— Overview
This reading stays with a book on long-lived firms, with scenario planning set against a Korean habit of leaving the last word to the chief executive, and with one change of trade at DuPont.
— Contents and key concepts
About forty firms, and a short list of habits
This reading stays with The Living Company, a project study, they write, of some forty long-lived firms around the world, asking how a company can prosper for a long time in a market that keeps shifting. The author is not named.
The conclusion they draw first is that firms that live and prosper for a long time are sensitive to changes in their surroundings, have a strong identity and a tight bond among members, are conservative in raising funds, and run themselves with a generous policy.
Scenario planning, and a last word that sits too high
Sensitivity to the surroundings, they write, means always looking for new markets, watching how the market moves, and keeping members in a state of learning. They are also drawn to scenario management based on systems thinking. In Korea, they write, the last step in a decision often sits with the chief executive, so one mistaken view at the top can put the whole firm in danger.
Scenario-based management, they argue, can fend off the threats that come from that kind of solitary decision, and help a firm last. A related point that interests them is that power is not allowed to concentrate too heavily in the management; it is tied instead to a conservative idea of capital, so that the raising of funds becomes a more cautious process. Taken together, they conclude, running a firm democratically is the way to live long.
DuPont, from dynamite to cellophane
Long-lived firms that react sensitively to the world around them, the book says as recorded in this reading, kept learning from how things were moving, tried to foresee the future, and drew up alternatives. In that process they sometimes changed their core business in order to keep the firm’s values in harmony with a changing environment. The example they give is DuPont, which first produced dynamite and later moved into chemical work such as plastics and cellophane wrapping.
The same Korean report, at fuller length, is on CampusDown.
Sources
- This reading, a student reading of The Living Company: a study of some forty long-lived firms, sensitivity and conservative finance, scenario planning set against a Korean habit of leaving the last word to the chief executive, and DuPont’s move from dynamite to plastics and cellophane.
Last updated: 15 November 2026
Frequently asked questions
What kind of study is the book, and what traits do long-lived firms share?
This is a student reading of The Living Company. The book, they write, is a project study of some forty long-lived firms around the world, asking how a company can prosper for a long time in a market that keeps shifting. The author is not named. The conclusion they draw first is that firms that live and prosper for a long time are sensitive to changes in their surroundings, have a strong identity and a tight bond among members, are conservative in raising funds, and run themselves with a generous policy.
What do they make of scenario planning, and of Korean firms?
Sensitivity to the surroundings, they write, means always looking for new markets, watching how the market moves, and keeping members in a state of learning. They are also drawn to scenario management based on systems thinking. In Korea, they write, the last step in a decision often sits with the chief executive, so one mistaken view at the top can put the whole firm in danger. Scenario-based management, they argue, can fend off the threats that come from that kind of solitary decision, and help a firm last. A related point that interests them is that power is not allowed to concentrate too heavily in the management; it is tied instead to a conservative idea of capital, so that the raising of funds becomes a more cautious process. Taken together, they conclude, running a firm democratically is the way to live long.
What example of a changed core business do they give?
Long-lived firms that react sensitively to the world around them, the book says as recorded in this reading, kept learning from how things were moving, tried to foresee the future, and drew up alternatives. In that process they sometimes changed their core business in order to keep the firm’s values in harmony with a changing environment. The example they give is DuPont, which first produced dynamite and later moved into chemical work such as plastics and cellophane wrapping.
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