I was intrigued by the stories of Ames Department Stores and Adressograph. These were a couple companies that I had never heard of before, but that once had dominant positions in their market. Competitors (Walmart and Pitney Bowes) are still thriving in the same markets, yet these earlier goliaths failed.
One of the key points the author had was that great companies often fail by overreaching. The companies introduce too many new products, strive for too much growth, all while their core market drifts away.
Some companies have drifted down the steps to extinction, only to revive themselves. Often it is a more humble leader rather than a superstar (IBM vs. HP) that helps them make it.
The conclusions seem to work out well with the sample size mentioned, but would they apply generally?
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