What is that makes some companies adapt and grow, and other to wither away to failure? What is that makes some of them so resilient to external forces, and bring about disruptive yet positive changes? Basic accounting practices or concepts of finance haven’t changed from 1955 to 2008, save some regulatory practices for sake of transparency.

Of course, in the past several years globalization has become a reality, opening up newer markets and also newer competition.  Market forces have pushed higher efficiency levels across value chains, productivity levels are at an all time high and wastages across the supply chains are at an all time low.

Many of the companies that did not make it to the 2008 Fortune 100 list also had made forays into global markets at some time during their lifecycle. They certainly had high quality of committed, skilled and high-performing employees, and many of these companies at some point in time had set standards for others to follow. Yet almost 80% of those from 1955 are not in the Fortune 100 list today. However the 20 companies that made it in 1955 and in 2008 have had a combined growth from 33bn USD to 1879bn USD in a period of 53 years.

What is the secret of their success? Some common characteristics and traits that are evident in these companies are their adaptability and readiness to change, ability to innovate, enforce realistic goals and operational metrics and ruthlessly enforce a culture of accountability at all levels for results.