Why Smart Executives Fail Audiobook By Sydney Finkelstein cover art

Why Smart Executives Fail

And What You Can Learn from Their Mistakes

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Why Smart Executives Fail

By: Sydney Finkelstein
Narrated by: Don Hagen
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $25.78

Buy for $25.78

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A definitive study of executive failures - why they happen and how to prevent them.

There's a scenario that keeps repeating itself in today's business climate. A company is voted one of the most admired in the world. Then three or four years later, it's in dire financial trouble. A CEO is celebrated on the covers of BusinessWeek, Forbes, and Fortune. Soon after, the company is in the midst of a disastrous merger or some other fiasco. What goes wrong in these cases?

Usually it seems that the top management made some incredibly stupid mistake. But the people responsible are almost always remarkably intelligent and usually have terrific track records. Even more puzzling than the fact that brilliant managers can make bad mistakes is the way they so often magnify the damage. Once a company has made a bad misstep, it often seems as though it can't do anything right. How does this happen? Instead of rectifying their mistakes, why do business leaders regularly make them worse?

To answer these questions, Sydney Finkelstein has carried out the largest research program ever devoted to business breakdowns. In Why Smart Executives Fail, he uncovers - with startling clarity and unassailable documentation - the causes regularly responsible for major business breakdowns. Why Smart Executives Fail relates the stories of great business disasters and demonstrates that there are specific, identifiable ways in which many businesses regularly make themselves vulnerable to failure. The result is a truly indispensable, practical, must-have audiobook that explains the mechanics of executive breakdowns, how to avoid them, and what to do about them if they happen.

©2003 Sydney Finkelstein (P)2016 Gildan Media LLC
Leadership Management Motivation & Self-Improvement Organizational Behavior Business Career
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Why Smart Executives Fail

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    5
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13
  • 4 Stars
    7
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    14
  • 4 Stars
    6
  • 3 Stars
    3
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Right in time

This book is surprisingly good. It has very few reviews but I kind of liked it after it was mentioned in another audiobook I listened.

The stories are real and the explanations are interesting and based, according to the writer, on research and interviews.

I think every business executive should listen to this audiobook.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Old references

The thinking and examples are too old to be relevant now. A new version with post GFC would be far more useful

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!