James C. "Jim" Collins (born 1958) is an American researcher, author, speaker and consultant focused on the subject of business management and company sustainability and growth.

Biography

Collins received a BS in Mathematical Sciences at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, graduating in 1980. He then spent 18 months in McKinsey & Co.'s San Francisco office. He was exposed to what may have been an influential project for him – two partners at McKinsey, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, were running a McKinsey research project that later turned into the best-seller ''In Search of Excellence''. After his time at McKinsey, he returned to study at Stanford, graduating with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...

from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business (also known as Stanford GSB) is the graduate business school of Stanford University, a private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective business schoo ...

in 1983. He then worked as a product manager for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...

for 18 months, before quitting to help manage his wife's ascending triathlon career. Collins began his research and teaching career on the faculty at Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 1988, where he received the Distinguished Teaching Award in 1992. He published his first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company co-authored with William C. Lazier, in 1992. He published his first best-seller ''Built To Last'', co-authored with Jerry Porras, in 1994. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a home rule city that is the county seat and most populous municipality of Boulder County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, making it the 12th most populous city in Color ...

, where he now conducts research and teaches executives from the corporate and social sectors. During that time, Collins has served as a senior executive at CNN International, and also worked with social sector organizations, such as:

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1893, the School of Medicine shares a campus with the Johns Hopkins Hospi ...

, the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as simply Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. Founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, it was organized a ...

, the Leadership Network of Churches, the American Association of K-12 School Superintendents, and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

. Collins is married to former triathlete and 1985

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship has been held annually in Hawaii since 1978, with an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culmination of a series of Ironman triathlon qualification ...

winner, Joanne Ernst.

Work

Research and writing

Collins has authored or co-authored six books based on his research, including the classics: *'' Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies'' *''

Good to Great ''Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap... and Others Don't'' is a management book by Jim C. Collins that describes how companies transition from being good companies to great companies, and how most companies fail to make the transition ...

'' *''Great by Choice'' *''How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In'' ''Built to Last'' has been a fixture on the ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' best-seller list for more than six years, and has been translated into 25 languages. ''

'', "about the factors common to those few companies ... to sustain remarkable success for a substantial period," attained long-running positions on the ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'', ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' and ''

'' best-seller lists, has sold over 2.5 million hardcover copies, and has been translated into 32 languages. His most recent book is ''Great by Choice''. Before that he wrote ''How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In''. Collins frequently contributes to ''

Harvard Business Review ''Harvard Business Review'' (''HBR'') is a general management magazine published by Harvard Business Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. ''HBR'' is published six times a year and is headquartered in Brighton, Massach ...

'', ''

Fortune Fortune may refer to: General * Fortuna or Fortune, the Roman goddess of luck * Luck * Wealth * Fortune, a prediction made in fortune-telling * Fortune, in a fortune cookie Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''The Fortune'' (1931 film) ...

'' and other publications.

Consulting

Jim Collins is also a speaker, consultant, and seminar leader.

Publications

Books * 1992: ''Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company'' by James C. Collins and William C. Lazier * 1994: '' Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies'' by James C. Collins and

Jerry I. Porras Jerry I. Porras (born September 20, 1938) is an American organizational theorist, Lane Professor Emeritus of Organizational Behavior and Change at the Stanford University Graduate School of Business. He is best known as co-author of the 1994 bestse ...

* 2001: ''

: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t'' by James C. Collins * 2005: ''Good to Great and the Social Sectors'' by James C. Collins * 2009: ''How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In'' by James C. Collins"Good to great to gone"
The Economist, July 7, 2009 * 2011: ''Great By Choice'' by James C. Collins and Morten T. Hansen * 2019: ''Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great'' by James C. Collins * 2020: ''BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0): Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company'' by James C. Collins and William C. Lazier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, James C. 1958 births Living people American business and financial journalists American male journalists American business theorists American business writers American columnists American businesspeople Hewlett-Packard people McKinsey & Company people People from Aurora, Colorado Stanford University alumni Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty Writers from Boulder, Colorado