How the Mighty Fall:And Why Some Companies Never Give In?

The financial crisis of 2008 saw several giant corporations opting for Chapter 11 (Liquidation), especially in the financial and real estate sectors, in a surprisingly accelerated manner, slowly engulfing other sectors and spreading to become a worldwide phenomenon. The background for How the Mighty Fall cannot be more appropriate. Exploring the dark and grim sides of a firm’s performance, it is downfall, the book tries to address two important contextual questions: “What are the factors which led to the fall of great companies?” and more significantly, “How the managers and leaders can identify the downslide early enough and what actions, if any, can be taken to prevent it?” The book had its origin when the author was having a discussion with the leaders from military, business and social domains. He was perplexed by the enquiry from one of the participants, a CEO of a large company: “How will you recognize symptoms of downslide if you are at the pinnacle and success blinds the early signals of decline?” In this book, the author, using comparative case study method, tries to identify the patterns in the downfall of once great companies, and delineate stages of decline, comparing the phenomenon with a cancer creeping into a healthy body, initially asymptomatic but potentially lethal. He posits prescriptive guidelines to leaders and managers about suspecting and identifying the downward slide, and taking appropriate actions to prevent it.