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50 Companies That Changed the World

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50 Companies That Changed the World

Incisive Profiles of the 50 Organizations, Large and Small, That Have Shaped the Course of Modern Business

Career Press,

15 min read
9 take-aways
Text available

What's inside?

If you thought rankings based on influence, popularity and money went out with high school, think again. Here are the fifty top companies, in order of muscle.

Editorial Rating

7

Qualities

  • Overview
  • Concrete Examples
  • Engaging

Recommendation

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 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. getAbstract appreciates the solid work here, although the result may be more interesting as a reference book than as a cover-to-cover page-turner.

Summary

Living in a Corporate World

Fifty pivotal companies dramatically and permanently affected the evolving structure of business and society. Virtually all of them continue to have a big impact on how you live.

Just as an example, the author wrote this book on an Apple computer with a Netscape browser, using Microsoft word-processing software and a Hewlett-Packard printer. He bought a card table and chairs from Wal-Mart. He received FedEx deliveries about three times a week, and regularly watched CNN on his cable connection from AT&T.

As a group, these top 50 companies have done well on the stock market. Even with the market instability of the latter half of 2000, these companies are long established and generally profitable, with a good chance of rebounding with the economy and doing even better than other companies in their fields.

The Top Five

Microsoft Corp. - Founded 25 years ago by boyhood friends Bill Gates and Paul Allen, this is the most powerful company in the world today. Its software runs 90% of all PCs. The 1990 release of Windows 3.0, the most refined update of its operating system, was Microsoft’s biggest breakthrough. Believing that...

About the Author

Howard Rothman has been a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, book author, newspaper publisher, Internet content provider, small business owner and consultant to major corporations, among other occupations. He has written seven books, including the best-selling and critically acclaimed: Companies with a Conscience: Intimate Portraits of Twelve Firms That Make a Difference, which he co-authored with Mary Scott.

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