How the Mighty Fall_And Why Some Companies Never Give In

by Jim Collins

  214. Motorola, Inc., 1995 Summary Annual Report (Schaumburg, IL: Motorola, Inc., 1996), 12.

  215. Gary Slutsker, “The Company that Likes to Obsolete Itself,” Forbes, September 13, 1993, 139; Ronald Henkoff, “Keeping Motorola on a Roll,” Fortune, April 18, 1994, 67.

  216. Lois Therrien, “The Rival Japan Respects,” BusinessWeek, November 13, 1989, 108; Motorola, Inc., “About Motorola University: The Inventors of Six Sigma,” Motorola University, http://www.motorola.com/content.jsp?globalObjectId=3079.

  217. G. Christian Hill and Ken Yamada, “Staying Power: Motorola Illustrates How An Aged Giant Can Remain Vibrant,” Wall Street Journal, December 9, 1992.

  218. Jim Collins, Good to Great: How Some Companies Make the Leap . . . and Others Don’t (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001), 26.

  219. Zachary Schiller, “At Rubbermaid, Little Things Mean A Lot,” BusinessWeek, November 11, 1991, 126.

  220. Rahul Jacob, “Thriving in a Lame Economy,” Fortune, October 5, 1992, 44.

  221. Seth Lubove, “Okay, Call Me A Predator,” Forbes, February 15, 1993, 150.

  222. Seth Lubove, “Okay, Call Me A Predator,” Forbes, February 15, 1993, 150.

  223. Wolfgang R. Schmitt, “A Growth Strategy,” Executive Excellence 11, no. 8 (August 1994): 17.

  224. “Scott Paper Fights Back, At Last,” BusinessWeek, February 16, 1981, 104; “Profits Peak for Scott Paper,” Financial World, April 22, 1970, 13; Ira U. Cobleigh, “Scott Paper Company,” Commercial and Financial Chronicle, January 22, 1970, 5; “A Paper Tiger Grows Claws,” BusinessWeek, August 23, 1969, 100; “Scott Paper: Back On Its Feet,” Forbes, December 15, 1976, 69.

  225. “A Paper Tiger Grows Claws,” Business Week, August 23, 1969, 100.

  226. “Zenith Electronics Corporation,” Electrical & Electronics, [no date], 123.

  227. “Sam Kaplan: ‘That’s Our Plan,’” Forbes, May 15, 1968, 80; “Zenith Electronics Corporation,” Electrical & Electronics, [no date], 123; “Zenith Fills the Rooms at the Top,” Business Week, May 16, 1970, 62.

  228. “Zenith Fills the Rooms at the Top,” BusinessWeek, May 16, 1970, 62.

  229. “Troubled Zenith Battles Stiffer Competition,” BusinessWeek, October 10, 1977, 128; “Zenith Radio Corporation (C),” Harvard Business School, case study #9-674-095 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1977); “Every Dog Needs His Flea,” Forbes, May 15, 1975, 131.

  230. “The Big Winner,” Forbes, April 1, 1974.

  231. Richard Hammer, “Zenith Bucks the Trend,” Fortune, December 1960, 128; “At Zenith and On the Spot,” Forbes, September 1, 1961, 19; “Every Dog Needs His Flea,” Forbes, May 15, 1975, 131.

  232. William I. Walsh, The Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1986), 94, 111; “Hermit Kingdom,” Wall Street Journal, December 12, 1958; “Pinching 500 Billion Pennies,” Fortune, March 1963, 105; “New Crowd Minds Store for the Tea Company,” BusinessWeek, June 13, 1964, 90.

  233. “Pinching 500 Billion Pennies,” Fortune, March 1963, 105.

  234. William I. Walsh, The Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1986), 94.

  235. William I. Walsh, The Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1986), 104–105; Norman C. Miller, Jr., “Ailing A&P,” Wall Street Journal, April 21, 1964.

  236. “A&P’s ‘Price War’ Bites Broadly and Deeply,” BusinessWeek, September 30, 1972, 56; “Shopping Center Shoot-Out: Price War in Supermarkets Imperils Some as A&P Sets Out to Regain Market Share,” Wall Street Journal, July 21, 1972.

  237. “A&P’s Ploy: Cutting Prices to Turn a Profit,” Business Week, May 20, 1972, 76; William I. Walsh, The Rise and Decline of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company (Secaucus, NJ: Lyle Stuart, Inc., 1986), 146; “A&P’s ‘Price War’ Bites Broadly and Deeply,” Business Week, September 30, 1972, 56; Eleanor Johnson Tracy, “How A&P Got Creamed,” Fortune, January 1973, 103; Mary Bralove, “New A&P Chairman Unveils 5-Year Plan to Reverse Chain’s Declining Fortunes,” Wall Street Journal, February 7, 1975; “A&P Puts Big Money On Its Family Marts,” Business Week, January 23, 1978, 50; “Stumbling Giant,” Wall Street Journal, January 10, 1978; Peter W. Bernstein, “Jonathan Scott’s Surprising Failure at A&P,” Fortune, November 6, 1978, 34; “German Group Planning to Buy 42% A&P Stake,” Wall Street Journal, January 17, 1979; Gay Sands Miller, “A&P’s New President Isn’t Signaling Any Retrenchment Wave Despite Deficit,” Wall Street Journal, May 2, 1980.

  238. “Addressograph Multigraph Had a Great Fall,” Forbes, September 15, 1973, 88; “Taking on Xerox with a Fast Copier,” Business Week, April 26, 1969, 78; “The Man on the Spot,” Forbes, June 1, 1975, 24; David Pauly and James C. Jones, “Corporations: Roy Ash’s Challenge,” Newsweek, December 13, 1976, 90; “AM International: When Technology Was Not Enough,” Business Week, January 25, 1982, 62; “Addressograph Gets the Roy Ash Treatment,” Business Week, March 21, 1977, 36; Louis Kraar, “Roy Ash is Having Fun at Addressogrief-Multigrief,” Fortune, February 27, 1978, 46; Andrew Baxter, “AM International Rebuilds On Its Old Foundations,” Financial Times, March 29, 1984; Susie Gharib Nazem, “How Roy Ash Got Burned,” Fortune, April 6, 1981, 71; “An Aftershock Stuns AM International,” Business Week, March 22, 1982, 30; N.R. Kleinfield, “AM’s Brightest Years Now Dim Memories,” New York Times, April 15, 1982; “AM Files Chapter 11 Petition,” New York Times, April 15, 1982.

  239. Ames Department Stores, Inc., “Letter to the Shareholders,” Annual Report 1993 (Rocky Hill, CT: Ames Department Stores, Inc., 1993), 2; Ames Department Stores, Inc., “Letter to the Shareholders,” Annual Report 1995 (Rocky Hill, CT: Ames Department Stores, Inc., 1996), 3; Ames Department Stores, Inc., “Letter to Our Shareholders,” Annual Report Fiscal 1999 (Rocky Hill, CT: Ames Department Stores, Inc., 2000), 2; “Ames Nears Day of Reckoning,” Discount Store News, August 6, 1990, 1; Don Kaplan, “Ames Redefines Its Niche in the Northeast,” Daily News Record, October 14, 1994, 3; Donna Boyle Schwartz, “Hanging Tough,” HFM: The Weekly Newspaper for Home Furnishing Network, November 20, 1995, 1; Jean E. Palmieri, “At the Magic Show, Ames’ Buyers Will Be Seeking the Next Wave in Tops,” Daily News Record, February 22, 1999, 18; Mike Duff, “Discount Veteran Ames to Liquidate After 44 yrs,” DSN Retailing Today, August 26, 2002, 1.

  240. Gary Hector, “More Than Mortgages Ails BankAmerica,” Fortune, April 1, 1985, 50; “Bank of America Rushes Into the Information Age,” BusinessWeek, April 15, 1985, 110; George Palmer, “Sam Armacost’s Sea of Troubles at BankAmerica,” Banker, September 1985, 18; “BankAmerica: Wrenching Year,” Banker, March 1986, 7; Richard B. Schmitt and G. Christian Hill, “BankAmerica’s Board to Request that Armacost Quit, Sources Say,” Wall Street Journal, October 10, 1986; Richard B. Schmitt and G. Christian Hill, “BankAmerica Names Clausen Top Executive,” Wall Street Journal, October 13, 1986; Jonathan B. Levine, “Clausen May Be the Safe Choice, But Is He the Right One?” BusinessWeek, October 27, 1986, 108; Richard B. Schmitt, “Reviving Giant,” Wall Street Journal, July 18, 1988.

  241. Circuit City Stores, Inc., Annual Reports 2002–2007 (Richmond, VA: Circuit City Stores, Inc., 2002–2007); “Circuit City Stores, Inc, (CC),” Wall Street Journal, November 5, 1987; Philip H. Dougherty, “Advertising: Research on Haggling Influences Ad Effort,” New York Times, November 12, 1984; “Circuit City Stores Inc. 9950,” Washington Post, April 29, 2002; Martha McNeil Hamilton, “Circuit City’s New Direction,” Washington Post, February 16, 2002; Stuart Elliott, “Circuit City Uses an Old Song to Personify Customer Advice,” New York Times, October 1, 2004; Terence O’Hara, “Circuit City Taps President to be New CEO,” Washington Post, December 20, 2005; John R. Wells, “Circuit City Stores, Inc.: Strategic Dilemmas,” Harvard Business School, case study #9-706-419 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 2005), 7; Pallavi Gogoi, “Circuit City: Due for a Change?” BusinessWeek.com, February 29, 2008, http:
//www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/feb2008/db20080229_251654.htm; Pallavi Gogoi, “Is Circuit City Up for Sale?,” BusinessWeek.com, April 8, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/apr2008/db2008048_602083.htm; Pallavi Gogoi, “Is Circuit City Headed For a Blowout?” BusinessWeek.com, July 2, 2008, http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/jul2008/db2008072_040726.htm.

  242. Brian P. Knestout, “Hewlett-Packard: Separating Dr. Jekyll From Mr. Hyde,” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, May 1999, 28; David P. Hamilton and Rebecca Blumenstein, “H-P Names Carly Fiorina, A Lucent Star, To Be CEO,” Wall Street Journal, July 20, 1999; Hewlett-Packard Company, 2000 Annual Report (Palo Alto: Hewlett-Packard Company, 2000); “HP Sends Letter to Shareowners on Value of Compaq Merger,” Business Wire, January 18, 2002; Hewlett-Packard Company, 2002 Annual Report (Palo Alto, CA: Hewlett-Packard Company, 2002); Carol J. Loomis, “Why Carly’s Big Bet is Failing,” Fortune, February 7, 2005, 50; Ben Elgin, “The Inside Story of Carly’s Ouster,” BusinessWeek.com, February 21, 2005, http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2005/tc20050210_5176_tc119.htm; Carly Fiorina, Tough Choices: A Memoir (New York: Penguin Group, 2006); “If HP Just Wants to Cut Costs, It Picked the Right Guy,” BusinessWeek, May 2, 2005, 20.

  243. Barnaby Feder, “Motorola Picks an Outsider to Be Its Chief Executive,” New York Times, December 17, 2003; Laurie J. Flynn, “Motorola Replaces Chief With an Insider,” New York Times, December 1, 2007; Motorola, Inc., 1999–2004 Summary Annual Reports (Schaumburg, IL: Motorola, Inc., 2000–2005); David Barboza, “Motorola Rolls Itself Over,” New York Times, July 14, 1999; Roger O. Crockett, “A New Company Called Motorola,” BusinessWeek, April 17, 2000, 86; Roger O. Crockett, “Chris Galvin Shakes Things Up—Again,” BusinessWeek, May 28, 2001, 38; Roger O. Crockett, “Motorola,” BusinessWeek, July 16, 2001, 72; Roger O. Crockett, “Reinventing Motorola,” BusinessWeek, August 9, 2004, 98.

  244. Claudia H. Deutsch, “A Giant Awakens, To Yawns: Is Rubbermaid Reacting Too Late?” New York Times, December 22, 1996; Susan Sowa, “Restructuring May Salvage Rubbermaid,” Rubber & Plastics News 25, no. 10 (December 18, 1995): 7; Lornet Turnbull, “Ohio-Based Rubbermaid Inc. Heeds Findings from Consumer Focus Groups,” Akron Beacon Journal, February 18, 1996.

  245. Raju Narisetti, “Rubbermaid’s Plan to Buy Graco Is Eclipsed by Poor Profit Forecast,” Wall Street Journal, September 5, 1996; “Rubbermaid Sells Division To Newell,” Discount Store News, May 19, 1997, 2; Glenn Gamboa, “Rubbermaid Corp. Is Proposing a Nice, Neat Solution,” Akron Beacon Journal, August 6, 1997; “Rubbermaid to Consolidate Its Manufacturing, Distribution Operations,” Akron Beacon Journal, January 22, 1998; “Rubbermaid: Giant With a Fearful Sense of Purpose,” DIY Week, February 6, 1998, 22; Timothy Aeppel, “Rubbermaid Is On a Tear, Sweeping Away the Cobwebs,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 1998.

  246. Michael J. Milne, “Scott Paper Is On a Roll,” Management Review 77, no. 3 (March 1988): 37.

  247. “Scott Paper Fights Back, At Last,” BusinessWeek, February 16, 1981, 104.

  248. Bill Saporito, “Scott Isn’t Lumbering Anymore,” Fortune, September 30, 1985, 48; Michael J. Milne, “Scott Paper Is On a Roll,” Management Review 77, no. 3 (March 1988): 37; “Scott Paper Co.—History,” Gale Business Resources, 1990; “North American Earnings Plunge Again,” Pulp & Paper 65, no. 13 (December 1991): 25; Stuart C. Gilson and Jeremy Cott, “Scott Paper Company,” Harvard Business School, case study #9-296-048 (Boston: Harvard Business School Publishing, 1997); Albert J. Dunlap and Bob Andelman, Mean Business: How I Save Bad Companies and Make Good Companies Great (New York: Fireside, 1997), 11.

  249. “Zenith Wants to Give the Boob Tube a Brain,” BusinessWeek, May 6, 1985, 71; Bob Tamarkin, “Zenith’s New Hope,” Forbes, March 31, 1980, 32; “Zenith May Lead the Way in the Video Revolution,” BusinessWeek, February 23, 1981, 94.

  250. Robert Levering, Milton Moskowitz, and Michael Katz, “International Business Machines Corporation,” The 100 Best Companies to Work For In America (New York: New American Library, 1984), 163; Jonathan Martin, “IBM: International Business Machines Corporation,” Information Technology, no date, 147; David Kirkpatrick, “Breaking Up IBM,” Fortune, July 27, 1992, 44; International Business Machines, IBM 1992 Annual Report (Armonk, NY: International Business Machines Corporation, 1993); International Business Machines, IBM 1993 Annual Report (Armonk, NY: International Business Machines Corporation, 1994).

  251. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), dedication, 279.

  252. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 36, 54, 88, 102, 208; Judith H. Dobrzynski, “Rethinking IBM,” BusinessWeek, October 4, 1993, 86; Ira Sager, “IBM Reboots—Bit By Bit,” BusinessWeek, January 17, 1994, 82.

  253. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 44, 48, 50, 61, 63, 67, 72, 139, 204, 223.

  254. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 60, 132.

  255. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 1, 186, 201, 205, 221.

  256. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 20, 24, 36, 54, 57, 68–70, 92, 124, 139, 157, 165, 221; David Kirkpatrick, “Breaking Up IBM,” Fortune, July 27, 1992, 44.

  257. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 95, 98, 182, 208, 280.

  258. Louis V. Gerstner, Jr., Who Says Elephants Can’t Dance? Inside IBM’s Historic Turnaround (New York: HarperCollins, 2002), 66, 124, 188, 213.

  259. Jeffrey L. Rodengen, The Legend of Nucor (Ft. Lauderdale, FL: Write Stuff, 1997), 63, 70, 82; Fortune 1000 rankings, from Fortune.com website, February 9, 2001; Nucor Corporation, 2004 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2005), 3; Nucor Corporation, 2007 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2008), 23; John P. McDermott, “Steelmaker Nucor Pushes Ahead with Growth Plan Despite Turbulent Times,” Post and Courier, February 20, 2001; “Nucor CEO Resigns After Dispute Over Company Direction,” Industrial Maintenance & Plant Operation, July 1999.

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  261. Norm Heikens, “Profitable Steelmakers in Indiana Point to Management, Pay Structure,” Indianapolis Star, February 24, 2001; Nanette Byrnes and Michael Arndt, “The Art of Motivation,” BusinessWeek, May 1, 2006, 56; Susan Berfield, “The Best of 2006: Leaders,” BusinessWeek, December 28, 2006, 58; John P. McDermott, “Steelmaker Nucor Pushes Ahead with Growth Plan Despite Turbulent Times,” Post and Courier, February 20, 2001; Jessica Marquez and Patrick J. Kiger, “Retooling Pay,” Workforce Management, November 7, 2005, 1.

  262. Nucor Corporation, 2000 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2001).

  263. Nucor Corporation, 2002 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2003); Nucor Corporation, 2007 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2008); “Nucor Gets Loan,” Wall Street Journal, March 3, 1972, 11; “Nucor’s Big-Buck Incentives,” BusinessWeek, September 21, 1981, 42.

  264. Sue Herera, “Nucor Corp.—CEO Interview,” CEO Wire, December 2, 2003.

  265. Nucor Corporation, 2005 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2006).

  266. Nucor Corporation, 2000 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2001); Nucor Corporation, 2001 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2002); Nucor Corporation, 2002 An
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  267. Jim Collins, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap . . . And Others Don’t (New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 2001), 107; Nucor Corporation, 2000 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2001).

  268. Nucor Corporation, 2000 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2001); Nucor Corporation, 2001 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2002).

  269. Jessica Marquez and Patrick J. Kiger, “Retooling Pay,” Workforce Management, November 7, 2005, 1; Anil K. Gupta and Vijay Govindarajan, “Knowledge Management’s Social Dimension: Lessons from Nucor Steel,” Sloan Management Review 42, no. 1 (Fall 2000); Susan J. Marks, “Incentives That Really Reward and Motivate,” Workforce 80, no. 6 (June 2001): 108; Nanette Byrnes and Michael Arndt, “The Art of Motivation,” BusinessWeek, May 1, 2006, 56.

  270. Nucor Corporation, 2001 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2002); Nucor Corporation, 2003 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2004).

  271. Daniel DiMicco, “Steel Success Strategies XVI: Mini-Mill Takes Second Look—At Implementation,” American Metal Market, June 20, 2001, 17A.

  272. Nucor Corporation, 2001 Annual Report (Charlotte, NC: Nucor Corporation, 2002).

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