In past research, we showed that companies die sooner than ever before: one in three public companies overall and one in six large companies will not survive the next five years. Despite this threat to their longevity, companies are more focused than ever on the short term. This failure to take the long view is often a result of past success - a phenomenon we call the "success trap."
The biggest threat to the survival of large companies may therefore come not from Silicon Valley or China, but from their own lack of strategic renewal. The good news is that premature demise is far from inevitable. Leaders hold their companies’ fates in their hands. There are five action imperatives to help leaders turn their companies into sustainably growing, value-creating, evergreen corporations.
