FORTUNE The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made radical choices that changed the course of business. Hardcover – October 2, 2012

A simple truism of life, management consultant Verne Harnish reminds us, is that success equals the sum total of all the decisions we make. While adding up all these decisions make for our success or failure, there are often singular choices that make monumental change.Such decisions made by great business leaders are the subject of Harnish's insightful and revealing new book, The Greatest Business Decisions of All Time: How Apple, Ford, IBM, Zappos, and others made Radical Choices that Changed the Course of Business.Determining the most significant business decisions is not an easy task. Harnish sagely turned to his colleagues at Fortune magazine, where he is a contributor, for help. The result is a fascinating compilation of the best business decisions made by successful companies.Harnish and his team of contributors single out 18 significant management decisions that are distinctive and often counter-intuitive. In their success, these decisions created a wave of imitation. Ultimately, the decisions selected here are those that have stood the test of time with undisputed value that could be applied to any business.Each chapter can be read independently, giving the reader the option to choose companies, decision makers, or subjects in selecting where to begin. It can prove to be a difficult and enticing choice; each author is an expert in the industry or subject they present and the writing is superb.Don't skip over the Foreword by Jim Collins, who from the first paragraph sets a tone for the rest of the book. Decisions, Collins suggests, are usually thought of as very much about "what?" In his research and interviews, however, Collins has found that the greatest decisions were not "what?" but "who?" They were always people decisions, he argues."Great decisions begin," Collins says, "with really great people and a simple statement: I don't know." The leaders who produced extraordinary results were those comfortable with saying "I don't know" until they knew, he concludes. My favorites in the list of 18 management decisions include:* APPLE: When the decision was made to rehire Steve Jobs as CEO of the company he founded after over 10 years, the result was the most valued company in the world.* ZAPPOS: The founders of this online shoe retailer made the decision to offer free shipping, free returns, and focus on fantastic customer service, helping to propel the company ahead of its competition.* SAMSUNG: Suffering from an inward-looking culture, this South Korean electronics company decided to institute a sabbatical program, investing in its talent by sending workers to other countries. Their networking proved an vital investment in the future.* 3M: One of the world's most innovative companies for nearly 100 years, 3M decided to give employees time to daydream, spending 15% of their time on their own projects. The result has been phenomenal innovation even during economic downturn.* NORDSTRUM: The decision to let customers make returns even if they didn't buy the item at one of its stores, made this company the world's best retailer. The Seattle-based company changed service standards with its liberal return policy.* JOHNSON & JOHNSON: At a cost of $100 million, this company pulled every bottle of Tylenol off the shelves when it was discovered that some bottles had been laced with cyanide. The CEO's determination that the company's first responsibility was to consumers became a textbook case.The writers excel at detailing the difficulty behind many of the decisions. This makes the reading interesting and the stories often dramatic. For example, Johnson & Johnson CEO James Burke had been cautioned against a Tylenol recall by no less than the FBI, who feared a panic. Toyota, when it made the decision to pursue zero defects went against Japanese culture and adopted an American's quality standards.This concise, short book is long on insight. It is a fascinating look at business decisions as well as the leaders who often struggled to make them. Put this book at the top of your business reading list.

Great book, easy read. Sees to be more of a collection of case studies rather than in-depth analysis, but it provides a nice overview of some radical decisions that have had a lasting impact on numerous organizations. If you're looking for depth and details, this isn't your book. But if you're interested in a quick and easy read, this is it!

What did Samsung do in 1990 that paved the way for the then marginal Korean company to become a global powerhouse? Why did Zappos decide to offer free shipping and what was the impact?The answer to these questions and many more about the greatest decisions ever made are in this no-nonsense book put together by the writers of Fortune.The book is pithy and straightforward collection of essays about 18 of the greatest business decisions of all time. The reader learns about the behind-the-scenes thinking of boards and CEOs faced with company-risking decisions, how they made them and how they came out.One thing that struck me was that essentially none of the decisions would have survived an MBA-like spreadsheet analysis because they were optimized "for the next quarter-century, not for the next quarter."Quick, helpful, entertaining.

Although the first chapter refers to Steve Jobs and Apple, the author adds something more about these two in almost every other chapter. Get over it.Besides that, easy to read, concise...I liked it.

You read all the time of bumbling business decisions. This book covers business decisions that were brilliant and some brilliant ones that almost did not happen. In any case, it is fascinating to read about how they came about and one can see the impact they had on culture, history and economics. A great read.

We make them every day in all aspects but do not contemplate what the ripple effect can be , or at least I do not . This is a great insight into some well know and some not so well known decisions that we have all bee touched by in some way . If i am struggling with an important decision in the future I will be turning back this for counsel. Thanks Verne and your team .

Powerful vignettes of key decisions kicked off with a must-read foreword by Jim Collins. Not only are the vignettes well written, they concisely capture a set of key decisions which are applicable to current decisions executives face. This book would quickly provide young business people historical context on decisions that continue to shape current day value propositions and business practices.A fun side note: I also have the Audible version of this book and found my teenage children wanting to sit in the car after arriving home just to hear the end of the stories.I'm thankful Verne Harnish kept a file of these decisions through the years...and, I hope he continues to add new material.

Great review of past business decisions. Many of these decisions were a turning point for those companies. Ways to compete and create value. Some great ideas in review.

Simple stories, which had impact on future of companies and industries

Apenas lo empece a leer esta muy práctico como todo lo que escribe Verne Harnish

The Book Binding Is simply "THE BEST".Tho I've ordered THE HARD-BOUND EDITION & got paperback....still Loved The product. Thankx

18 Long documented decisions. No need so many pages for that, just 20 would have been enough. I don't recommend it

A great book which shows how a number of businesses, spanning different industries, solved a diverse range of problems. Highly recommended.