Synopses & Reviews
Why Even Great Companies Fail: Diagnose the Symptoms and Cure Them!
- Conquer—or prevent—the seven disastrous “addictions” that can destroy your company
- Overcome corporate denial, arrogance, complacency, “competency dependence,” turf wars, and more
- For every executive, strategist, entrepreneur, and manager who wants to sustain success
GM. Ford. AT&T. Sears. Firestone. Krispy Kreme. Digital. Kodak. Once, they were riding high, the exemplars of business excellence. Then, disaster. Is your company headed for the same fate? How do you know? How do you change course? Find out. Shine a light on the dark places in your business. Uncover your self-destructive habits before they destroy you. The blinders, culture confl icts, and corporate denial. The competitive myopia. The focus on volume, not profits. Root them out—all of them. Then, instill the good habits your business needs: the habits of sustainable profitability and market leadership. This book shows you how—in detail, from start to finish.
Why do so many good companies engage in self-destructive behavior? This book identifies seven dangerous habits even well-run companies fall victim to–and helps you diagnose and break these habits before they destroy you. Through case studies from some of yesterday’s most widely praised corporate icons, you’ll learn how companies slip into “addiction” and slide off the rails...why some never turn around...and how others achieve powerful turnarounds, moving on to unprecedented levels of success. You’ll learn how an obsession with volume leads inexorably to rising costs and falling margins...how companies fall victim to denial, myth, ritual, and orthodoxy... how they start wasting vital energy on culture confl ict and turf wars...how they blind themselves to emerging competition...how they become arrogant, complacent, and far too dependent on their traditional competences. Most important, you’ll find specific, detailed techniques for “curing”–or, better yet, preventing–every one of these self-destructive habits. Find it, admit it, assess it, and escape it The stigma of arroganceEscape this fault that “breeds in a dark, closed room” The virus of complacencySix warning signs and five solutions The curse of incumbencyStop your core competencies from blinding you to new opportunities The threat of myopiaWiden your view of your competitors–and the dangers they pose The obsession of volumeGet beyond “rising volumes and shrinking margins” The territorial impulseBreak down the silos, factions, fiefdoms, and ivory towers
Preface xxi
Foreword xxiii
1 Why Do Good Companies Go Bad? 1
2 Denial: The Cocoon of Myth, Ritual, and Orthodoxy 19
3 Arrogance: Pride before the Fall 45
4 Complacency: Success Breeds Failure 75
5 Competency Dependence: The Curse of Incumbency 105
6 Competitive Myopia: A Nearsighted View of Competition 133
7 Volume Obsession: Rising Costs and Falling Margins 165
8 The Territorial Impulse: Culture Conflicts and Turf Wars 199
9 The Best Cure is No Cure at All 231
10 Endnotes 249
Index 263
Review
"This book will help every manager who thinks they are doing just fine. Bad habits can creep up on a company until they sap its effectiveness and destroy its profitability. This is the right check list to make sure you are not crippling your own company."
--Newt Gingrich, Former Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Synopsis
Why do so many good companies go bad? In this book, the authors describe the companies that were once though of as great companies--A& P, Sears, Xerox, Kodak, GM, Corning, Atari, Wang--and how they ended up self-destructing. Readers of The Self-Destructive Habits of Good Companies...And How to Avoid Them can avoid the mistakes of these companies and have had a chance to go into turnaround, and perhaps go on to greater heights and greater profits. This book identifies seven dangerous habits even well-run companies fall victim to: denial, complacency, overdependence on traditional competencies (like Pearson over the last five years tied to the traditional book format), competitive myopia, an obsession with volume, rising culture conflict and turf wars, arrogance. It then will help the reader diagnose their own company. Most important, they' ll find specific, detailed techniques for curing or better yet, preventing, every one of these self-destructive habits.
Synopsis
Why Even Great Companies Fail: Diagnose the Symptoms and Cure Them!
- Conquer—or prevent—the seven disastrous “addictions” that can destroy your company
- Overcome corporate denial, arrogance, complacency, “competency dependence,” turf wars, and more
- For every executive, strategist, entrepreneur, and manager who wants to sustain success
GM. Ford. AT&T. Sears. Firestone. Krispy Kreme. Digital. Kodak. Once, they were riding high, the exemplars of business excellence. Then, disaster. Is your company headed for the same fate? How do you know? How do you change course? Find out. Shine a light on the dark places in your business. Uncover your self-destructive habits before they destroy you. The blinders, culture confl icts, and corporate denial. The competitive myopia. The focus on volume, not profits. Root them out—all of them. Then, instill the good habits your business needs: the habits of sustainable profitability and market leadership. This book shows you how—in detail, from start to finish.
Why do so many good companies engage in self-destructive behavior? This book identifies seven dangerous habits even well-run companies fall victim to–and helps you diagnose and break these habits before they destroy you. Through case studies from some of yesterday’s most widely praised corporate icons, you’ll learn how companies slip into “addiction” and slide off the rails...why some never turn around...and how others achieve powerful turnarounds, moving on to unprecedented levels of success. You’ll learn how an obsession with volume leads inexorably to rising costs and falling margins...how companies fall victim to denial, myth, ritual, and orthodoxy... how they start wasting vital energy on culture confl ict and turf wars...how they blind themselves to emerging competition...how they become arrogant, complacent, and far too dependent on their traditional competences. Most important, you’ll find specific, detailed techniques for “curing”–or, better yet, preventing–every one of these self-destructive habits. Find it, admit it, assess it, and escape it The stigma of arroganceEscape this fault that “breeds in a dark, closed room” The virus of complacencySix warning signs and five solutions The curse of incumbencyStop your core competencies from blinding you to new opportunities The threat of myopiaWiden your view of your competitors–and the dangers they pose The obsession of volumeGet beyond “rising volumes and shrinking margins” The territorial impulseBreak down the silos, factions, fiefdoms, and ivory towers
Preface xxi
Foreword xxiii
1 Why Do Good Companies Go Bad? 1
2 Denial: The Cocoon of Myth, Ritual, and Orthodoxy 19
3 Arrogance: Pride before the Fall 45
4 Complacency: Success Breeds Failure 75
5 Competency Dependence: The Curse of Incumbency 105
6 Competitive Myopia: A Nearsighted View of Competition 133
7 Volume Obsession: Rising Costs and Falling Margins 165
8 The Territorial Impulse: Culture Conflicts and Turf Wars 199
9 The Best Cure is No Cure at All 231
10 Endnotes 249
Index 263
Table of Contents
Preface xxi
Foreword xxiii
1 Why Do Good Companies Go Bad? 1
2 Denial: The Cocoon of Myth, Ritual, and Orthodoxy 19
3 Arrogance: Pride before the Fall 45
4 Complacency: Success Breeds Failure 75
5 Competency Dependence: The Curse of Incumbency 105
6 Competitive Myopia: A Nearsighted View of Competition 133
7 Volume Obsession: Rising Costs and Falling Margins 165
8 The Territorial Impulse: Culture Conflicts and Turf Wars 199
9 The Best Cure is No Cure at All 231
10 Endnotes 249
Index 263