Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies | 
 enlarge | Authors: James C. Collins, Jerry I. Porras
Publisher: HarperAudio
Category: Book
List Price: $18.95
Buy New: $2.47
You Save: $16.48 (87%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  149 reviews
Sales Rank: 440524
Format: Abridged, Audiobook
Media: Audio Cassette
Edition: Abridged
Number Of Items: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 4.3 x 0.8
ISBN: 0694514799
Dewey Decimal Number: 658
EAN: 9780694514793
ASIN: 0694514799
Publication Date: October 1, 1994
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com Review
Built to Last became an instant business classic. This audio abridgement is read by the authors, who alternate chapters. Collins is a bit breathlessly enthusiastic, but clear and interesting; Porras, unfortunately, is poorly inflected and wooden. They set out to determine what's special about "visionary" companies--the Disneys, Wal-Marts, and Mercks, companies at the very top of their game that have demonstrated longevity and great brand image. The authors compare 18 "visionary" picks to a control group of "successful-but-second-rank" companies. Thus Disney is compared to Columbia Pictures, Ford to GM, and so on. A central myth, according to the authors, is that visionary companies start with a great product and are pushed into the future by charismatic leaders. Usually false, Collins and Porras find. Much more important, and a much more telling line of demarcation between a wild success like 3M and an also-ran like Norton, is flexibility. 3M had no master plan, little structure, and no prima donnas. Instead it had an atmosphere in which bright people were not afraid to "try a lot of stuff and keep what works." If you listen to this audiocassette on your daily commute, you may discover whether you are headed to a "visionary" place of work--and, if so, whether you are the kind of employee who fits your employer's vision. (Running time: two hours, two cassettes) --Richard Farr
Product Description
Groundbreaking research intothe development of America's most enduring and successful corporations thatshatters myths, provides new insights, and gives practical guidance forcompanies that would like to follow in their footsteps.
Jim Collins and Jerry Porrass', faculty at Stanford'sGraduate School of Business, have discovered what makes visionary companies- ones that beat their competitors decade after decade, withstand the vagariesof the marketplace, make a significant impact on the world, and have outperformedthe stock market by 15 times since 1926.
They conclude that a visionary company is not contingent on one brilliantCEO, but on elements that transcend any individual leader. Companies suchas 3M, Walt Disney, Motorola, Merck, and General Electric share lastingcharacteristics that distinguish them from less visionary companies, suchas: preserving a fixed core ideology, yet having the ability to adapt; goingbeyond culture to embrace "cultism"; creating what the authorscall BHAGs (big, hairy, audacious goals); mimicking the biological evolutionof the species; and having a strong sense of purpose beyond making money.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 144 more reviews...
 Amazing Book!! October 8, 2008
I had to read this book for my management course and I thought it was going to be yet another boring business book, but IT IS AMAZING!! The authors made me completely rethink how I think companies achieve success and had some of the most in depth research I've come across.
It doesn't matter if you're in business or not, no matter who you are, you'll enjoy getting a fresh perspective that applies to business and our personal lives too. The book slows down towards the end, but overall it's a must read!
 The "Core Values" of Corporate Business of the Yesterday and Today September 5, 2008
Let me just say, I have read two books by Jim Collins and his research team and I have not been at all disappointed. All chapters were explained without complex sentence writings and without all the extra stuff. For example, "Resiliency (not perfection) is the signature of greatness, be it in a person, an organization, or a nation." Jim Collins provided within each chapter insights on how to achieve at any position within a corporate company such as an employee, manager, senior executive, board member,and CEO. The book does mainly talk about people at the "top" but, the research information speaks for itself. Comparing companies such as Procter and Gamble, Walt Disney, Merck, Johnson and Johnson, Wal-Mart to Colgate, Columbia Pictures, Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Ames, respectively. The researchers group and Jim Collins provided and proved what facts can represent to a reader. If you are willing to take your time and read with a understanding that anyone can create a "visionary company" of tomorrow. Highly Recommended to all future leaders with the pursue of how to develop what works and what doesn't.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant August 7, 2008
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
This is one of my favorite book!!
Built to Last June 20, 2008
Finally, a book that includes ideas that are based on research, not just someone's good ideas and stories. If this doesn't change what you are doing in your business, you'd better stop reading, start writing and tell us all your secrets.
Jim Collins is a great, inspiring author wh will engage you the whole way through.
A Must Read Together With Good To Great April 28, 2008
I enjoyed reading this book very much. It seems the company and the organization as an organic system within a larger system, and which purpose is not simply to make money (although, companies managed this way always do). It brings also the importance of the human side into management and how important it is to have a solid system of core values, beliefs, principles and mission. I highly recommended together with Good To Great, even in spite of the fact that some of the covered companies (like Ford, Sony, and Motorola) not being able to keep their greatness consistently.
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