Based on a five-year research project, Good to Great answers the question: "Can a good company become a great company and, if so, how?" In this book, Jim Collins teaches that companies can make the leap to outperform the market leaders. And although his Good To Great set of companies (Abbott Labs, Circuit City, Fannie Mae, Gillette, Kimberly Clark, Kroger, Nucor Steel, Phillip Morris, Pitney Bowes, Walgreens, and Wells Fargo) have experienced a myriad of changes and varying results the last decade (witness Circuit City's demise and Fannie Mae's role in the mortgage debacle), the principles of what originally helped propel them from average performing companies to market leaders remain valid.