ABSTRACT
The history of business is littered with examples of companies which were born, achieved a high market share and then went into decline. Sometimes the final outcome was that of the firm disappearing completely (e.g. the US airline Pan Am). In other cases, some form of intervention permitted the business to survive but as a radically different trading entity (e.g. the once mighty, global UK motorbike brand Norton, which now only exists as a niche manufacturer of specialist machines).
