",This is not a book about charismatic visionary leaders. It is not about visionary product concepts o r visionary products o r visionary market insights. No r is it about just having a co r po r ate vision. This is a book about something far mo r e impo r tant, enduring, a nd substantial. This is a book about visionary companies.", So write Jim Collins a nd Jerry Po r ras in this groundbreaking book that shatters myths, provides new insights, a nd gives practical guidance to those who would like to build la ndmark companies that sta nd the test of time. Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanfo r d University Graduate School of Business, Collins a nd Po r ras took eighteen truly exceptional a nd long-lasting companies -- they have an average age of nearly one hundred years a nd have outperfo r med the general stock market by a facto r of fifteen since 1926 -- a nd studied each company in direct comparison to one of its top competito r s. They examined the companies fr om their very beginnings to the present day -- as start-ups, as midsize companies, a nd as large co r po r ations. Throughout, the autho r s asked: ",What makes the truly exceptional companies different fr om other companies?", What separates General Electric, 3M, Merck, Wal-Mart, Hewlett-Packard, Walt Disney, a nd Philip Mo r ris fr om their rivals? How, fo r example, did Procter &, Gamble, which began life substantially behind rival Colgate, eventually prevail as the premier institution in its industry? How was Moto r ola able to move fr om a humble battery repair business into integrated circuits a nd cellular communications, while Zenith never became dominant in anything other than TVs? How did Boeing unseat McDonnell Douglas as the wo r ld's best commercial aircraft company -- what did Boeing have that McDonnell Douglas lacked? By answering such questions, Collins a nd Po r ras go beyond the incessant barrage of management buzzwo r ds a nd fads of the day to discover timeless qualities that have consistently distinguished out-sta nding companies. They also provide inspiration to all executives a nd entrepreneurs by destroying the false but widely accepted idea that only charismatic visionary leaders can build visionary companies. Filled with hundreds of specific examples a nd o r ganized into a coherent framewo r k of practical concepts that can be applied by managers a nd entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last provides a master blueprint fo r building o r ganizations that will prosper long into the twenty-first century a nd beyond.