bytes of computer data. What was learned? Since THE key role of the Board of the hiring and firing of the CEO, we will focus on this area only. But the book has lots of strategic implications for Board members and senior executives beyond CEO recruiting. Boards of public companies often assume that salvation can be achieved by hiring a well-known, charismatic CEO from outside the company. In a world of supply & demand, Boards ask shareholders to pay dearly for such rare talent. Are the results worth it? According to Collins and his team, such charismatic leaders are NEGATIVELY associated with good to great companies. Ten of the eleven good to great CEOs came from within the company. Good to great CEOs are self-effacing, even shy. They have a blend of personal humility combined with fierce determination for the organization as a whole. Boards of Directors are looking for Julius Caesar when they should be looking for Abraham Lincoln. The research-based nature of this effort takes the book out of the ordinary category of "pop" management books. It is a book to read, digest, and re-read. Larry Stybel & Maryanne Peabody
Rating:
Summary: Along with "Soldier of Fortune 500", all you'll ever need!
Review: If you're any kind of manager you need both of these books. "Good to Great" is a great research piece while "Soldier" is a fine first person account. You should know how to deal with just about anything after these two.
Rating:
Summary: Great book! I highly recommend it.
Review: The book is great and provides rational insights into how business can be successful. Very factual based and well researched. It is an extremely interesting read. It has many pearls of information, but no diamonds. For diamonds, look at the strategy and tactics of pricing.
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