Built to Last explores the underlying reasons for the long-term success of American corporations. Jim Collins and Jerry Porras present a fresh look at the practices of 18 prominent corporations, including 3M, Wal Mart, Walt Disney, Boeing, Sony and Hewlett-Packard. In a 6-year study under the auspices of Stanford University's business school, Collins and Porras studied prominent long-lived companies in direct comparison with their competitors, all the while asking the question: “What makes truly great companies different from other companies.” Filled with hundreds of case studies presented as a harmonious model of practical concepts available for application by managers and entrepreneurs of all ranks, the book can serve as a brilliant guide to building organizations that can thrive throughout the 21st century and beyond.