Jim Collins

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James C. "Jim" Collins (born January 25, 1958 in Aurora , Colorado ) is an American management expert.

Life

Jim Collins studied mathematics at Stanford University . He added an MBA postgraduate course to his studies , followed by 18 months as a consultant at McKinsey . He then worked as a product manager for Hewlett-Packard .

From 1988 to 1995 Jim Collins taught as a professor of entrepreneurship at Stanford University, where he was voted an “outstanding teacher” by the students. However, it was in conflict with the framework conditions at the university . That is why he founded a center for management research in his former primary school building in Boulder (Colorado) in 1995 , which he has been successfully running to this day.

This is how the professor for business start-ups became a professor who founded a business. Today he is active in various research projects, the results of which he repeatedly publishes in book form. Two of his studies resulted in the books Always Successful ( English : Built to last ) and The Path to the Best (English: Good to great ), which achieved worldwide bestseller status. That is why he is now considered one of the most significant corporate thinkers in the United States . He also passes on his knowledge and experience in management seminars .

Collins is also interested in top performance in his private life: the internationally renowned management expert conquers mountains in his free time . In order to be able to practice regularly, he has a climbing wall in his garden . Already in his student days Collins founded a school for climbers to be able to finance his studies.
Collins has been married to 1985 Ironman Hawaii winner Joanne Ernst since late 1980 . Collins had met Ernst, who was also studying at Stanford University, in the spring of that year at an eight-mile running event.

Theories

Jim Collins is known in the management world for the following principles and insights .

In his first book, Built to last , Collins describes how a great company can keep its performance for years. In the second book, Good to great , principles were worked out which could turn a good company into a great one.

Hedgehog principle
  • The principle "first who, then what" describes that in a company you first have to build a functioning, strong team (who) with the right employees before this team takes care of the strategy (what).
  • He found that all successful companies at the start of a new phase had managers with "level 5 leadership skills" in the top positions. “Level 5” symbolizes the highest of five levels for the classification of management qualities. Characteristic for a level 5 manager are: modesty , determination, restraint, toughness and no starry airs.
  • The “hedgehog principle” consists of three overlapping circles / questions which, according to Collins, have to be considered and weighted to a similar extent. Answering the questions and implementing the concept should ensure long-term success for the company. An area suitable for an enterprise should inspire employees, there should be a reasonable prospect of the company becoming the best at it, and the area should offer the prospect of good profit.
  • You can only make the way to the top if you concentrate on the goal; you have to "look reality in the eye" . This means that decisions should be based on experience, data and facts.
  • The five-step “path to shame” : The first phase is the arrogance born of success , then comes the undisciplined pursuit of more and the negation of risk and danger . The fourth phase is the search for redemption and finally surrender to irrelevance and death . For the first time, the five-step path to shame was on everyone's lips when the car manufacturer Toyota had to admit massive design and production defects in several series in January 2010 . The grandson of the company founder had already months before the shortcomings became known in a sensational speech, vehemently criticizing the management staff and explaining that Toyota was shortly before the fourth stage on the "path to shame" .

Works

  • Jim Collins, William C. Lazier: Managing the Small to Mid-Sized Company. Concepts and Cases Homewood. Irwin Professional Publishing, Chicago 1995, ISBN 0-256-14280-7 .
  • Jim Collins: The Road to the Best. The seven management principles for lasting corporate success. dtv , Munich 2003, ISBN 3-423-34039-8 . (Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2011, ISBN 978-3-593-38648-5 )
  • Jim Collins, Jerry I. Porras: Always Successful. The strategies of the top companies. dtv, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-423-34209-9 .
  • Jim Collins: How the mighty fall. And why some companies never give in. Random House Business Books, London 2009, ISBN 978-1-84794-042-1 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Adam Bryant, For This Guru, No Question Is Too Big In: New York Times May 23, 2009
personal data
SURNAME Collins, Jim
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Collins, James C.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American manager
DATE OF BIRTH January 25, 1958
PLACE OF BIRTH Aurora (Colorado) , United States