Corporate Homicide?: The Remarkable Inside Stories of How Some of the World’s Most Famous Companies Destroyed Themselves

They were untouchable. They were blue chip corporations, legends in world business and everyone believed they were indestructible: Those icons of industry would last forever. Or so we thought. Kodak, King of Hollywood and Everyman’s photo world. Who would have predicted their demise? Same with Blockbuster, Tower Records, Schwinn Bicycles, Studebaker, Eastern Airlines, Zenith Electronics, American Motors, Pan Am. All gone. The unbelievable fact is that today just 12 percent of the Fortune 500 companies that were the bell weather indicators of American global power in l955 are still listed on the S &P. Most of them crashed and burned—dead and buried. What caused this catastrophe in companies that seemed guaranteed of their place in history—safe in predictions for the future and displaying the stability of the Statue of Liberty or the Rock of Gibraltar.

In “Corporate Homicide?” veteran business writer Jerry Feingold delivers a scathing and expert autopsy of what really happened to those giants of industry. And what led to their stunning demise. And he offers up the answer to the burning question: How was it allowed to happen? And above all he pinpoints who was really responsible for this unthinkable state of affairs? Feingold meticulously details how in each case the CEO of these companies, those so called “Captains of Industry”, led their army of employees—like suicidal lemmings—to their inevitable death.

These companies didn’t disappear overnight. Their death took a while. Feingold explores the questions, “What were these guys thinking?” and what specific mistakes did they make. Corporate Homicide? describes lost opportunities, how to recognize the potential danger a capricious decision might cause and most important – how to avoid and overcome these dangers.