How the Mighty Fall... and Why Some Companies Never Give In, by Jim Collins; A meta-review

How the Mighty Fall... and Why Some Companies Never Give In, written by Jim Collins, was released in South Africa in June 2009. He investigates the way in which powerful and successful companies have fallen from greatness. By matching companies that pulled themselves out of decline with those that did not, Collins attempts to identify the warning signs of a company headed downwards. The book currently occupies the 20^th position on the Nielsen BookScan South African non-fiction chart.

What is it all about?

Collins' research into the rise (and sometimes fall) of companies such as IBM, Hewlett Packard, Bank of America and Motorola reveals five stages of decline, beginning with problems born out of success and ending in the final stage, that of "capitulation to irrelevance or death". Throughout, Collins investigates the roots of corporate failure and management's response to such failure.

Collins's five-stage framework provides companies with a way to diagnose and correct problems before the aforesaid 'capitulation'. The ultimate message is that success and failure are not based on external factors: "Whether you prevail or fail, endure or die, depends more on what you do to yourself than on what the world does to you."

Who is the author anyway?

From his management laboratory in Colorado, United States, Collins conducts research and teaches senior executives from the corporate and social sectors. He has written articles for a wide range of business magazines, including Fortune, The Wall Street Journal and Business Week. Two of his previous books, Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies and Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't, have sold seven million copies combined.

What do others think?

How the Mighty Fall was not as well received as Collins' two previous books.

While there was praise for Collins' methodology of pairing successful and less successful companies, criticism was levelled at the fact that a sample of 11 companies does not allow one to prove anything or identify common culprits across the board.

Also, although his analysis of management's response to decline seems to be on target, his description of the roots of decline is less so, with the book ignoring contradictory research. For example, while Collins holds that companies which stray from their core business are vulnerable to decline, the opposite is also true - those companies that are incapable of diversifying are equally at risk.

In summary, if you have read Collins' previous books, you will probably buy and enjoy How the Mighty Fall as well. The book is focused and trim, and you will likely be able to finish it on the aeroplane from Johannesburg to Cape Town and back.

However, if you are not yet a staunch Collins follower, you would probable do best to begin with Built to Last and Good to Great.

Don Sull, professor at the London Business School: "His failure to read or acknowledge a rich body of previous research that bears directly on his research question, in this case, has led him to rather facile observations."

Harvard Business Review: "My advice? Read the book, but skip over its half-hearted claims of rigour and go straight to the sage advice."

Reviewer on amazon.com: "This book had some great information in it, but it could have been done in an article in a magazine. There is just not enough substance to fill an entire book."

The Economist: "At the very least, How the Mighty Fall is worth buying as a gift for the hubristic boss in your life, to remind him of the need for humility."

How do I get hold of it?

How the Mighty Fall is published in South Africa by Random House Business. It is available at Exclusive Books at a recommended retail price of R265.00.