Serial Innovators Firms That Change the World

Author: Claudio Feser; Daniel Vasella
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 9781118149928
Published In: October 2011
Format: Hardback , 202 pages
Jurisdiction: International or US ? Disclaimer:
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The average life expectancy at birth" of a firm is roughly 15 years, and only one out of twenty lives longer than fifty years.

Firms are born, they grow, then they struggle to keep up with changing markets. Slow adapters often become big losers, fall by the wayside, and die. Serial Innovators studies the factors affecting the aging of firms, particularly those that slow down their ability to adapt to changes in the marketplace. The book reviews recent findings in relevant academic fields—behavioral economics, psychology, neuroscience, organizational science, network theory, anthropology, sociology, and strategy—to understand how firms, as they grow, develop rigidities that prevent change.

It develops a model of organization that is adaptive, innovative, and can create significant value for its stakeholders for long periods of time".

Foreword ix

Prologue xi

Introduction xiii

PART I THE EPHEMERAL NATURE OF FIRMS

CHAPTER 1 Meet Carl Berger 3

CHAPTER 2 Corporate Life Cycle 11

PART II INDIVIDUAL RIGIDITIES

CHAPTER 3 To Err Is Human 25

CHAPTER 4 The Greatest of All Time 39

CHAPTER 5 Rewiring Brains 55

PART III ORGANIZATIONAL RIGIDITIES

CHAPTER 6 Long Live Bureaucracy! 75

CHAPTER 7 In Brain We Trust 97

CHAPTER 8 What We Value 111

CHAPTER 9 What Not to Pay For 121

CHAPTER 10 Fast Learners 131

PART IV SERIAL INNOVATORS

CHAPTER 11 The Secrets of Serial Innovators 139

CHAPTER 12 Beyond Business: The Medici, Oxford, and the Catholic Church 155

CHAPTER 13 Legacy through Leadership 161

Afterword 167

Appendix A: Analysis of the Top 50 U.S. Firms of 1960 171

Appendix B: Corporate Aging and Survival 177

Appendix C: Key Questions for Transforming Your Firm 181

References 187

Acknowledgments 193

About the Author 195

Index 197

Claudio Feser is a Director of McKinsey & Company, where he leads the McKinsey CEO Network, a practice of the company that focuses on CEO training and coaching. Feser previously managed McKinsey offices in Switzerland and Greece. During his career, he has advised the CEOs of some of the world's largest and most renowned companies.