Rating: 
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: With so many companies struggling today, good to great is an outstanding book to show the way to growth...HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Rating:
Summary: Good, Great? How about Super?
Review: Good to Great is an outstanding book on how to deal and succeed in business today. Jim Collins has gone beyond his Built to Last book. Good to Great is for companies who want to succeed and become great in todays eceonomy.Other books that you will benefit from include Turbo Strategy by Brian Tracy, Double Digit Growth and Super Self by Charles J. Givens which teaches you the mindset of a super businessman.
Rating: 
Summary: From normal to lucky
Review: Jim Collins is trying to find the characteristics of what makes a good company a great company. His findings are supported by an extensive analysis of 1,435 companies for a period of 30 years. He uses a scientific approach to analyze his data and his results provide good information however, I have to disagree with the fundamental assumptions and definitions he used to present the idea. The Webster's dictionary defines great as "markedly superior in character or quality" and the same dictionary defines quality as "degree of excellence". The author's definition of great is only based on stock market returns to investors. The investors would probably agree with his definition of great because they want to maximize their returns but a company should not be evaluated only for the money it can produce. Abraham Lincoln summarized the idea for an institution to exist when he said, "Determine that the things can and shall be done, and then we shall find the way." Companies are created to make money but at the same time they should provide a contribution to our society. For this reason it is very difficult for me to categorize a company such as Philip Morris as a great company. The damage caused by tobacco products is a well known fact and the use of tobacco has been linked to lung cancer and many other diseases. This means that when Philip Morris is making lots of money, many people are causing serious damage to their health. Wells Fargo is also listed as a great company. Reading today's news I found that Wells Fargo was close to loosing its mortgage license in the state of California for unfair lending practices the California Department of Corporations said occurred when 15,000 home owners were overcharged $38 million in fees. The bank claimed it had reimbursed the home owners and regretted the incident, but the state said it had to file a suit against the bank to force repayment. These type of practices could show money in the company's portfolio that was nor necessarily made using a model of excellence. Also ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now) released a report charging the San Francisco-based lender with predatory lending practices. ACORN said that Wells Fargo Bank and its subsidiary, Wells Fargo Financial, which caters to sub-prime borrowers, engages in predatory lending practices in low income and minority neighborhoods. I don't think this is a characteristic of a great company. I also found an article about another "great" company. An EPA statement released back in December of 2000 entitled, "U.S. REACHES ENVIRONMENTAL SETTLEMENT WITH STEEL MANUFACTURER NUCOR". The statement reads "Nucor Corporation Inc. will spend nearly $100 million to settle a environmental suit alleging that it failed to control the amount of pollution released from its steel factories in seven states, under an agreement reached today with the Justice Department and the EPA. This is the largest and most comprehensive environmental settlement ever with a steel manufacturer." I consider that the performance of a company is important because companies are created to make money. However, when a company is going to be evaluated, like I mentioned before, the ability to make money should not be the only factor considered. When companies incur in illegal practices it is because it maximizes their returns and minimizes their expenses. This could help a company show impressive market performance without showing the real price that the consumer is paying. There are other mechanisms that evaluate the performance of a company using a broader approach. For example the Malcolm Baldrige Award given by the President of the United States to businesses-manufacturing and service, small and large-and to education and health care organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource focus, process management, and business results. It is interesting to mention that from 1990 to 1995 none of the companies identified by Jim Collins as great companies won the Baldridge Award. In addition to disagreeing with the definition of "great", I think there are external factors that impact, in a negative or positive way, the performance of a company. These "business environment" factors that can not be controlled by companies, should be considered when analyzing the performance of a specific business. For example, after the terrorists attacks of the 11th of September significantly impact the travel industry. Airlines, hotels, car rental companies, restaurants and many others lost a significant part of their business. On the other hand companies selling chemical/biological attack protection were and probably are still making more money than before the attacks. Many companies are highly dependent on their "business environment" to make money and the companies listed by Jim Collins are no exception. The headline of an article published last July reads, "Nucor's Profit Drops 86%". The reason for the drop according to the article are that the average cost of scrap metal per ton increased $25 from the first half of 2002 to the first half of 2003, and total energy costs increased around $4 per ton from the first half of 2002 to the first half of 2003. Also it says that the U.S. steel industry, suffering from rising health-care and pension costs, has seen more than 35 producers file for Chapter 11 since 1997. I also found an article from last July about Kimberly-Clark. The headline reads, "Profit Dips at Kimberly-Clark". The reason that the article provides for their profit slip is that pension expenses rose and energy and raw material costs increased, factors that Kimberly-Clark can not control. Companies need to be flexible in order to adapt to these changes but they can not control their business environment even if they have all the elements of a "great" company.
Rating:
Summary: First Rate Research
Review: Collins has conducted a scholarly level research project to determine how good companies, such as Walgreens, Wells Fargo, and Gillette, can become great companies with sustained excellence in production, quality, and sales. Collins' research team conducted hundreds of interviews and in-depth analyses of organizations to find 11 companies out of an initial 1,435 that qualified for his designation of "great" organizations. Whether you are responsible for production, quality, marketing, or human resources, this book is an excellent source of information and cutting edge advice on management. While Collins is a first rate researcher, he also manages to present his ideas in a readable and enjoyable manner.
Rating:
Summary: A Business Book Based on Data, Not Hype!
Review: Collins' findings should not be surprising to adherents of Simplified Strategic Planning. Basically put, the transformation of the studied companies was built upon seven major ideas: Leadership
Successful leaders in the study were not flashy, but tended to give credit for success to others while taking responsibility for failures on themselves. People
Successful companies get the right people in place first, and then worry about what they are going to do. This is not just a focus on people and culture, but a focus on having the right people in your organization - and getting the wrong people out. Information
Collins says "face the brutal facts", which, in the large public companies he studied, amounted to assuring open communications and the discipline to face unpleasant realities about the industry you are in. Focus
In an interesting twist on strategic competencies, Collins notes some common factors of companies using what he calls "the hedgehog concept": Don't focus on what you are good at - focus on what you can be the best in the world at.
Understand the economic drivers that measure how well you do what you are focusing on.
Focus on something you can be passionate about.
Discipline
Successful companies resist the urge to grow outside of their "hedgehog" focus, no matter how attractive the opportunities are. They also tend to remain disciplined about getting where they intend to go, rather than being distracted by fads and crises. Approach to technology
The successful companies reviewed did not pioneer new technologies, rather, they pioneered applications of those technologies once the potential value within their focus was well-established. Thus, instead of innovating totally new technologies, they innovated by accelerating adoption of proven technologies in new applications. Approach to change
Using a concept Collins calls the "Flywheel of Success", Good-to-great companies built their way into change through the demonstration of incremental successes rather than seeking instant breakthroughs. Overall, Good to Great, while based entirely on data collected from large, public companies, gives plenty of useful insights into ways in which successful companies differ from less successful companies. You won't find flashy, smoke-and-mirrors consultant-speak in this book - just the cold, hard, and incredibly useful facts. I was initially taken aback that nearly a third of the book - 67 pages - is taken up by notes and appendices, but Good to Great is an enjoyable book to read, full of unusual insights and terrific tips for managers at all levels.
Rating:
Summary: Must-read for entrepreneurs
Review: If you're an entrepreneur and you're wondering how the big guys managed to get big, you need this book. Collins explains the secrets to success in business -- things like hard work, having core values that guide you, and being able to form partnerships. An awesome and inspiring read for those days when you're tempted to throw in the towel and go work at the local fast-food restaurant.
Rating:
Summary: The Foundation of The Great Leap. Excellent Book!
Review: Jim Collins brings fantastic insight and facts that boil down to timeless ethics in business. People make your company great. Superior dedication, focus, disciplined work ethics, being humble while staying open to suggestions, and outstanding service to your customers in order to keep them loyal, and refer other customers to you. This is a pivotal book that goes beyond just the numbers, or the bottom line. It brings you great insight based on countless studies, interviews, and exhaustive research into the dynamics of making the leap "From Good to Great." Highly recommended if you want your business to soar. Barbara Rose, author of, 'Individual Power' and 'If God Was Like Man'
Rating: 
Summary: Good to great is a great book
Review: I really do not understand the sub five star let alone the 1 star reviews. This is a great book. A lot of time and research was done to find what separates the good from the great companies. I can only assume that sub 5 star reviewers own businesses that are doing doing that great or are not in business at all...anymore. Great book for those who want to learn how to take your business to that next level. The level of greatness.
Rating:
Summary: A great audio companion to the print version...
Review: Jim Collins does a great job of reading this book. His style helps make this a strong one-two punch if you already have the book. If you don't have the book, buy the audio to hear the passion Mr. Collins obviously has for this topic. It seems jaded to say "everything you've heard about business leadership is wrong", but Jim has the data to support that supposition. Every executive should read -- and listen -- to this book... So should the people who work for them. If you've already suffered through the cartoonish "Who moved my Cheese?" or scary near-fascism of "Execution: The Art of Getting Things Done", this book/audio is a breath of fresh air! Well-worth it's best-selling ranking!
Rating:
Summary: Intriguing Reasons for Business Success
Review: Jim Collins imparts great anecdotal information and inspiration to the reader in his bestselling book, "Good to Great". As a consultant on leadership types, I have been recommending to people from all over the world to read this book. For an intriguing perspective into the philosophical foundations of leadership success that compliments Jim Collins' "Good to Great", I also recommend Norman Thomas Remick's "West Point: Thomas Jefferson: Character Leadership Education".
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