How 15 major industrial corporations were able to pay dividends without interruption for more than a century each, and the lessons this holds for corporations today, as they struggle to survive in the turmoil of uncertainty and economic globalization. Grossman and Jennings examine 15 industrial companies, each with a century of uninterrupted dividends, and find in their values and management styles unique characteristics that other companies today would be well advised to understand and seek to emulate. Each of the 15 knew they were in business for one purpose: To make money-- and each knew what it had to do to make it. They also knew what they would not do. Dynamic, questioning, always in search of ways to march in step with a changing society, they constantly asked themselves one critical question: What business are we in? The answers they found, the principles of management they discovered and practiced, the values they recognized and adopted--all helped them prosper. Not only did they survive but they also paid dividends to their shareholders in all kinds of economic weather. Now, in an era of gurus and buzzwords, fad theories, and du jour approaches to business success, the stories of these companies reaffirm the simple, timeless precepts. They remind managers of any growing company that there are indeed notions, principles, and management techniques that have proved themselves over time, and which still have the strength to guide organizations today toward a profitable, enduring corporate life.
