Preface: think global, kill local -- In which two brothers form the beginnings of a pretty fair mom-and-pop -- Enterprise -- First acquisitions and other rapes -- The Republic: an ode to the well-run corporation -- Wars wars and more wars -- Crazy Republicans -- Marius, the first mogul -- The end of the day -- Julius Caesar and the reinvention of the corporation -- Antony & Augustus -- The spirit fails -- The decline and fall of the Roman Empire (abridged) -- Afterword: what have we learned?
Summary:
The world's first corporate case study: A family business prospers through a productive series of brutal consolidations and rational growth. Then the rise of an executive class that pits one egotistical senior manager against another in senseless internal conflicts eventually leads to a long line of demented CEOs, excessive expansion, and foolish diversification--and a high cost in shattered lives. In the end, a series of reverse takeovers leave the once-proud but now overextended and corrupt parent company at the mercy of the mom-and-pop operations that previously cringed at the grandeur of the corporate brand. Enron? WorldCom? Try Rome, whose rise and fall carry a moral that lingers to this day for the managers, employees, and students of any global enterprise. Business satirist Bing mingles parable and cautionary tale into an ingenious new telling of the story of the Roman Empire.--From publisher description.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.