Summary
The book Good to Great: why some companies make leap and others don’t by Jim Collins is a management book that is very significant. This book helps companies to make a change from a good performance to a great one. Collins explains the concepts of good to great performance in nine chapters.
Chapter one is about good and great being enemies. It further talks about the methods that were used by Jim with the help of his team of research to choose companies for the research. Some of the companies that got chosen for the research were Wells Fargo, Gillette, and Nucor among others. Collins says that he established discipline to be the core factor of success. He talks of discipline in the concept of action, people and thoughts. The second chapter is about leadership which is classified as leadership at level 5. He says that leadership is what makes companies differ from each other. He also says that leaders that show leadership at level 5 are humble and have a determination that is intensified. He says benefits should be experienced by the company together with its team of employees.
In the third chapter he says that a company needs individuals who are highly talented and they should be placed in positions that best suit them. He says that the management needs to have the right team in place so that they can make good decisions. In the fourth chapter he talks about the company being able to recognize facts that define the company in the context of a business environment that is big. He says that the company has to keep pace with the never ending changes in the tastes and preferences of the consumers.
In the fifth chapter he talks about simplicity. He uses the hedgehog to explain the simplicity concept which can factor greatness in a company. He says that a company needs to be able to do one thing right which will enable the company to succeed. He says that to achieve success sometimes is not a complicated process. The sixth chapter is about making discipline to be a culture for every employee. With all the employees being determined to work the company is destined to succeed. The seventh chapter is about embracing technology. Collins says that the company needs to pick the best technology that can lead to success because improvement in technology takes place every day.
The eighth chapter is about making decisions that can be advantageous and still accrue some aspects of disadvantages. Collins says that the company or business needs to focus on the advantageous aspect of the decision made and work on it over time. In the last chapter he says that a company needs to build a strong foundation for itself so that it can be inexistent for a long time. He says that success which is sustainable can be the key to achieving greatness.
Critical assessment of the differing concepts and cultures
The concept of simplicity will depend on the type of company that is being dealt with because companies are different. Collins also says that profits should not be the main focus of success, I disagree with that because profits determines if the business is viable with time and sometimes is used to make decisions regarding the expansion of the company. Also stakeholders and consumers sometimes become part of a company if it records profits that are high according too their books of accounts.
The other concept is that of technology. Technology nowadays enables companies to cope with the competition that is being experience. Technology has to be part of every company and quick adaptability is required. However the company can only use the technology that it can afford because accounts have to balance. On the concept about decision making, there are companies that have succeeded through trial and error. Some decisions especially that involve a high risk are discouraged, but those who are risk takers know that if they do it right then the benefits will be great. Sometimes in life it all about trying and venturing where other people and companies are shy to venture.
The discipline culture especially if an organization is large is quite hard to implement and sometimes the management implements it in the wrong way. This is to mean that they tend to be dictatorial to the employees. When employees or the personnel are being dictated upon it means that some of their rights are being infringed and bad relations start to be created in the company. However on the good side, if the companies can be able to apply this concept then the success of moving from good to great would be possible.
Personal impressions
The book is good and would recommend small companies that are struggling to grow to apply some of the ideologies that are presented in this book. Management is the core to the company and hence when the management fails the company starts to perform poorly. I find chapter three to be the most helpful part of this book because he talks about hiring a person with the surety of 100% that he will deliver for the company. This book will help a business to stay focused and advocates for innovativeness which lacks in many companies. Jim Collins has done a good work on this book. It does not however give an insight to people who want to open new business but just advocates for people who already have businesses. Jim Collins did a lot of literature to come up with such a successful book.
Conclusion
This book, having been written on research conducted presents facts that majority of CEO’s to various companies can familiarize with and put them into application for success. This book does not just help the leaders to a company or the CEO’s , it also helps the employees in their places of work and even business people who want to make their businesses thrive. This book can deliver some of the satisfaction that employees and employers have always willed to have. It encourages people to have faith that in the end they will have success. Jim Collins does not say that success comes instantly, because it might many years before getting to the main goal. Collins refers this as coming to terms with reality. Companies can use this book to self access their activities and on progress that they have made.
Surprisingly on reading this book I discovered that it can of great help in managing a family too. People who are able to successfully manage their families sometimes do well in the business sector too. A business to succeed requires the management to have a plan that is well researched.