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This book analyses what has enabled some businesses to last so long, while competitors in
the same markets either struggle to get by, or fade away after a short time.

It does this by comparing 18 well-known, well-established and healthy companies with less successful counterparts in their area of business.

Organisations such as General Electric, Boeing, Disney, Hewlett-Packard and Proctor & Gamble are put under the microscope with fascinating results.

There are some intriguing findings. The successful companies all have a number of common characteristics such as a core ideology that guided them in times of upheaval and served as a constant benchmark. Another central idea, according to the authors, is that visionary companies start with a great product and are pushed into the future by charismatic leaders.

The real point of Built to Last  is to try and find patterns of ongoing success and use these as a basis for a set of guidelines and principles that companies, of all sizes, can use to keep themselves growing, strong, and ahead of the competition.