50 companies that changed the world

Over the past 200 years, many companies had the most impact on our world, and on the way, the business is done today. The same thing Howard Rothman takes up in this fascinating, easy reading jaunt through business history. I finished reading in this book and I found it a historical book with histories of all companies that changed or made impact in this world. This book contains a list of 50 Companies that had the most profound impact on the world around them.

The author ranked the firms according to their influence and contributions. International in scope, the selections range from obvious choices like Microsoft, AT&T, Toyota, and McDonald’s, to more provocative selections like CNN, the Walt Disney Company, and Ben & Jerry’s homemade. For each company the author presents a lively, historical sketch and discusses its strengths and weaknesses in the context of each company’s individual operations. It also tells about their size, capitalization, and information about their current leadership. It is both an entertaining read and a handy reference work. It is fun to read this book because it takes me to history of companies from all sectors.

If one is interested in, knowing the histories of famous, old companies that this is the perfect book to read. It mainly consists of companies that were established in 20^th century. One time I feel that these are not the companies that are affecting world today as Google and other big firms are missing out in this book. However, the collection of companies is relevant to history of the world. This book makes me learn how some of the greatest companies of all time achieved their success, stayed on the top of trend, and fell from pinnacle when they failed to follow the path that made them successful.

A management student, a businessperson, an employee should add this book into their library. In short, it is an historical book with consists of names of companies, leaders who drove them, obstacles they faced, their capitalization, number of employees, sales, changes they made to be on top, their acquisitions, and how they begin to produce. Read it once, it will add value to your knowledge.