Could Intel’s recent past be Google’s future? Or worse: could both Intel and Google find themselves one day following the path of General Motors? It is extraordinarily difficult for even the best-run company to maintain a commanding position year after year in its chosen industry. And the last thing that decision makers want to do when they’re running a business at the top of its game is to remind themselves that bad things really do happen to good companies.
They might prefer not to contemplate it. And yet the evidence is everywhere.
- IBM once dominated the world of data processing. The IBM 360 was given its name because it surrounded your data needs by 360 degrees. No more.
- In 1970, Sales Management magazine described the five big U.S. tire manufacturers as enjoying unthreatened control over their market. Within two decades, four of the five either were bankrupt or had been absorbed by other firms.
- The A&P supermarket chain was once the nation’s largest retailer. Today, it is a German-owned concern with stores in six states and the District of Columbia. As the once-mighty business appears headed for the proverbial dustbin of history, the only remaining question seems to be: paper or plastic?
- In 1896, Dow Jones established its “Industrial Average” of a dozen leading companies’ stocks. A century later, only one firm on that list—General Electric—has survived as an independent entity.
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