by Stuart Crainer

History provides clear and unequivocal lessons on the longevity of corporations.

The first is that companies which come up with world changing or industry defining ideas are rarely able to repeat it. Henry Ford created the first car making colossus in the first two decades of the twentieth century but, in terms of market share, the company has been in decline ever since. Having changed the world, it was never able to pull off the same trick again.

The second related lesson from history is that companies do not have lengthy life expectancies. At a . . .