Going back at least as far as the early 1980s, to the study done by Tom Peters and Bob Waterman in the now classic In Search of Excellence, and continuing today in the work of many management gurus, a small subset of companies have been identified as “best practice†organizations.
I’ve spent a good part of my professional life studying and consulting with such organizations. I’ll tell you a couple of interesting things about best-in-class companies:
One, if you go back and look at the early lists, some of the companies identified even just a few years ago are struggling. Others have been acquired by other companies, are in bankruptcy, or out of business altogether.