A must read for every business executive

A great book that provides 8 principles for a company to be excellent. It’s a shame that this book is almost four decades old, yet all of the problems of big organisations still remain...

This book was like going down memory lane as it chronicled big companies from my youth. A lot was repetitve; it could have been shorter.

Based on researches done by the authors (Peters and Waterman), this book discusses eight basics or themes that had proved, as per the authors, prevalent amongst ‘excellent’ companies more than 30 years ago; namely- A bias for action, Close to the customer, Autonomy and entrepreneurship, Productivity through people, Hands-on value-driven, Stick to the knitting, Simple form lean staff, and Simultaneous loose-tight properties.

Although these eight basics are recommended to nurture excellence in any company, I am still in doubt whether they are timeless and sufficient. After reading the book, the first question that comes to one’s mind is that whether these ‘excellent’ companies are still so? If not, which was the real case with some of the mentioned companies, was it because of weaknesses in the 8 basics, or due to ‘invisible’ rules or basics that were not addressed by the authors in the book?

The reader should avoid the trap of comparing her company to any of the companies mentioned in the book, instead, she should benchmark against the 8 basics per se. Companies change while basics do not if proven successful.

Regardless of whether the performance of these ‘excellent’ companies are maintained throughout the years or have deteriorated, I believe this book is a must read for any executive or business leader as it still delineates some of the best business behaviors to survive global challenges existing over ages.

After leaving my position as CEO of a small IT company after its new owner, an arrogant Wharton MBA, made my life hell, I decided to spend some time revisiting the old time business classics. While "In Search of Excellence, Lessons from America's Best-Run Companies" is truly an oldie, with several of the cited companies no longer in existence, and most no longer "great" companies, I think many of the concepts hold true: Be close to the customer, treat employees like adults, small is beautiful, try new things...good reminders for people who have been in business a long time, and good basic precepts for newbies.

One of the better business books out there. Still relevant 30 years after it was written, providing me much insight and wisdoem on how to motivate and lead by Dr. Peters study of excellent companies and why they succeed. More or less and I'm finding this to be a common theme, its the people in the organization and how they are managed that creates long-term success. A company is short-sighted if they think it is any one product alone because in this age with exponential competition, we must rely on the human capital to innovate, create and motivate a company's long-term success.

Honestly just two men rambling/fangirling about their favorite companies and saying the same thing over and over again. I skimmed the last like 40 pages.

KISS. Keep it simple, stupid! Unternehmensprozesse einfach halten.

Positive Bestärkung (Lob) bringt viel mehr als negative (Strafe)

This book changed my outlook of management and gave me the courage to empower the people in my organization to achieve great accomplishments.

Its always enlightening re-reading books. A recommended read for people to understand the significance of culture and foundational values of a corporation. Examples quoted are pretty old, and may not be directly applicable in today's environment.

A bit countercultural given the whole world’s embrace of analytics and bigger and bigger amounts of data to justify every business decision. The message is actually very simple - successful businesses find a way to encourage innovation, excite their employees, and stay close to their customers. But the way it is written can be very repetitive, relying on the same cases to illustrate the eight features they enumerate. Interesting food for thought, otherwise!

The fundamentals for small and large companies culture development are now so widely accepted and implemented i have nothing insightful to add. It's Common Sense for the Board room.