Peter GanimThe Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and Others Made Radical Choices That Changed the Course of Business.

A great book which shows how a number of businesses, spanning different industries, solved a diverse range of problems. Highly recommended.

Just finished this book by Verne on the Kindle and i liked the way the chapters were short, to the point and in many cases inspiring. A study of some great companies and legendary people, it really is an easy read. I liked Verne's Mastering the Rockefeller Habits Book and this one, whilst very different, is another great read. Took away one or two great ideas that could work in my world, so that was a bonus.

Solid book easy read.Steve jobs by and far won the book with Henry ford coming a close second for me

The main reason for me to read this book is to be inspired by ideas that I could use within my own companies. There are 18 short stories included within the book. Here's my search for the lessons to be learned:1. Steve Jobs return to Apple. Unsatisfactory as this was more a series of events that led to something beautiful rather than a deliberate decision to change the company. Through a combination of vision, accident and luck this happened but it's impossible to learn something from this. 2. Zappos: their decision to offer free shipping and mainly focus on customer service is a better lesson and it's interesting to read how the Zappos team just stumbled upon this decision. 3. Samsung: Interesting concept of sending young potentials abroad for a year to get familiar with market conditions and build a network. 4. Tylenol is a lesson in effective crisis management with an emphasis on transparancy and putting customers first in a crisis situation in 1982. 5. 3M got some amazing results by developing a culture in which 15% of employees time was spent on new projects and experiments.6. Intel Inside is the campaign that informed customers about a technical component and brought the Intel company a lot of recognition. Customers started to care about the components inside their PC. 7. Jack Welch setting up a GE university to develop his managers and push his company forward. 8. Bill Gates (MIcrosoft) Think Week retreat concept as a way to allow him to study ideas, concepts and rethink the Microsoft strategy on a regular basis. 9. Softsoap identified a key component (the plastic pump) and took control of the supply in the market, slowing up competitors. 10. Toyota chose in the early 50s to implement the lessons of Total Quality Management guru Deming and that brought the company a lot of success.11. Nordstrom's return policy distinguishes itself from competitors. 12. Tata reduction of workforce gave a good insight in the way an Indian company operates. 13. Boeing's decision to focus on transatlantic commercial jetliners. 14. Lou Gerstner got IBM, in Operation Bear Hug, to listen to its customers again. 15. Walmart's weekly Saturday morning meetings and involvement of employees to make decisions.16. Eli Whitney's decision to manufacture guns using unskilled labor instead of craftsmen. 17. The HP Way deals with a fundamental respect for the employees at the company. 18. Henry Ford's decision to improve wages for his workers and thus increase productivity, reduce absenteeism and make his employees wealthier so that they could spend money and buy cars.This book is a collection of business stories with an emphasis on strong strategic decisions, highly succesful leaders (i.e. Jobs, Gates, Welch). Some of the stories are infused with a bit of luck or having gambles go the right way (i.e. Whitney, Boeing). Most of the stories are familiar and difficult to one's own career or company. Zappos and Nordstrom focus on the curstomer, Tylenol's handling of a crisis and Bill Gates personal approach to catch up and think ahead as such are the most satisfying.

Lots of great short stories (20 +/-) - a must have for any inspired working mind!An absolute must have-

Fantastic book with great success stories. It is short and to the point. It gave me a lot of ideas to put into action. On the recommendation side, I would have liked more depths but overall, a great book.

Jim Collins good & great experiences as usual

This is the sort of book that busy managers will appreciate; short, easy to read and providing the sort of knowledge that can impress others, both at the dinner table and the Board Meeting.

Simple stories, which had impact on future of companies and industries

Apenas lo empece a leer esta muy práctico como todo lo que escribe Verne Harnish

The Book Binding Is simply "THE BEST".Tho I've ordered THE HARD-BOUND EDITION & got paperback....still Loved The product. Thankx

18 Long documented decisions. No need so many pages for that, just 20 would have been enough. I don't recommend it

A simple truism of life, management consultant Verne Harnish reminds us, is that success equals the sum total of all the decisions we make. While adding up all these decisions make for our success or failure, there are often singular choices that make monumental change.Such decisions made by great business leaders are the subject of Harnish's insightful and revealing new book, The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made Radical Choices that Changed the Course of Business.Determining the most significant business decisions is not an easy task. Harnish sagely turned to his colleagues at Fortune magazine, where he is a contributor, for help. The result is a fascinating compilation of the best business decisions made by successful companies.Harnish and his team of contributors single out 18 significant management decisions that are distinctive and often counter-intuitive. In their success, these decisions created a wave of imitation. Ultimately, the decisions selected here are those that have stood the test of time with undisputed value that could be applied to any business.Each chapter can be read independently, giving the reader the option to choose companies, decision makers, or subjects in selecting where to begin. It can prove to be a difficult and enticing choice; each author is an expert in the industry or subject they present and the writing is superb.Don't skip over the Foreword by Jim Collins, who from the first paragraph sets a tone for the rest of the book. Decisions, Collins suggests, are usually thought of as very much about "what?" In his research and interviews, however, Collins has found that the greatest decisions were not "what?" but "who?" They were always people decisions, he argues."Great decisions begin," Collins says, "with really great people and a simple statement: I don't know." The leaders who produced extraordinary results were those comfortable with saying "I don't know" until they knew, he concludes. My favorites in the list of 18 management decisions include:* APPLE: When the decision was made to rehire Steve Jobs as CEO of the company he founded after over 10 years, the result was the most valued company in the world.* ZAPPOS: The founders of this online shoe retailer made the decision to offer free shipping, free returns, and focus on fantastic customer service, helping to propel the company ahead of its competition.* SAMSUNG: Suffering from an inward-looking culture, this South Korean electronics company decided to institute a sabbatical program, investing in its talent by sending workers to other countries. Their networking proved an vital investment in the future.* 3M: One of the world's most innovative companies for nearly 100 years, 3M decided to give employees time to daydream, spending 15% of their time on their own projects. The result has been phenomenal innovation even during economic downturn.* NORDSTRUM: The decision to let customers make returns even if they didn't buy the item at one of its stores, made this company the world's best retailer. The Seattle-based company changed service standards with its liberal return policy.* JOHNSON & JOHNSON: At a cost of $100 million, this company pulled every bottle of Tylenol off the shelves when it was discovered that some bottles had been laced with cyanide. The CEO's determination that the company's first responsibility was to consumers became a textbook case.The writers excel at detailing the difficulty behind many of the decisions. This makes the reading interesting and the stories often dramatic. For example, Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke had been cautioned against a Tylenol recall by no less than the FBI, who feared a panic. Toyota, when it made the decision to pursue zero defects went against Japanese culture and adopted an American's quality standards.This concise, short book is long on insight. It is a fascinating look at business decisions as well as the leaders who often struggled to make them. Put this book at the top of your business reading list.