Fit, failure, and the hall of fame

Managers often become frustrated when, after making Herculean efforts to launch a better product, create a superior structure, or improve processes, success remains a distant and elusive goal. But genuine success does not come from any single action - or any random group of actions - caution Raymond Miles and Charles Snow in this incisive analysis of success and failure. Instead, they argue, success is achieved when the strategy structure, and processes of a company "fit" together: operations then run smoothly inside and out, more is done with less, and customers are satisfied. Companies that go a step further to create exceptionally innovative strategy-structure-process packages - for example, Carnegie Steel was the first to create a vertically integrated, centralized management structure within the steel industry - often develop a record of accomplishments and reputation considerable enough to propel them into a mythical corporate Hall of Fame.^ Based on studies of dozens of companies to which they have applied this concept of "fit," the authors explain how success and failure can be predicted. Examining the causes of success and failure historically they describe how such compan