- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Portfolio Hardcover (Jan 3 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1591840937
- ISBN-13: 978-1591840930
- Product Dimensions: 23.3 x 16.2 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 454 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #219,818 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
What do the Anchor Stream microbrewery and underground rock star Ani DiFranco have in common? The two are among Burlingham's examples of privately held businesses that have become "giants" in their field without becoming huge corporations. (And if you don't think being a rock star is a business, consider that DiFranco's dealings with local vendors in her Buffalo neighborhood have led to the creation of more than 100 new jobs.) For the 14 small companies profiled here, success comes by getting richer, not by getting bigger. Burlingham's central conceit, that these are companies that excel in generating "mojo," may seem abstract at first, but he carefully demystifies the term by focusing on issues like community relations and customer service. The owners he interviews speak from hard-won experience about resisting the pressure to simply keep expanding or sell the company to the highest bidder and staying true to their original visions for excellence. Burlingham, an editor-at-large at Inc., closes his account with a tribute to the magazine's late founder, Bernard A. Goldhirsh, whose celebration of entrepreneurship and loose managerial style clearly provided a lasting influence. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
This well-written book should inspire thousands of entrepreneurs to reject a mantra of growth for growth’s sake in favor of a passionate dedication to becoming the absolute best. Bo Burlingham reminds us of a vital truth: big does not equal great, and great does not equal big. (Jim Collins, author of Good to Great)
It aims to do for small private companies what In Search of Excellence did two decades ago for big public companies: shine a light on a handful of business practices the author admires, and which he believes are the reason some companies consistently do better than others. (Joseph Nocera, The New York Times)
Small Giants is one of the most relevant and articulate arguments for staying bold and creative, intimate and manageable as I have ever read. I guarantee that expression and the arguments for staying small will cause a collective sigh of relief from thousands of entrepreneurs. (Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop)
With new management books arriving by the boatload, Bo Burlingham has somehow managed the near impossible—he’s given us a true original. Moreover, in the process he may have ‘discovered’ the most interesting and under-reported corner of the U.S. economy. In short, Small Giants is a Large Masterpiece. Bo’s reporting is stupendous, and his writing and storytelling skills make the book equal parts fun and profound. (Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence)
The fourteen companies that Bo Burlingham... features in his new book Small Giants demonstrate conclusively that a company can resist the temptation to keep getting bigger and bigger—and wind up better for it. (Cecil Johnson, The Fort Worth Star- Telegram)
For all you harried entrepreneurs out there, Bo Burlingham has a reassuring message: Relax. Bigger isn’t necessarily better. The wonderful stories in Small Giants show you how to prosper by retaining the vision of excellence that got you into business in the first place. (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of Confidence)
Bo Burlingham’s done for private companies what Jim Collins did for public companies in Good to Great. (Steve Pearlstein, The Washington Post)
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
It aims to do for small private companies what In Search of Excellence did two decades ago for big public companies: shine a light on a handful of business practices the author admires, and which he believes are the reason some companies consistently do better than others. (Joseph Nocera, The New York Times)
Small Giants is one of the most relevant and articulate arguments for staying bold and creative, intimate and manageable as I have ever read. I guarantee that expression and the arguments for staying small will cause a collective sigh of relief from thousands of entrepreneurs. (Anita Roddick, founder of The Body Shop)
With new management books arriving by the boatload, Bo Burlingham has somehow managed the near impossible—he’s given us a true original. Moreover, in the process he may have ‘discovered’ the most interesting and under-reported corner of the U.S. economy. In short, Small Giants is a Large Masterpiece. Bo’s reporting is stupendous, and his writing and storytelling skills make the book equal parts fun and profound. (Tom Peters, author of In Search of Excellence)
The fourteen companies that Bo Burlingham... features in his new book Small Giants demonstrate conclusively that a company can resist the temptation to keep getting bigger and bigger—and wind up better for it. (Cecil Johnson, The Fort Worth Star- Telegram)
For all you harried entrepreneurs out there, Bo Burlingham has a reassuring message: Relax. Bigger isn’t necessarily better. The wonderful stories in Small Giants show you how to prosper by retaining the vision of excellence that got you into business in the first place. (Rosabeth Moss Kanter, author of Confidence)
Bo Burlingham’s done for private companies what Jim Collins did for public companies in Good to Great. (Steve Pearlstein, The Washington Post)
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
First Sentence
At the Anchor Brewery on Mariposa Street in San Francisco, the air was thick with the sweet aroma of fermenting beer and the buzz of a tour group sampling the finished product in the oak-paneled taproom, but Fritz Maytag was oblivious to it all as he stood in his cluttered office, thumbing through a small, turquoise hardback book that had just arrived in the mail. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
At the Anchor Brewery on Mariposa Street in San Francisco, the air was thick with the sweet aroma of fermenting beer and the buzz of a tour group sampling the finished product in the oak-paneled taproom, but Fritz Maytag was oblivious to it all as he stood in his cluttered office, thumbing through a small, turquoise hardback book that had just arrived in the mail. Read the first page
Explore More
Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
2.0 out of 5 stars
Short on details, lacking in structure,
By
This review is from: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (Paperback)
It could be made into a really great article, instead it is a long winded book.The structure of the book should have been a series of articles, clearly that is the author's talent. Instead he wanted to write a book and thus walked away from his best skill. It meanders and fails to make points, instead drawing things on and on. It is great if you want to read little sections and feel inspired to go out there and find or build a great workplace, but it is difficult to sit down with this book, it is like trying to have a long, meaningful conversation with someone who has ADD. It has great examples and lovely research, I just wish the author had more respect for his own talent and didn't ignore it trying to be good at something else. That does seem especially odd since the book is about people learning to focus on what they do best.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Incredibly useful....,
By Woody Huizenga (Ottawa, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (Paperback)
I picked up this book while on vacation. Was so impressed I bought a copy for my business partner, and seven more for people who work for us. If you own/operate a small company and you need useful, actionable advice on how to build (everything from hiring to financing to succession), buy this book today!
4.0 out of 5 stars
Have a look a Amazon.com for a more accurate rating,
By
This review is from: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big (Paperback)
Great book - don't let the 2/5 stars phase you. If you check out Amazon.com you will see the avg rating is 4.5/5I highly recommend this book if you are trying to figure out whether bigger is better? And the validation that small is the new big.
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