Before reading Foundations of Corporate Empire I was not aware of the other book Birth of the Multinational: 2000 Years of Ancient Business History--From Ashur to Augustus, now I still think do I have to buy that one too? For me it is a fascinating book which is the outcome of a detailed investigation and work.

By the way, I would be pleased if they put more stress on the Roman Empire, Ottoman Empire and also South East Asia, Inkas, Azteks etc.

But I can recommend this book as a guideline of historical evolution of the modern business organizations and cultures.

From the Report on Business, Globe and Mail Newspaper, Canada's National Newspaper
By BRIAN MILNER
Friday, December 28, 2001 - Print Edition, Page 91FOUNDATIONS OF CORPORATE EMPIRE: Is History Repeating Itself? by Karl Moore and David Lewis (Financial Times/Prentice Hall, $...) Foundations of Corporate Empire is a dreary title for a business book that turns out to be anything but. It is in fact a sweeping, yet remarkably readable, history of globalization that marshals impressive evidence to prove something we should have learned by now: There is simply nothing new under the sun, and anyone who thinks business just discovered the joys of free trade and global markets yesterday has a lot to learn.Doing the teaching here are two Canadian academics: Karl Moore, a professor of strategic management at McGill University, and David Lewis, a historian with a wide range of interests, including ancient Mesopotamia. That, in fact, is where the authors start, tracing the development of business cultures from the Bronze Age and the "first recorded multinational"--a family trading business in Assyria nearly 4,000 years ago--up to the internet age and America's globe-spanning technology giants.Unfortunately, this book was finished before the tech bubble burst, making some of its conclusions as obsolete as those Assyrian traders. But this does nothing to detract from its main points--that today's economic and corporate structures are the product of generations of evolution and that each nation favours the model best suited to its own culture, institutions and history."Many of today's economic structures existed in prototype form several thousand years ago," the authors note early on, and then set out to prove it. They make connections between the business leaders of Mesopotamia and modern German corporations, between classical Athens and Britain at its height, between ancient and modern China, and between the mighty Roman and even mightier American empires. Some of the links are obvious, such as the mass production and technological developments stemming from the military requirements of both ancient Rome and the United States. Others seem more of a stretch.What is particularly refreshing is that this is no apologia for the current wave of globalization or its apparent American character. The authors make a convincing case that merely because the American model has been overwhelmingly dominant, it does not mean every country will inevitably have to fall into line. Any attempt to impose the American way "in its entirety...is bound not only to fail but also to generate a very unpleasant backlash."

A novel and intriguing look at the history of modern civilization and the corporate underpinnings that have pervaded throughout. Somewhat general but nonetheless both accurate and interesting. Original and entertaining. Great Book

This thought-provoking book is among the best I've read on transformation management. The authors characterize change actions (both personal and organizational) as being comparable to four Olympic events: the sprint (fast and brief), the high jump (also brief but complex as well), the marathon (long but uncomplicated), and the decathlon (long and complex). After reading examples presented in the book, readers can determine which Olympic event best matches their situation and lead/act with that analogy in mind. Approaching change with this kind of clarity, I think, will mean the difference between survival and its alternative for many organizations. In addition to mental clarity, the book provides examples of successful transformations made possible through quality communications (one corporation's vision was depicted on a mural), sharpened focus, and the ability to recognize opportunity no matter what guise it may come in. Highly recommended!

My criticism can be boiled down to a single line, this one. I read this kind of books hoping to find useful ideas for my business. Here I can't find any.

Maybe I should look for the purely intellectual interest, I don't know. My best advice is this: if you read to find recipes, read something else. Read this only out of curiosity.

And yet again, I was just curious about the US Army chapter but got little out of it - gruelling experience, after-action review, and all that - we did it in volleyball and basket training twenty years ago ... what's the big deal?

Its funny. I was reading the review following this one and the person was saying how he could NOT find anything worthwhile to apply to his business. He must not have even picked up the book!

I think there are plenty of great lessons within the book. Its not only a book about strategy, but a new framework to think in terms of. The world has changed greatly in the last 20 years and a lot of the old management frameworks have less significance. Complexity science is the new way to think and this book does a fantastic job of relating the "complex" topic to business. And the rules apply to all areas of the organization: strategy, organizational design, etc. If you want to be prepared to lead the complex globlal organizations of tomorrow, then this is a must read.

Surfing the Edge of Chaos does a marvelous job of taking many of the ideas being developed in complexity theory and applying them to the business world. In contrast say to Garrett Ralls who tried to do much the same thing, this book succeeds. I found myself continually thinking about not only the examples they provide, but also on my own work experiences and other companies that I have analyzed.

The authors do an excellent job of contrasting their approach (adaptive leadership) with more traditional reorganization (operational leadership). But refreshingly, they also acknowledge that in some cases, the more traditional approach might be more appropriate. There are many interesting concepts being developed by complexity theorists and this book manages to capture many, if not most, of them.

They show repeatedly the need to increase the stress on an organization in order to break past patterns of behavior. Their use of fitness landscapes (the idea that a successful company rests on a peak, and that in order to reach a new higher peak, often you must go down into the valley) is very powerful and at least partially explains why so many successful companies subsequently struggle, or fail, to adapt. Importantly though, the authors also spend a great deal of time talking about the unintended (or second and third order) effects of change. The point is not that you will be able to predict all of them (which is what chaos theory explicity says you cannot do), but rather that you must be flexible enough to roll with those unanticipated consequences.

Does that mean that every idea in this book is new? Of course not, but to be successful, a new theory often must combine the old with the new. And this book does a masterful of applying the ideas of Chaos/Complexity theory to business, of providing a new framework to think about both old and new problems. You may not agree with everything that appears in this book, but you will certainly come away with much food for thought.