This article is a review of a book Good to Great by Jim Collins. The article discredits Collins methods used at identifying great companies and claims that there is no statistical significance that would make the companies selected different from others. The authors of this article do not claim that Collins’s conclusions are incorrect and state that Collins did not provide any evidence that his finding is anything other than random pattern.
With that said, the companies selected are not really good indicator of performance and many readers would be skeptical of his findings today. This is true due to failures of some companies on the list and also financial information available from others. I cannot believe that Circuit City and Fannie Mae are on the list. Also it is hard to believe that Philip Morris is very successful as everyone is aware of health risks associated with smoking. Also anti smoking campaigns are at its highest ever. I can see how other companies are on the list and they did go from good to great. I think good example is Wells Fargo. The company we need to look at first is Norwest Bank that primarily solicited business in the Midwest. This small bank grew to become a giant and purchase Wells Fargo, much more known name. Also I can see how Walgreen made a list as it turned into a leading drug store chain in America. These are the companies that are all very conservative and do not provide a very good investment return.
We can argue all we want about the book Good to Great, but the book was a bestseller and I am sure it provides guidance to leaders and managers around the world. Many parts of the book could still be used to help make decisions that would provide some benefits. I am sure Collins made this book very entertaining and motivating. At times this is all we need to achieve greatness.
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