Introduction

Why do Successful Companies Fail?

No financially successful firm wants to believe that failure could just be around the corner. But successful firms fail all the time and they fail dramatically. It is a common pattern: years of stellar profit growth and then sudden collapse.1 It does not appear to be confined to particular sectors or geographies. It happens to high-tech firms and low-tech firms, manufacturing businesses and service businesses, across all sectors of the economy and all around the world. It seems to be part of the price paid for success.

Once firms hit the wall, it is difficult to recover. Turning round a large corporation takes great leadership, huge resources and a good deal of serendipity. A few, like technology ...

Get Strategic IQ: Creating Smarter Corporations now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.