Achieving Longevity: How Great Firms Prosper Through Entrepreneurial Thinking

by Jim Dewald (Author), W. Brett Wilson (Foreword)

Starting a business is hard, but keeping an established company going can be equally challenging. In the long run, every business will need to adapt to changing market conditions, technologies, and competitive environments. Achieving Longevity explains how to manage those changes through entrepreneurial thinking.

As Jim Dewald shows, the most successful companies thrive by establishing decision-making processes that constantly engage new opportunities, enabling the firm to quickly adapt to disruptive technologies and business models. They allow for tinkering and experimentation and strive to both exploit their competitive advantage today and explore new ideas that will give them an edge tomorrow.

Achieving Longevity provides a framework for introducing the tools and culture necessary to foster entrepreneurial thinking, as well as advice on how to overcome common obstacles to corporate entrepreneurship. Drawing on Dr. Dewald’s own experience as an entrepreneur, a successful corporate executive, and a professor of strategy, the book offers numerous examples of how to combine the strengths of an established firm with the innovative, outside the box thinking of a start-up venture.

Review
‘This book should be read by all managers, business faculty, and students… Essential.’

(D. W. Huffmire Choice Magazine vol 54:06:2017)

“Achieving Longevity makes a convincing argument that should bolster the courage of leaders who know they need to push their firms to greatness.”

(Barry Silverstein Foreword Reviews, August 26, 2016)

“In Achieving Longevity, Jim Dewald brings a fresh and practical perspective to the age-old question of why some firms are able to adapt, while others stagnate or die. Building on his experiences as a businessman-turned-academic, Dewald shows how entrepreneurial thinking lies at the heart of any successful firm, and he provides highly practical advice on how to convert this mindset into action. I strongly recommend the book to executives in small and large firms alike.”

(Julian Birkinshaw, Professor of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, London Business School)

“Jim Dewald’s book addresses a conundrum many firms face: how to maintain consistently high performance in the face of unpredictable environmental change. His solution is both simple and powerful: leverage entrepreneurial thinking to continuously reinvent who and what a firm does. His book identifies a set of tools leaders can use to drive this reinvention process, tools that can enhance a firm’s longevity.”

(Jay B. Barney, Presidential Professor of Strategic Management, University of Utah)

“‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ is a hackneyed adage that is sadly still embraced by too many leaders in today’s cut-throat world of fast-paced competition and disruptive change. Jim Dewald’s Achieving Longevity is a must-read for corporate leaders who want to understand the true meaning of the word ‘innovation’ as a strategy for success.”

(Peter Tertzakian, Chief Energy Economist and Managing Director, ARC Financial Corporation)

"Jim Dewald’s Achieving Longevity: How Great Firms Prosper through Entrepreneurial Thinking (Rotman/UTP) is a great book on how established organisations can adapt and succeed in a world of changing markets, technological advances and competitive environments, through entrepreneurial thinking. This is very applicable not only to companies but also to universities, which are adapting to a transformed world."

(Elizabeth Cannon, President and Vice-chancellor, University of Calgary, and Chair of Universities Canada Times Higher Education, Books of the Year 2016)

“Jim’s book is a thought-provoking call to action for all CEOs who want their legacy to be a company that thrives for generations. An inspiring read!"

(Lesley Conway, Managing Director, Hopewell Residential)

About the Author
Jim Dewald is Dean of the Haskayne School of Business at the University of Calgary.
W. Brett Wilson, CM, is one of Canada’s best-known businessmen and most respected philanthropists.