BOOK REPORT ASSIGNMENT

BOOK REPORT ON GOOD TO GREAT BY JIM COLLINS '95TITLE OF BOOK

Good To Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don '92t '95 DATE OF PUBLICATION

2001 '95 A short biography of the author

Jim Collins , Ph .D , is a former university professor at the Business School at Stanford University . For the past several year , he has been a very successful independent business consultant . In the case of this book , he was challenged by a client to write a book explaining why so many companies and other entities that are

'93good '94 never get beyond that to greatness , while a few do '95 YOUR REASON FOR SELECTING THE BOOK

I chose this book because it was recommended by an acquaintance Before looking at the book itself , I checked to see its status and learned that it has been on many best-seller lists among business books for a very long time '95 SUMMARY OF CONTENT

In Good to Great : Why Some Companies Make the Leap and Others Don '92t , Jim Collins tries to analyze the difference between the merely good and the great , using a methodology sufficiently probing scientific , and measurable to take the study away the mere erudite anecdotalism that tells good stories , but little more to try to locate the true basis for the remarkable success '93great '94 companies enjoy

To do this , Collins and his team of analysts undertook a very detailed and exacting study of businesses . Collins makes a point of arguing that he let the data dictate the findings he has come to instead of beginning with a theory and trying to develop data that would fit it (Collins 9 ) He points out that he was inspired to undertake this new study after a businessman talked to him about his earlier very successful book Built to Last (Collins Porras ) Built to Last analyzed start-up companies that had been built from their inception on principles of excellence . The businessman commented that the book was excellent for the it covered , but he said it offered nothing for people in existing businesses . After considering the matter , Collins started working on what became Good to Great , trying to offer a plan for businesses that are already ongoing entities but who want to rise above the realm of '93good '94 to be great (Collins , pp . 1-2 '95 RELEVANCE TO THE COURSE

I think this book is highly relevant because it shows the value of inspirational leadership in making a business successful not merely to making it good but to making it great . I find this idea intriguing because I think Collins is right when he decries the fact that we are a country in which '93good '94 is enough , but very few people companies , schools , or organizations are truly great . Too many of schools , businesses , and other entities are satisfied with good , and unwilling to push on to greatness . Indeed , I find much to be concerned about in the slippage of quality in...