100 Great Businesses and the Minds Behind Them

International bestseller!

Library Journal

What are the secrets behind the phenomenal success of companies like eBay, Google, and Home Depot and such products as the Barbie doll and Hallmark cards? And what about world-renowned businesspeople like Oprah Winfrey and Richard Branson? Ross and Holland, a senior writer and a senior editor, respectively, for two prominent Australian magazines, profile these companies, people, and their products and write about why and how they have achieved their tremendous popularity and major financial success. According to the authors, what the companies profiled have in common is "a talent for innovation which can take many forms, inventing a whole new product, taking somebody else's idea and making it work better, or simply taking over the market simply by selling products cheaper than anybody else." Companies, individuals, and products profiled are arranged within categories, e.g., "The Crowd-Pleasers," which focuses on products such as Pixar, Baby Einstein, Barbie, and Hallmark cards; and "Born To Sell," where Ray Kroc, Michael Dell, Mary Kay Ash, and other hugely successful entrepreneurs are portrayed. Each profile describes the history of the relevant company and presents portraits of its founders and/or CEOs, along with a bibliography for further reading. This book provides an excellent starting point for those researching individual companies and is highly recommended to academic and public libraries.-Lucy Heckman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Jamaica, NY Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.