The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs: Lessons from the 20 Greatest Business Decisions Ever Made [Paperback]

Tom Cannon (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Ultimate Series | Publication Date: February 22, 2001

The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs tells the stories behind the greatest
business decisions of all time and draws out the critical and universal lessons. From
Mickey Mouse to the invention of mass production at Ford, and from "just doing it"
with Nike to General Electric's research laboratory, these business breakthroughs
show how imagination, guts and conviction can transform a business or industry
overnight.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs At the heart of all business success is a key decision. The decision of one Coca Cola executive to give all GIs access to cheap supplies of Coke during World War II created the link between Coke and the American way of life that has sustained the firm ever since. Anita Roddick’s decision not to sell cosmetics tested on animals created a worldwide retail revolution. With insight and humour, The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs tells the story behind each decision and draws out the critical and universal lessons for all business people. From Mickey Mouse to the invention of mass production at Ford, and from ‘just doing it’ with Nike to General Electric’s research laboratory, these business breakthroughs show how imagination, guts and conviction can transform a business or industry overnight. At last the greatest business decisions of all are at your fingertips. All you need to do now is imagine the impossible. More Ultimate Books from Capstone The Ultimate Book of Business Brands The Ultimate Book of Business Creativity The Ultimate Book of Business Gurus The Ultimate Book of Business Quotations The Ultimate Book of Business Thinking The Ultimate Book of Investment Quotations The Ultimate Business Library The Ultimate Entrepreneur The Ultimate Investor

From the Back Cover

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Product Details

• Paperback: 302 pages
• Publisher: Capstone; 1 edition (February 22, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1841120286
• ISBN-13: 978-1841120287
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,291,936 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A BUSINESS BOOK TO ACTUALLY READ, March 26, 2000

By 

homefield - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs: Lessons from the 20 Greatest Business Decisions Ever Made (Paperback)

Most books written by successful business leaders are a combination of history and vanity. The history is adapted to suit the writers theme and the vanity can often obscure the lessons to be learnt from what the writer has achieved. This book manages to avoid both pitfalls by just looking at twenty decisions which have actually made a difference to the companies concerned. Some, almost by definition, are more relevant than others and some will already be familiar to readers. We all know the Ford story but the argument over the marketing name for the Sony Walkman will give confidence to many internet pioneers (perhaps including Amazon) who worry about the gramatical purity of the name they have chosen for their site. Some of the chapters will, at first sight, seem out of place. Was the decision to make the James Bond movies a business decision or a bit of artistic good luck? Professor Cannon shows that it was the former and how belief in a project can carry things forward to the point of success. The story of the Co-operative movement in Britain will probably be unfamiliar to US readers but it is an intriguing contrast to the stories on individual enterprise. Some of the chapters are a bit short but the excellent bibliography for each chapter will be extremely helpful to those who want to know more about a particular story. This is not a textbook for MBA students to learn by rote. It is light and easy to read and will appeal not just to managers wanting to gain lessons from the successes of the last two centuries but also to anyone who wants to know how many of the standard products which we now take for granted came to be in our homes. It's the sort of book we will be getting down from the bookcase in ten years time to settle an argument or to remind ourselves that determination is the basis of all success

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must Have For Any Entrepreneur, May 24, 2005

By 

Sytelus (WA, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Book of Business Breakthroughs: Lessons from the 20 Greatest Business Decisions Ever Made (Paperback)

I haven't bought whole bunch of business book but I can still tell this is one of the gem. The stories spawn through Silicon Valley to Henry Ford to McDonalds. The stressing point of each story is the decisions they tool which made them a huge success. Along the way you also get to know the way they confronted to problems, chances they decided to take and some highlights of the inner working of these organizations. This is extremely valuable text to learn lessons from the history. This compact readable book is a definite keeper on the shelves of any entrepreneur.