"In 1973, Westinghouse and its longtime rival, General Electric, ranked among the strongest companies in the American economy. By the late 1990s, Westinghouse had disappeared from the economic landscape, whereas GE posted sales of $100 billion and employed nearly 300,000 people. Both companies faced common external challenges: energy crises, recessions, shareholder activism, the globalization of competition, the revolution in information technology, and the graying of the industrial economy.

Their drastically different fates, however, were the results of the choices made in the face of these changes." "Based on a statistical profile of the one hundred largest industrial companies - the Fortune 100 - and complemented by detailed historical case studies of individual corporations, Changing Fortunes examines the struggles of the giant industrial enterprises that once dominated the economy to adapt to a new reality.".

"Changing Fortunes is essential reading not only for all leaders of industrial companies who need perspective on their immediate circumstances but also for leaders in nascent industries and service business who can expect, eventually, to encounter tough choices when confronted with the necessity to change."--BOOK JACKET.