Many CEOs are captivated by the annual lists of the largest companies. As interesting as the rankings may be in any given year, what’s really edifying, and sobering, is how the rankings change over time.
The American Business History Center (ABHC) publishes “Largest Companies Charts” and updates them annually. What is interesting (and perhaps a little disturbing) for CEOs is not just these companies’ relative position on the list but that entire industries have been displaced down the chart. Autos and oil dominated in 1994; check out the leading industries in 2021 for an object lesson in just how much can change. The most interesting feature of these charts is their dynamic nature; press the green animation button in the lower left corner of the graph and watch the rankings change year by year and which companies rise and fall.
BTW, if you’d like some insights into why companies lose a dominant position, check out the least known, but perhaps most important of Jim Collin’s books “How the Mighty Fall” If you don’t feel like reading one more book, try this short video interview with Collins recapping the book from a few years back. How close is your company to “falling?”
