Jonathan Mantle

I reread this book (1993 edition read in April 1994) 20 years after the first time, as part of my "knowledge fixing and update"

also if you are not interested in insurance or partnerships or investment management, it is worth reading, to recognize signs that are way too common when the source of resources and risk allocation aren't working under the same set of goals and assumptions (to say nothing of prizes and penalties)

along with "Accounting for Growth" rel="nofollow" target="_top">http://www.librarything.com/work/1059471/book/79481997 and few others, this book actually helped me over the last couple of decades in turning down some offers to act as an organizational development consultant and help set up structures that would have incurred into some of the same conflicts of interests, e.g. by setting some "ground rules", and it was certainly useful while auditing contracts and suppliers- it is a matter of spotting "behavioral patterns", adapted to the specific context, resources, conditions

outside business (but that too is considered a "business" by somebody), it could also help in social advocacy, setting up NGOs, or plain political action groups: there too the same mis-alignment can result in moral "slippery slopes", e.g. as shown by some political groups and non-profits that, in various countries, ended up focusing too much on generating an income from their investment or building a large and visible organization, and not enough on their stated aims of helping

but could also help in the definition of the oversight and governance of private and public bureaucracies set up to solve an issue, bureacracies that keep justifying their own existence and self-policing, and keep expanding- also when the issue that they were supposed to solve grows as much as the organization supposed to solve it (showing at best that they aren't the right tool, and at worst that they can turn into a breeding ground to turn the issue from epidemic to pandemic)

there are plenty of "temporary bureaucracies" that turn into de facto corporations with neither targets nor deadlines nor markets or "services"- except their own continuity

I published this review as part of my #SYNSPEC bibliography on expert team building and management (see here the free edition of the book: http://www.slideshare.net/robertolofaro/synspec-xxi-century-expert-team-building...… (mais)

An interesting business book highlighting 50 companies that the author felt changed the world. From The East India Company to Google, the book spans many centuries. I feel that the book is greatly geared to a British target audience but this American found the book well worth the read. I learned a lot and got background on many companies that I would never have researched myself. I was disappointed by a few companies that were missing, but as I said, it had included a few companies that I would never have thought of. I also would have liked more in depth reports included in the book. Some of the reports did not give a business description but rather the history of one of the company’s main products. Still, the book had many examples of various businesses and their products over the centuries. If business is truly cyclical, having a better understanding of these companies could prove to be truly helpful.… (mais)

В этой замечательной книге собраны истории великих компаний, оказавших значительное влияние на ход прогресса и развитие человечества: от созданной в семнадцатом веке East India Company до современной нам Google, Inc. Мир без них был бы совсем другим. Вы узнаете о жизненных перипетиях таких бизнес-гигантов, как Kodak и Disney, IKEA и CNN, Coca-Cola и Microsoft, с самого их появления на свет.

Безупречно составленная и изданная книга послужит превосходным подарком ценителю эксклюзивных изданий, тому, кто видит историю за привычной упаковкой.… (mais)