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Think Big, Act Small : How America's Best Performing Companies Keep the Start-up Spirit Alive | 
 enlarge | Author: Jason Jennings
Publisher: Amazon Remainders Account
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy New: $5.89
You Save: $19.06 (76%)
New (10) Used (16) from $4.62
Avg. Customer Rating:  18 reviews
Sales Rank: 83148
Format: Bargain Price
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 5.9 x 1
ASIN: B000EHRN4A
Publication Date: May 5, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Tradition says there are three ways to grow a company's revenue: fire up the sales team with empty promises, cut costs and downsize, or cook the books. But what if there's a better way -- a way that nine amazingly profitable and well-run companies are already embracing.Jason Jennings and his research team screened more than 100,000 American companies to find nine that rarely end up on magazine covers, yet have increased revenues and profits by 10 percent or more for ten consecutive years. Then they interviewed the leaders, workers and customers of these quiet superstars to find the secrets of their astoundingly consistent and profitable growth. Jennings discovered that consistent high performance takes more than locker-room speeches to the sales team. What these companies have in common is a culture based on a shockingly simple precept: Think big, but act small. It works for retailers like PETCO and Cabela's, manufactures like Medline Industries, service companies like Sonic Drive-In, private educational companies like Strayer, and industrial giants like Koch Enterprises. In Think Big, Act Small, Jennings reveals the unique power of combining the strengths of a big organization with the hunger of a start-up. Any company, no matter what its size or industry, can benefit from following these examples.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 13 more reviews...
Yes, You Can Grow Big and Still Act Fast and Lean December 28, 2008
A simple premise: to find the best-performing companies in America, with consistent double-digit growth in both revenues and profits. There are only nine that meet both the revenue tests and an additional test around ethics, and they have several things in common that bear out my contention that ethical companies perform better.
Among these: they are highly ethical, extremely customer-focused, create and maintain loyal employees within a specific company culture (and enjoy extremely minimal turnover), and have CEOs who are accessible scorn the trappings of power, and list their home phone numbers in the local directory.
Shel Horowitz's award-winning sixth book, Principled Profit: Marketing That Puts People First, demonstrates how to build a business around ethics, environmental sustainability, and cooperative practices--and how to develop marketing that highlights those advantages.
 Another book along the lines of Good to great November 18, 2007
Have you read "Good to Great" by Jim Collins? If the answer is "Yes", you don't have to spend a lot of time in reading this book. At least, 50% of the book conveys what is already told in Good to Great. Of course, with different stories as example.
I liked two concepts from this book - "Have everyone think and act like an owner" & "Choose your competitors". It is hard to institutionalize the first concept, though.
Choosing your competition is something that many companies forget to do (or) they don't do it right. Many of them aim to reach the sky and at the end, do not even take off from the land.
If you are wondering how to keep the startup spirits alive in your giant corporation, this is a good book to read.
Great Book! August 23, 2007
I loved this book. It's an easy, enjoyable read, and very rich in information on how companies we know and love have made it through difficult times and the habits and beliefs they live on a day-to-day basis. Very interesting and insightful. I plan to re-read it in case I missed anything the first go-round.
10 successful companies explain what makes them great. May 30, 2007
The book covers the study of 10 companies that have had an increase in revenue and profit of 10%, or more, for 10 consecutive years. There are many similarities with "Good to Great", however, this book deals with smaller companies and the leader at the helm is written about in more detail than "Good to Great". Like any great book on leadership and business you will find that the key to greatness is, you guessed it, FUNDAMENTALS. I particularly enjoyed the study of Koch Industries. Mr. Charles Koch guiding principles are outlined well in this book and I believe they are worth studying and implementing. They certainly have produced incredible results for his business conglomerate. Overall this book was well written and I was able to get some great nuggets of practical information from all 10 of the companies studied. I really enjoyed it, and got enough out of it to give it the 5 stars.
Stories of Business Practices, Culture, & Philosophy of Nine Successful Companies January 20, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is a great business practice/philosophy book. It doesn't throw numbers at you or tell you how to hit your quarterly target. Instead, the stories of nine culturally healthy and monetarily profitable companies are told. The format is interviews with the company leaders and other key players. Jennings expounds on the interviews and builds similarities among the companies. For instance, these companies don't acquire customers or clientele, they build communities and fans.
The stories are inspiring because they truly start from the beginning. For example, Dick Cabela purchased fishing flies in Chicago for only pennies apiece. When he returned home to the Midwest, he put an ad in a sportsmen magazine and the orders started to roll in. He and his wife filled orders on the kitchen table and their first warehouse was the shed in the backyard. Today, Cabela's is one of the largest outdoors specialty merchandisers/retailers in the US, grosses more than $1.5B, and their stores are considered tourist attractions.
One more story: Charles O'Reilly and his son Chub worked at an automotive parts store for years. Charles was let go at the age of 72 and Chub was transferred out of state by some higher-ups, as I like to call them. So Charles decided to open a competing store. Chub was a cofounder and they also hired 10 employees from their competitors under one condition, "anyone joining the new company had to make an investment and become and owner."
These companies don't make big 5-10 year plans, instead they focus on today through next year and sometimes two years ahead. They claim making big plans never work because trends, business, technology, etc. change too often and you lose site of the fundamentals and current goals and neglect suppliers (partners) and customers (the community). Additionally, resources are wasted trying to achieve something that might never be. However, they do focus on being extremely adaptable; ready to refocus the entire company or invent new businesses in short notice.
Bottom line, all the stories and lessons are inspiring and invaluable. Considerable focus is placed on the cultures of these companies. Basically, they don't worry about making money and acquiring customers. They concentrate on building a healthy culture, make sure employees are happy, and provide solutions to problems; gaining wealth and customers is only an axiomatic consequence.
The nine companies interviewed are PETCO, Koch Industries, Sonic, Cabela's, Medline Industries, O'Reilly Automotive, Dot Foods, SAS Institute, Strayer Education. The companies presented have grown revenues by at least 10% for 10 consecutive years.
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