The Living Company
The average life span of a Fortune 500 company is less than half a century,  yet there also are corporations around the world that have been in business for 200,  500, even 700 years. Arie de Geus, a retired Royal Dutch/Shell Group executive,  maintains after studying both extremes that the most enduring treat their companies as  "living work communities" rather than pure economic machines.The Living  Company: Habits for Survival in a Turbulent Business Environmentpersuasively  outlines his resultant prescription for organizational longevity.