James C. Collins (born 1958) is an American researcher, author, speaker and consultant focused on the subject of business management and company sustainability and growth.[3][4]
Biography
Collins received a BS in Mathematical Sciences at Stanford University, graduating in 1980.
He then spent 18 months in McKinsey & Co.'s San Francisco office. He was exposed to what may have been an influential project for him – two partners at McKinsey, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, were running a McKinsey research project that later turned into the best-seller In Search of Excellence.[5]
He published his first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company co-authored with William C. Lazier, in 1992.
He published his first best-seller Built To Last, co-authored with Jerry Porras, in 1994.
In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in Boulder, Colorado, where he now conducts research and teaches executives from the corporate and social sectors.[6] During that time, Collins has served as a senior executive at CNN International, and also worked with social sector organizations, such as: Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the Girl Scouts of the USA, the Leadership Network of Churches, the American Association of K-12 School Superintendents, and the United States Marine Corps.[citation needed]
How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In
Built to Last has been a fixture on the Business Week best-seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 25 languages.
Good to Great, "about the factors common to those few companies ... to sustain remarkable success for a substantial period," attained long-running positions on the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Business Week best-seller lists, has sold over 2.5 million hardcover copies, and has been translated into 32 languages.[citation needed]
His most recent book is Great by Choice.
Before that he wrote How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In.
^Aron Cramer, Zachary Karabell (2010) Sustainable Excellence: The Future of Business in a Fast-Changing World. : This books states that "... strategists like Jim Collins, in his seminal book Good to Great, have noted the importance of a corporate mission, sustainability provides a specific and urgent purpose that is redefining business." (p. 7)
^Philip Kotler, Hermawan Kartajaya, Iwan Setiawan (2010) Marketing 3.0: From Products to Customers to the Human Spirit. p. 115
^ abLenzner, Robert. "Good To Great". Forbes. Retrieved April 7, 2023.
^About his wife, he once stated, "We’ve been married 20 years and we have 50–50 ownership ... but she holds all the voting shares." Source: Strategy & Business. (1998) Nr 22-25. p. 49