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Preface
In Search of Excellence started a trend of comprehensive efforts worldwide to identify the prescrip-
tive characteristics for excellent companies. However, time and again, corrective measures adopted
by companies, based on such prescriptions, have belied expectations. An analysis of Fortune 1000
corporations shows that between 1973 and 1983, 35% of the top 20 companies are new. The number
of new companies rises to 45% when the comparison is between 1983 and 1993. It increases even
further, to 60%, when the comparison is between 1993 and 2003. It seems that the very strategies
that contribute to the competitiveness, success, and e