How to SURVIVE the 21st Century - The Long Game

https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-biology-of-corporate-survival

The Biology of Corporate Survival

• Martin Reeves
• Simon Levin
• Daichi Ueda

FROM THE JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2016 ISSUE

Companies operate in an increasingly complex world: Business environments are more diverse, dynamic, and interconnected than ever—and far less predictable. Yet many firms still pursue classic approaches to strategy that were designed for more-stable times, emphasizing analysis and planning focused on maximizing short-term performance rather than long-term robustness. How are they faring?

To answer that question, we investigated the longevity of more than 30,000 public firms in the United States over a 50-year span. The results are stark: Businesses are disappearing faster than ever before. Public companies have a one in three chance of being delisted in the next five years, whether because of bankruptcy, liquidation, M&A, or other causes. That’s six times the delisting rate of companies 40 years ago. Although we may perceive corporations as enduring institutions, they now die, on average, at a younger age than their employees. And the rise in mortality applies regardless of size, age, or sector. Neither scale nor experience guards against an early demise.

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https://hbr.org/2016/01/the-biology-of-corporate-survival