50 Companies That Changed the World [Hardcover]

Howard Rothman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2001

A subjective list of the 50 Companies that had the msot profound impact on the world around them. The firms included are ranked by the author according to their influence and contributions. International in scope, the selections range from obvious choices like Microsoft, AT&T, Toyota, and McDonald's, to more provocative selections like CNN, The Walt Disney Company, and Ben & Jerry's Homemade. For each company, the author presents a lively, historical sketch and discusses its strengths and weaknesses in the context of each company's individual operation, historical context, and specific industry. Each sketch also entertainingly and informatively spotlights the distinctive personalities, along with the unique products or services, that set it apart from its competitors.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Highly readable profiles... It is both an entertaining read and a handy reference work." -- Cecil Johnson , Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, June 27, 2001

"The well-written histories (offer) a good overview of the big names that shaped today's business world." -- Business 2.0, June 2001, Gordon Young

Highly readable profiles... It is both an entertaining read and a handy reference work. -- Cecil Johnson , Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, June 27, 2001

One of the year's top business books -- South China Morning Post, December 30, 2001

About the Author

Howard Rothman has been a retail clerk, vending machine repairman, public opinion pollster, newspaper reporter, magazine editor, advertising agency president, newsletter publisher, business consultant, Internet content provider, television event scout, and book author. He has also been a Business & Investment book reviewer at Amazon.com since 1996.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 254 pages
• Publisher: Career Press (January 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564144968
• ISBN-13: 978-1564144966
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,294,931 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Insightful!, June 11, 2001

By 

Rolf Dobelli "getAbstract" (Switzerland) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 50 Companies That Changed the World (Hardcover)

Howard Rothman, a writer who specializes in technology and management, profiles the 50 companies that had the strongest impact on the development of modern business. He sought input from high-tech executives, teachers, public relations professionals, engineers, business writers, shopkeepers, salespeople and managers in selecting the top 50, which he ranks in the order of their influence. While many of the stories in these four-page portraits are familiar, the book presents helpful historical profiles of how each company developed and influenced the business world and society. While some readers may like tackling all these capsule bios as a collection, many may prefer to regard the book more as an encyclopedia or directory and draw on the corporate information as needed. We [...] appreciate the solid work here, although the result may be more interesting as a reference book than as a cover-to-cover page-turner.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 50 Business Biographies in 1, May 16, 2001

By 

Robin Sasha (Phoenix, AZ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 50 Companies That Changed the World (Hardcover)

I just received this book as a gift and thought it was great. My wife bought it for me, knowing I like business biographies, and this book has fifty excellent ones. Starting with Microsoft and ending with Heinz, the author conveys the major moves and decisions that have made these the top corporations of all time, and he does so in a very readable way that keeps your interest throughout. The companies included here run the gamut from transportation to retail to communication to tech, so you get a very wide variety of examples of what makes a business a "world changer." You also get to see how many of these touch your own world on a regular basis, which may surprise you. I highly recommend this to others.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid, Sensible, and Open to Disagreement, July 14, 2003

By 

Robert Morris (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: 50 Companies That Changed the World (Hardcover)

The total number of companies on a list such as this need not be 50. Moreover, there can be (and is) honest disagreement about the inclusion of some companies and not others. My own opinion is that all of the 50 companies which Rothman selected are worthy of inclusion...as are several others. The great value of this book is that Rothman is more than a list maker and a writer of mini-profiles. As he explains in the Introduction, his purpose is to examine 50 companies "that have dramatically and permanently altered us. In the process, you will also see how the general structure of business -- and along with it, our society -- has evolved over the past few centuries. You will meet with some individuals with extraordinary vision, courage, and commitment who struggled to realize their ideas and drive their companies to success. n a very real sense, they are the true forces that have changed our world."

According to criteria which are unclear to me, Rothman ranks the 50 in terms of their relative impact: Microsoft is #1 and H.J. Heinz is #50. In doing so, Rothman also invites honest disagreement about his ranking decisions. I certainly disagree with the ranking of Wal-Mart at #10. Oh well. He devotes about four pages to each of the 50 companies, with a "Fact File" preceding his brief commentary. He also includes a section called "Honorable Mentions" following by an extensive Bibliography.

This is a solid and sensible but not especially thought-provoking book, except to those who disagree with Rothman's selections and ranking of them, one which provides quite a bit of information on companies which have obviously made significant contributions to our society and, in most instances, to the global marketplace in which they have competed. To his Bibliography, I presume to add H.W. Brands's Masters of Enterprise, Stuart Crainer's The Management Century, the Forbes Greatest Business Stories of All Time, and John Micklethwait and Adrian Wooldridge's The Company.