James C. Collins (born 1958) is an American researcher, author, speaker and consultant focused on business management and company sustainability and growth.

Early life and education

Collins received a BS in Mathematical Sciences at

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, graduating in 1980. Collins was granted honorary doctoral degrees from the University of Colorado and the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management at Claremont Graduate University.

Career

Following graduation, Collins spent 18 months in

McKinsey & Co McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinsey ...

.'s San Francisco office. He was exposed to what may have been an influential project for him – two partners at McKinsey, Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, were running a McKinsey research project that later became the best-seller ''In Search of Excellence''. After his time at McKinsey, he returned to study at Stanford, graduating with an

MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA) is a professional degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration; elective courses may allow further study in a particular a ...

from the

Stanford Graduate School of Business The Stanford Graduate School of Business is the Postgraduate education, graduate business school of Stanford University, a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California. For several years it has been the most selective ...

in 1983. He then worked as a product manager for

Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...

for 18 months. Collins began his research and teaching career on the faculty of Stanford University's Graduate School of Business in 1988. In 1992, he received the Distinguished Teaching Award. He published his first book, Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company co-authored with William C. Lazier, in 1992. He published his first best-seller ''Built To Last'', co-authored with Jerry Porras, in 1994. In 1995, he founded a management laboratory in

Boulder, Colorado Boulder is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Home rule municipality, home rule city in Boulder County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 108,250 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the most ...

, where he now conducts research and teaches executives from the corporate and social sectors. During that time, Collins has served as a senior executive at CNN International, and also worked with social sector organizations, such as:

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM) is the medical school of Johns Hopkins University, a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Established in 1893 following the construction of the Johns Hopkins Hospital, th ...

, the

Girl Scouts of the USA Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA), commonly referred to as Girl Scouts, is a youth organization for girls in the United States and American girls living abroad. It was founded by Juliette Gordon Low in 1912, a year after she ...

, the Leadership Network of Churches, the American Association of K-12 School Superintendents, and the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

Personal life

Collins is married to former triathlete and 1985

Ironman World Championship The Ironman World Championship is a triathlon held annually in Hawaii, United States from 1978 to 2022, with no race in 2020 and an additional race in 1982. It is owned and organized by the World Triathlon Corporation. It is the annual culminat ...

winner, Joanne Ernst.

Publications

Books * 1992: ''Beyond Entrepreneurship: Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company'' by James C. Collins and William C. Lazier * 1994: '' Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies'' by James C. Collins and Jerry I. Porras * 2001: '' Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap … And Others Don’t'' by James C. Collins * 2005: ''Good to Great and the Social Sectors'' by James C. Collins * 2009: ''How the Mighty Fall: And Why Some Companies Never Give In'' by James C. Collins"Good to great to gone"
The Economist, July 7, 2009 * 2011: ''Great By Choice'' by James C. Collins and Morten T. Hansen * 2019: ''Turning the Flywheel: A Monograph to Accompany Good to Great'' by James C. Collins * 2020: ''BE 2.0 (Beyond Entrepreneurship 2.0): Turning Your Business into an Enduring Great Company'' by James C. Collins and William C. Lazier

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, James C. 1958 births Living people American business and financial journalists American male journalists American business theorists American business writers American columnists American businesspeople Hewlett-Packard people McKinsey & Company people People from Aurora, Colorado Stanford University alumni Stanford University Graduate School of Business faculty Writers from Boulder, Colorado Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni