Description
Book SynopsisThe average life expectancy at birth of a firm is roughly 15 years, and only one out of twenty lives longer than fifty years. Firms are born, they grow, then they struggle to keep up with changing markets. Slow adapters often become big losers, fall by the wayside, and die.
Trade ReviewWith a guide for building the ultimate firm and making it last, Feser's book offers fresh insights into the need for change. (Director, April 2012)
Table of ContentsForeword ix
Prologue xi
Introduction xiii
Part I The Ephemeral Nature of Firms
Chapter 1 Meet Carl Berger 3
Chapter 2 Corporate Life Cycle 11
Part II Individual Rigidities
Chapter 3 To Err is Human 25
Chapter 4 The Greatest of All Time 39
Chapter 5 Rewiring Brains 55
Part III Organizational Rigidities
Chapter 6 Long Live Bureaucracy! 75
Chapter 7 In Brain We Trust 97
Chapter 8 What We Value 111
Chapter 9 What Not to Pay For 121
Chapter 10 Fast Learners 131
Part IV Serial Innovators
Chapter 11 The Secrets of Serial Innovators 139
Chapter 12 Beyond Business: The Medici, Oxford, and the Catholic Church 155
Chapter 13 Legacy through Leadership 161
Afterword 167
Appendix A: Analysis of the Top 50 U.S. Firms of 1960 171
Appendix B: Corporate Aging and Survival 177
Appendix C: Key Questions for Transforming Your Firm 181
References 187
Acknowledgments 193
About the Author 195
Index 197
