ABSTRACT
In their book, In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s Best-Run Companies, Peters and Waterman (1982) identified 43 excellent companies and organizations to study. Their purpose in examining these excellent companies was to better understand what organizational and human characteristics led to organizational success. To be considered “excellent,” a company had to (a) be considered excellent by an informed group of observers (analysts, academicians, industry insiders), (b) be in the top half of its industry on four of six quantitative measures of profitability over a 20-year period, and (c) be regarded as having achieved a 20-year record of innovation by industry experts.
