Drawing upon a six-year research project at the Stanford University Graduate school of Business, Jim Collins and Jerry. Porras took eighteen truly exceptional and long-lasting companies and studied each in direct comparison to one of its top competitors. They examined the companies from their very beginning to the preset day - as start-ups, as midsize companies, and as large corporations. Throughout, the authors asked : "What makes the truly exceptional companies different from the comparison companies and what were the common practices these enduringly great companies followed through their history?"

Filled with hundreds of specific examples and organized into a coherent framework of practical concepts that can be applied by managers and entrepreneurs at all levels, Built to Last proves a master blueprint for building organizations that will prosper long into the 21st century and beyond.

"If what you're looking for is a fascinating historical study of the factors that made high-octane companies what they are today, we won't be disappoint by this work." - Brian Dumain, Fortune

"Built to Last is an unusual business book - serious researched, unconventional in its conclusion ...[it] is well worth reading, particularly by those engaged in trying to reinvigorate our nations' largest enterprises ." - Richard J. Tofel, Wall Street Journal