TheChallenge
BuilttoLast,thedefiningmanagementstudyofthenineties,showedhowgreatcompaniestriumphovertimeandhowlong-termsustainedperformancecanbeengineeredintotheDNAofanenterprisefromtheverybeginning.
ButwhataboutthecompanythatisnotbornwithgreatDNA?Howcangoodcompanies,mediocrecompanies,evenbadcompaniesachieveenduringgreatness?
TheStudy
Foryears,thisquestionpreyedonthemindofJimCollins.Aretherecompaniesthatdefygravityandconvertlong-termmediocrityorworseintolong-termsuperiority?Andifso,whataretheuniversaldistinguishingcharacteristicsthatcauseacompanytogofromgoodtogreat?
TheStandards
Usingtoughbenchmarks,Collinsandhisresearchteamidentifiedasetofelitecompaniesthatmadetheleaptogreatresultsandsustainedthoseresultsforatleastfifteenyears.Howgreat?Aftertheleap,thegood-to-greatcompaniesgeneratedcumulativestockreturnsthatbeatthegeneralstockmarketbyanaverageofseventimesinfifteenyears,betterthantwicetheresultsdeliveredbyacompositeindexoftheworld'sgreatestcompanies,includingCoca-Cola,Intel,GeneralElectric,andMerck.
TheComparisons
Theresearchteamcontrastedthegood-to-greatcompanieswithacarefullyselectedsetofcomparisoncompaniesthatfailedtomaketheleapfromgoodtogreat.Whatwasdifferent?Whydidonesetofcompaniesbecometrulygreatperformerswhiletheothersetremainedonlygood?
Overfiveyears,theteamanalyzedthehistoriesofalltwenty-eightcompaniesinthestudy.Aftersiftingthroughmountainsofdataandthousandsofpagesofinterviews,Collinsandhiscrewdiscoveredthekeydeterminantsofgreatness--whysomecompaniesmaketheleapandothersdon't.
TheFindings
ThefindingsoftheGoodtoGreatstudywillsurprisemanyreadersandshedlightonvirtuallyeveryareaofmanagementstrategyandpractice.Thefindingsinclude:
Level5Leaders:Theresearchteamwasshockedtodiscoverthetypeofleadershiprequiredtoachievegreatness.
TheHedgehogConcept(SimplicitywithintheThreeCircles):Togofromgoodtogreatrequirestranscendingthecurseofcompetence.
ACultureofDiscipline:Whenyoucombineacultureofdisciplinewithanethicofentrepreneurship,yougetthemagicalalchemyofgreatresults.TechnologyAccelerators:Good-to-greatcompaniesthinkdifferentlyabouttheroleoftechnology.
TheFlywheelandtheDoomLoop:Thosewholaunchradicalchangeprogramsandwrenchingrestructuringswillalmostcertainlyfailtomaketheleap.
"Someofthekeyconceptsdiscernedinthestudy,"commentsJimCollins,"flyinthefaceofourmodernbusinesscultureandwill,quitefrankly,upsetsomepeople."
Perhaps,butwhocanaffordtoignorethesefindings?
《从优秀到卓越》是超级畅销书《基业长青》的作者柯林斯的又一力作,它描绘了优秀公司实现向卓越公司跨越的宏伟蓝图。《基业长青》揭示了公司保持卓越的秘诀,但书中提到的公司自始至终都出类拔萃。对于那些业绩平平的公司,如何才能实现从优秀到卓越的跨越呢?是不是卓越的企业都有所谓的特殊“卓越气质”?发展的瓶颈是不是真的难以突破?
针对这一问题,柯林斯和他的研究小组历时5年,阅读并系统整理了6000篇文章,记录了2000多页的专访内容,创建了3.84亿字节的电脑数据,收集了28家公司过去50年,甚至更早的所有文章,进行了大范围的定性和定量分析,得出了如何使公司从优秀到卓越的令人惊异而振奋的答案。
柯林斯发现,公司从优秀到卓越,跟从事的行业是否在潮流之中没有关系,事实上,即使是一个从事传统行业的企业,即使它最初默默无闻,它也可能卓越。柯林斯提出了一整套观点,“只要采纳并认真贯彻,几乎所有的公司都能极大改善自己的经营状况,甚至可能成为卓越公司”。