Introduction
Contents
Note from Peter F. Drucker
Order Information
The Vital Difference

If you were asked to name a dozen truly successful American companies, your list would include AT&T, Coco-Cola, Delta Air Lines, General Mills, IBM, Intel, Johnson & Johnson, and a handful of others. More than ten years ago, Fred Harmon and Garry Jacobs began to ask what it was that made these companies stand out, and why they've been able to sustain their success over so many years and against such stiff competition. As the result of a search that involved personal interviews with key employees from a wide mix of companies, the authors found some stimulating, thought-provoking answers. The Vital Difference reveals those answers to you.

This book has also been published in Danish, French, German, Japanese, Portugese and Spanish.


"Fred Harmon and Garry Jacobs have done a rare and superb job of unearthing both the 'soft' and 'hard' factors that underpin sustained corporate success". - Tom Peters, Coauthor In Search of Excellence

"Fred Harmon and Garry Jacobs have managed to write a book that is easy- indeed captivating- reading full of profound insight, indeed wisdom. They do not offer the 'quick fix' but they show every business and especially the CEO of each business how one looks at a business, how one thinks about it, and how one plans and executes action that produces achievement, ability to grow, willingness to change, and corporate health and longevity." - Peter F. Drucker

"The numerous case examples that permeate The Vital Difference makes this volume continuously interesting to read at the same time that they provide practical and continuously useful insights into the practice of management." - John Diebold, President, The Diebold Group, Inc.

"I think The Vital Difference is terrific and must reading for everyone eager to succeed in business....In my opinion it's right up there with In Search of Excellence and A Passion for Excellence. I picked up concrete ideas that I'm putting right to work in my own business." - Stew Leonard, President Stew Leonard's(r) "World's Largest Dairy Store"



Contents
Introduction
1.The Driving Force
2. Psychoanalyzing the Corporation
3. The Heart of the Matter
4. The Living Organization
5. System, System, System!
6. Making a Habit of Success
7. The Artesian Spring
8. Building Up the Corporate Body
9. Harmony Within
10. Harmony Without
11. The Significant Individual
12. Energizing the Corporation
13. The Vital Difference
Contents of the Book
Corporations are individuals, too