Giants of Enterprise: Seven Business Innovators and the Empires They Built

Rating:
Summary: Missing In Action
Review: Great book, but how can he leave out John Davison Rockefeller? John D. was the world's richest man, the world's first billionaire and he came from humble beginnings. John D. also founded and grew Standard Oil, the first true multinational corporation and yet somehow he is not a Giant Of Enterprise?

Rating:
Summary: not a biography, it's an interpretation
Review: I was extremely dissappointed to be reading the liberal version of these mens lives. The author makes some ridiculous claims and he omits very important aspects of these mens lives. He makes little mention of Carnegie's philanthropic endeavors like his promotion of public libraries. He accuses Ford of helping Hitler, "Hitlers's ability to cite such a prominent figure as having views similar to his could only have helped him."

I have only red the chapters on the first three men and I am not sure if I am going to read the rest. This book should be titled "psychology of giants of enterprise" rather than "seven business innovators and the empires they built." The author barely talks about there actual business and ignores there philanthropy. Except for Carnegie in which he said, "Before we can understand how such a shrewd man could transform himself into a clown, it is worthwhile contemplating how Carnegie lived..." Talking about Carnegie's desire to promote peace "He was worse than a failure; he was a fool."

The chapter with Eastman opens on his suicide and then he tries to explain why he committed suicide. I thought that I was going to get a book about great men and their business enterprises, but I got a psychological interpretation of these mens problems and struggles.

Rating:
Summary: An excellent summary of the lives of seven business titans
Review: In Giants of Enterprise, Harvard professor Richard Tedlow examines seven business titans: Henry Ford, Thomas Watson, Andrew Carnegie, George Eastman, Charles Revson, Robert Noyce, and Sam Walton. He analyzes their business acumen, their management style, their interpersonal style, and the business environment in which they operated.

Henry Ford and Thomas Watson, Sr., of IBM, are examples of domineering, manipulative men who built extraordinary business empires in spite of their abrasive personalities. The were not leaders in the classical definition of James MacGregor Burns because they systematically crushed individuality in their employees rather than cultivate it. They drove a lot of good people away, and stunted the growth of many more.

Still, their businesses experienced exceptional periods of prosperity, and they have lasted for several generations.
Two of the seven titans valued people. Eastman and Noyce were leaders. Eastman empowered people. He told chemist Charles Mees, "your job is the future of photography." Eastman hired women and Irish people-these were enlightened practices in the late 1800s. He questioned his own management expertise, and sought advice from professionals.

Noyce is known for his slogan, "Go off and do something wonderful." His employees had it printed on tee shirts. Noyce had an ability to create in people a "euphoric sense of possibility," and he nurtured talent when he found it.
Giants of Enterprise provides informative short biographies of each of the seven business icons. It is valuable reading for both the student of leadership and the practicing executive. For the student, it shows that organizations are often held together by forces other than leadership. The opportunity to be part of something successful will hold many people in place in spite of intense personal pain inflicted by the boss.

For the executive, it illustrates the need to install checks and balances on one's self. Ford and Watson both weakened their businesses by indulging their personal biases in public and by suffocating creativity in others. They surrounded themselves with yes-men, and they diminished their business enterprises as a result.

Studying the lives of these seven men provides useful insights into the relationship of leadership and business success. It is a fact of our times that business is increasingly turning to leadership as a source of competitive advantage, and this book is helpful in that effort.

Dr. Tedlow examines what he calls inflection points. These are moments in history that some rare people recognize as moments in history while they are happening. The book is worth reading for what it says on this topic alone. In addition, he examines the destructive effect vast money and power can have on the human spirit. He refers to this as deranging one's perspective on life. The term is a useful addition to leadership vocabulary.
There are hundreds of books about famous executives. This book is an excellent introduction to executives as a key element in business development. It is readable, interesting, and it does not require the reader to have a detailed knowledge of business or leadership principles.

It is an excellent introduction to executive leadership styles and to business history.

Rating:
Summary: Business, history, and psychology in one fascinating package
Review: My reading about business is usually limited to the business section of the daily paper, but when I read that Business Week Magazine has named Giants of Enterprise as one of the top ten books about business for this year, I was intrigued enough to have a look at it. Once I began reading, I didn't want to stop! Tedlow's prose is engaging and elegant; he obviously knows his subject thoroughly. As I read about these immensely complicated men, I was amazed by the audacity, creativity, and cunning they showed in their dealings with the world of business. Equally interesting are the glimpses into the personal lives of such figures as Andrew Carnegie, George Eastman, and Henry Ford. This book is about American history as well as the history of business; it has also made me realize that there is such a thing as the psychology of business, although in this field, it is probably as tricky to analyze and try to predict outcomes as it is in the field of economics. I thank Prof. Tedlow for hours of reading pleasure, and for elucidating of many aspects of business that were previously opaque to me. Finally - I thank him for enriching my vocabulary with what he rightly refers to as an "infelicitous" phrase: Big, Hairy, Audacious Goal!
Outstanding.

Rating:
Summary: Tangible Lessons for Business Success
Review: Richard Tedlow gives a behind the scenes view of the success of seven of the biggest business names of our times. Building on the transcendent achievements of these great men, Tedlow translates their strategies into tangible business lessons. Wrapped in entertaining and insightful prose, Tedlow shows us how these men became legends, from overcoming impossible odds to developing business strategies that forever changed industry.

Rating:
Summary: You won't stop reading
Review: Tedlow provides a brilliant analysis of each of his subjects in combination with a wealth of biographical information which creates an appropriate context for his discussion of Carnegie, Eastman, Ford, Watson (Sr.), Revson, Walton, and Noyce. He organizes his material within three Parts: The Rise to Global Economic Power, The Heart of the American Century, and Our Own Times. So what we have here, in a single volume, are eight mini-biographies, critical analysis of the "giants," and an equally valuable analysis of the evolution of American business history during the last 150 years. Although not always in agreement with Tedlow, I especially appreciate sharing his own opinions. He cites a wealth of primary sources and on occasion expresses his own disagreements with others such as Joseph Frazier Wall, author of arguably the definitive biography of Andrew Carnegie. Tedlow has consummate writing skills. His narrative has Snap! Crackle! and Pop! Throughout the book, he offers hundreds of revealing anecdotes, direct quotations, relevant examples to illustrate and support key points, and -- much appreciated -- a playful sense of humor. Tedlow really is an entertaining raconteur as well as a distinguished business scholar.

This is one of the most entertaining as well as most informative business books I have read in recent years. Those who share my high regard for it are urged to check out Crainer's The Management Century, Thought Leaders edited by Kurtzman, Wren and Greenwood's Management Innovators, Leibovich's The New Imperialists, and Landrum's Profiles of Genius.

Rating:
Summary: DYNAMIC SUCCESS STORIES!
Review: There were two aspects which drew me to this book. The first was my thirty year background in business and psychology, and the second was the story on Andrew Carnegie. My family roots on my father's side can be traced back, through the centuries, to the Carnegie family, although in later years the spelling of the family name was slightly altered in my country. The stories presented in this book have at least one common factor: all the entrepreneurs listed had a tremendous self-belief and were not afraid of straying from the conventional and "doing their own thing," long before doing so was the fashionable thing to do. They also possessed an extraordinary intellect for business, were highly creative and did not punch a time clock. They clearly did not believe in the philosophy which said, "I'm out of here at five o'clock."

Business is a world one generally loves with a passion or hates with the same vehement emotion. "Giants of Enterprise" takes the reader behind the scenes to the core of these fine men and presents a better understanding of "what made them tick." It is a book which touches on history, philosophy and psychology. These successful entrepreneurs were driven by amazing vigor and passion for their work. When I decided to pursue a career in business, it was predominately a "man's world." The female gender had not yet made it's mark upon the business world. Times have since changed. However, the inspiration and success of these great men laid the foundation and opened the doors for future generations. We can learn well from their determination, commitment and success. This is a fascinating book to read and certainly an inspirational one.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but with one major flaw
Review: This book is well-written, although with seven bios crammed in it is necessarily short on detail on each of the given leaders who are profiled. My one major complaint is that author Tedlow's background as an academic makes him subject to ivory tower syndrome. Tedlow spends considerable time in the book tearing down the pursuits of a number of these leaders after they build their businesses and leave the business world (in particular Carnegie and Ford). His take is that these leaders became intoxicated with their own success, and believed that they could translate business success into greatness in other venues (search for world peace, etc.). Tedlow concludes that all they ended up doing was failing miserably at these alternate endeavors, making fools of themselves, and tarnishing their legacies. I strongly disagree. Most of these guys built businesses against the odds, overcoming innumerable obstacles and idiots that stood in their way. One of the spoils of victory is for them to be able to do whatever the hell they want with their fortunes. Tedlow's imposition of a Renaissance Man standard on them is unfair.

Let me put it this way. If I am ever a wild success, I'll spend plenty of time needling the douchebags who stood in my way on the way up. That's exactly what some of these business leaders did, and God bless them for it.

Rating:
Summary: Giants of Enterprise
Review: This is the best book on business innovation that I've read in 25 years. Dr. Tedlow brings to life innovative and engaging thinkers like Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Watson, Sam Walton, and Robert Noyce of Intel. Never dry, always interesting, and beautifully written. I give this book a rave review.

Rating:
Summary: You won't stop reading
Review: You will find in easy words excellent information on these 7 titans as you won't be able to find it anywhere else.