A Culture of Discipline
51 questions available
Questions
According to the book, what is the primary purpose of bureaucracy and hierarchy in most companies?
View answer and explanationWhat two complementary forces, when combined, are described as creating a 'magical alchemy of superior performance'?
View answer and explanationAccording to the 'Good-to-Great Matrix of Creative Discipline,' a great organization is characterized by what?
View answer and explanationWhat is the primary lesson from the 'rinsing your cottage cheese' story about triathlete Dave Scott?
View answer and explanationHow many times did world-class athlete Dave Scott, the inspiration for the 'rinsing your cottage cheese' factor, win the Hawaii Ironman Triathlon?
View answer and explanationWhat is the crucial distinction the chapter makes between a 'culture of discipline' and 'tyrannical' leadership?
View answer and explanationWhat action did Carl Reichardt take at Wells Fargo that exemplified 'rinsing your own cottage cheese'?
View answer and explanationAfter Ray MacDonald retired from Burroughs in 1977, what happened to the company's cumulative stock returns by the year 2000?
View answer and explanationWhat is the most important form of discipline for achieving sustained great results?
View answer and explanationWhat is the primary message of the airline pilot analogy used in the chapter?
View answer and explanationHow did George Rathmann, founder of Amgen, avoid the 'entrepreneurial death spiral'?
View answer and explanationWhat was the core principle of the 'Responsibility Accounting' system at Abbott Laboratories?
View answer and explanationAt its innovation peak, what percentage of revenues did Abbott Laboratories derive from new products introduced in the previous four years?
View answer and explanationWhat is a 'stop doing' list, as exemplified by Darwin Smith at Kimberly-Clark?
View answer and explanationUnder the leadership of Stanley Gault, Rubbermaid beat the market 3.6 to 1. What happened to the company's value relative to the market after he departed?
View answer and explanationWhat paradox about discipline does the chapter emphasize for great companies?
View answer and explanationWhat was R.J. Reynolds' critical lack of discipline, in contrast to Philip Morris, after the 1964 surgeon general's report?
View answer and explanationWhat happens when a company has disciplined action without disciplined people and disciplined thought?
View answer and explanationWhat was the result of Lee Iacocca's 'highly undisciplined diversifications' in the second half of his tenure at Chrysler?
View answer and explanationHow did the good-to-great companies use budgeting differently from typical companies?
View answer and explanationWhat was the mechanism Darwin Smith at Kimberly-Clark used to combat 'title creep' and bureaucratic layering?
View answer and explanationAccording to the chapter, which of these unsustained comparison companies was led by the Level 4 tyrant Ray MacDonald?
View answer and explanationWhat does the chapter claim is the single most important form of discipline for sustained results, a point summarized in the Key Points section?
View answer and explanationWhy did the research team almost not include the chapter on discipline in the book?
View answer and explanationWhat does the book suggest is the likely outcome for a company with a high ethic of entrepreneurship but a low culture of discipline?
View answer and explanationHow did Kimberly-Clark demonstrate its discipline after deciding to exit the paper business?
View answer and explanationWhat is the paradox of opportunity for a company that stays within its three circles?
View answer and explanationWhen Lee Iacocca's Chrysler was struggling, he told the unions, 'If you don't help me out, I'm going to blow your brains out. I'll declare bankruptcy in the morning, and you'll all be out of work.' What does this exemplify?
View answer and explanationWhat was the critical error made by the unsustained comparison companies regarding discipline?
View answer and explanationAccording to the chapter, why do good-to-great companies often appear 'boring and pedestrian' from the outside?
View answer and explanationHow much more did Warner-Lambert, the comparison company, spend on consumer-goods advertising than on R&D while trying to be like the R&D-heavy Merck?
View answer and explanationWhat was the estimated loss for Chrysler on its joint venture with Italian sports car maker Maserati?
View answer and explanationWhen Bank of America was in a crisis period, a board member made sensible suggestions like 'Sell the corporate jet.' What was the outcome?
View answer and explanationWhat is the key insight about the order of building a great company, as mentioned in Chapter 6?
View answer and explanationIn the comparison between Philip Morris and R.J. Reynolds, what was the disciplined approach Philip Morris took to its Hedgehog Concept after the 1964 surgeon general's report?
View answer and explanationWhat is the danger of a tyrannical disciplinarian like Stanley Gault or Lee Iacocca, even if they produce spectacular initial results?
View answer and explanationBetween 1964 and 1989, how did a one dollar investment in Philip Morris compare to a one dollar investment in R. J. Reynolds?
View answer and explanationWhy do great companies need a 'stop doing' list in addition to a 'to do' list?
View answer and explanationWhat paradoxical challenge does a disciplined company face regarding growth opportunities?
View answer and explanationIn the Good-to-Great Matrix, an organization with a high culture of discipline but a low ethic of entrepreneurship is described as what?
View answer and explanationWhat was the core reason that the discipline imposed by leaders like Ray MacDonald at Burroughs was not sustained?
View answer and explanationHow did Nucor's approach to its culture of discipline differ from that of Bethlehem Steel?
View answer and explanationWhat is the fact that something is a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity' to a good-to-great company?
View answer and explanationHow many consecutive years of positive profitability did Nucor post from 1966 to 1999, a period during which Bethlehem Steel lost money twelve times?
View answer and explanationIn the 1982 recession, Nucor worker pay went down 25 percent. By what percentage did the CEO's pay go down?
View answer and explanationIn the comparison between the sustained discipline of good-to-great companies and the unsustained discipline of comparison companies, what was the key difference?
View answer and explanationWhat was the 'somewhat puzzling strategy' that Warner-Lambert employed in 1987 while trying to be more like Merck?
View answer and explanationWhat does the author suggest is the primary reason that few successful start-ups become great companies?
View answer and explanationIn the 1970s, what was Darwin Smith's rationale for unplugging Kimberly-Clark from all paper industry trade associations?
View answer and explanationThe chapter argues that great companies are more likely to die from what?
View answer and explanationWhat was the final point of failure for Warner-Lambert, a company that lurched between different strategies for years?
View answer and explanation