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Summary: The definition of company core values
Review: Simply for the definition that Collins/Porras make of Core Values, this book is worth the price of admission. The formula which they repeat throughout the book (Core Values = Core Ideology + Purpose) is worth repeating more often, and something that anyone who concerns themselves with strategy should remember.One of the things I think _Built to Last_ does particularly well is to not only explain what their ideas are, but to also explain what they aren't. They seem to understand the confusion possible in their ideas and take the time to anticipate, correct, and clarify. This is a rare characteristic in business writing, where the normal problem I encounter with books is that the author assumes that everyone is on the same page in more ways than one. Must for people in the business of corporate strategy.
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Summary: A Business Student's Perspective
Review: Having spent the last four years of our lives being taught to think about every business problem in a particular way, it was great to read a business book that encourages you to "think outside of the box." We have read many textbooks in our time at University, and it was refreshing to read a book that expressed clear and simple ideas that we will remember after we graduate. "Built To Last" started off strong by 'shattering' the 12 well-known "myths" that they teach us in school. The book then continued with the author's model that is based around the premise of preserving the core ideology, and stimulating progress within the organization; it uses simple points that build on one another to create a first-rate framework. The authors make their points at the beginning of each chapter and then build on them with numerous examples of 'visionary' companies...Some of our favorite points were:
- The true definition of a core ideology; including the distinction between a core purpose and core values;
- Encourage trying lots of stuff and keeping what works;
- And, "The Genius of the And"...it is possible to have two things at once.
Although, this book was primarily targeted towards entrepreneurs and CEO's, we found that we could use this book for our future career search and within our daily lives. For example, the chapter titled Cults and Cultures outlined the extraordinary commitment employees have to their particular organization; Personally, we don't think we have what it takes to be a true "Nordie," but it gave us insight into what characteristics and traits to be looking for in an organization we would like to work for.
Some of the inferior traits of the book are that there were some parts in the novel where the authors seem to stretch their examples to fit within their framework, and they came across as being slightly bias to their own theories. We also found that they never mention the same company in every chapter, which made it harder to follow and also harder to believe that every visionary company fit all aspects of their model. However, overall, this book is an easy read, with a simple model that makes sense. It uses interesting companies and is backed up by 6 years of intense research. We recommend this book to any student who is looking to think on different terms than what we are being taught in school.
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Summary: Vision = Core Ideology + Envisioned Future
Review: James Collins is a management researcher from Boulder (Colorado) and Jerry Porras is a professor of organizational behavior and change at the Stanford Graduate School of Business. This book is really split up into three parts: (1) An introduction into the research.; (2) The core ideology of visionary companies.; (3) The habits of visionary companies; (4) Methods for implementation. The authors explain their research methods of this six-year research project into visionary companies. "Visionary companies are premier institutions - the crown jewels - in their industries, widely admired by their peers and having a long track record of making a significant impact on the world around them." The authors used the term 'visionary', rather than just 'successful' or 'enduring', to reflect the fact they have distinguished themselves as a very special and elite breed of institutions. In order to compose these visionary companies the authors started with a set of criteria which those companies had to meet: (1) Premier institution in its industry; (2) widely admired by knowledgeable businesspeople; (3) made an indelible imprint on the world in which we live; (4) had multiple generations of chief executives; (5) been through multiple product (or service) life cycles; (6) founded before 1950. With these criteria in mind the authors select 18 visionary companies from a wide range of industries, plus 18 comparison companies (which are not weak or bad companies either). So what do these visionary companies have in common? They have core ideologies consisting of more than a bunch of nice-sounding platitudes. A visionary company's core ideology consists of core values ("The organization's essential and enduring tenets") and purpose ("The organization's fundamental reasons for existence beyond just making money"). But the authors comment that ocre ideology alone cannot make a visionary company. Ultimately, a visionary company is build up from a core ideology complemented with a drive for progress and a preservation of the core complemented with a stimulation for progress. The authors then turn their attention to the specific methods of preserving the core and stimulating progress that distinguishes visionary companies from the comparison companies. They split these methods up into: (1) Big hairy audaciou goals (BHAGs) ("Commitment to challenging, audicious goals and projects toward which a visionary company channels its efforts."); (2) Cult-like cultures ("Great places to work only for those who buy in to the core ideology; those who don't fit the ideology are ejected like a virus (preserves the core)."); (3)Try a lot of stuff and keep what works ("High levels of action and experimentation that produce new and unexpected paths of progress and enables visionary companies to mimic the biological evolution of specias (stimulates progress)."); (4) Home-grown management ("Promotion from within, bringing to senior levels only those who've spent significant time steeped in the coe ideology of the company (preserves the core)."); and (5) Good enough never is ("A continual process of relentless self-improvement with the aim of doing better and better, forever into the future (stimulate progress).") In the final chapters the authors provide a summary of the book, which they refer to as the vision framework: Articulating a vision = core ideology (core values and core purpose) + envisioned future (10 to 30 year BHAG and vivid descriptions). There are also some tools to create all these items in this framework. In this 3rd edition there is also 'a message for the new economy' in which the authors conclude that the dot-com craze is based on 'Built to Flip' and not 'Built to Last' ideas. They provide some questions for to check whether your organization is built to last or built to flip. This chapter is a waste paper. I honestly cannot believe that I read this book just a month after I read Tom Peters and Robert H. Waterman's 'In Search of Excellence' (1982). They have so much in common, it is uncanny - habits, example companies, research methods, etc. I must admit that I prefer Peters and Waterman's book better, but I can understand if readers do not feel that way. Nevertheless, this is a good book into the habits of successful companies, although the habits are somewhat 'soft', and difficult to implement in existing companies. The biggest criticism McKinsey & Co had on this book: "We really love 'Built to Last' here, but unfortunately it's useless. ... all the companies in 'Built to Last' were always great. They were never average. But that's most of the world." As an reply to this criticism Collins has recently written 'Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don't' (2001). My greatest criticism on this book is the amount of repetition and therefore I recommend others to go for the e-articles 'Build Your Company's Vision' and 'Turning Goals into Results', both by the authors of this book. I also recommend Jim Collins' latest article 'Level 5 Leadership' (2001) which is based on his latest book 'Good to Great'. This book is written in simple US-English.
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Summary: Great Analysis of Solid Businesses
Review: This book is a great example of a useful business book. The authors back up all of their findings with solid data and they write it in such a way that it can be read in one sitting. Along with Good to Great, by James Collins, this book is one of the premier business books of the new century. Relevant and informative, I can't say enough good things. As a business owner, it is so refreshing to see a book that realizes the value of a stable team of executives and the importance of strong business-wide values. Please buy this book and create value with your business.
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Summary: My all time favorite managment book
Review: This is a great business book. It effectively and systematically goes through 18 visionary companies and discusses what all of these organizations have in common. It additionally contrasts a peer for each of these companies (IE, Visionary - Ford; Peer - GM) and shows how each company is different in culture, management style and results. What the authors demonstrate is that all of the companies have some core philosophies - commitment to customer service; commitment to their employees; instillation of a company culture and mandatory adherence to it; and most importantly, a dream of where they wanted to end up (big hairy adacious goals [BHAG]). The authors go though the birth of the companies (or the "rebirth" in some cases) to capture how they alligned themselves in pursuit of their dream. This book is a usefull guide whether you are a sole proprietor of a small company, a manager at any level or a senior corporate officer. It is highly readable and greatly lends itself to easy comprehension (no "business "e's" spoken here). If you are looking to get the most out of the organization you lead, this is a great place to start.
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Summary: "cult-like" cultures
Review: I found this book to be a disturbing reminder of why I cannot work in corporate business. Being "bombarded" with someone else's "vision" for a company goals, in a culture that "weeds out" those people who don't buy in, is not my idea of a quality way of life. The mentality represented here is one that I have witnessed. I tried to tell myself that I was just being negative, but apparently not.
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Summary: Recomendable
Review: Este libro es recomendable porque muestra la otra cara del éxito de las empresas. Rompe con los paradigmas y estereotipos establecidos sobre los factores que determinan el fracaso o el éxito de una empresa.
Estudio sobre una muestra representativa y fuerte de empresas que han perdurado por varios años
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Summary: Core values start at the top and take you to the top
Review: I've had the privilege of working for one of the companies mentioned in Built to Last. I've stayed a decade because the core values work for me and let me work according to my moral values. What's fun about this book is that it does describe how 100,000 employees can each share the vision and make it happen. Believe it or not, the core values are not tablets in stone, written in a handbook or on the entrance wall; they are discussed and mentioned as guideposts by people every day. Our company core values have been described in books and in magazine articles many,many times. What is done so well in this book is the side-by-side comparison. That was the part I found most interesting. I imagine that in the past, the last thing on a Dot-Com's CEO's mind was setting up core values for establishing a company that would last rather than lucrative options, soaring share prices and explosive growth. Some of these companies shoot up and then die away like fireworks rockets. Maybe if they'd set up core values, they'd still be on a roll.
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Summary: A ravishing look at current management practices
Review: The authors of 'Built To Last' has researched 18 highly successful companies and 18 of their respective competitors, who also has done well - but not as good, and come up with some interesting theories that in essence supports the chaos theory. Fascinating! Not that current management practices is slaughtered, but rather enhanced and evolved. E.g, anyone who has read Dilbert knows to hate vision statements. In comparison, 'Big Hairy Audacious Goals' are the same but they are i-n-s-p-i-r-i-n-g. And did you know that many of todays market leaders like HP and Sony started off without any "big idea"? They also kill a few other myths along the way, like - it is always interesting to work in a firm which has a vision. After resolving the myths the authors explore some common ground to why these companies are so successful and which should be relevant to most companies: You can have the cake AND the dessert, Ask yourself: why do our company exist?, find and preserve the core/stimulate progress, build a culture, try a lot of stuff and keep what works, develop your own top management (who knows the system better?) and compete with yourself. Now, these companies are the major players in their respective markets, and how these theories work for smaller companies is an important question. As is the question of how these big firms did things to become successful. Was it a shot of luck in the nick of the time? Following their examples today might be painful due to the everchanging rules of this game. Nevertheless there are a lot experience to feed upon here and the lessons learned might prove worthwile, even though you just follow some of the guidelines.
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Summary: Built to Blast Off and FLY!
Review: Built to Last is the result of six years of rigourous research through Stanford University. This makes it more than your usual guru book urging you to 'blow up the place - be a revolutionary'. It is an inspiring read for executives wanting very specific ideas on how to make their strategy stronger. It shows how not to rely on one Vision speech a year, or just your fantastic technology or your culture or having a great strategy. Picasso said that the thousands of small dabs of colour make up the whole masterpiece. This book shows how that also applies in creating a business that lasts beyond your leadership - its all the small steps. Built to Last gives you those steps. It is for anyone who wants to be a leader. It is for any good leader wanting to be better. It is easy to read, with strong examples that are just as relevant since it was first published in 1994.
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