Product companies with multi-generational staying power

Post date: 2020-10-18 07:19:37

I'm interested in learning about the history and cultural traits of product companies with multi-generational staying power and continuous innovation over time. Some change to core lines of business is fine, indeed inevitable, but you should be able to trace some kind of continuous product lineage back to the beginning. What are some good books or long-form articles that provide insight into these organizations?

Auto companies like Ford (founded 1900s) and Daimler (1920s) qualify, personal and home care products maker Proctor and Gamble certainly does (1830s).

Cases where the original corporate entity has been restructured out of existence, current lines of business have completely diverged from the original, or the original entity or brand technically remain but have been gutted by private equity firms or a merger don't count. So IBM (1910s) definitely qualifies. HP, Inc. (1930s) might as well—the original Hewlett-Packard Co. entity was renamed but never completely went away and does retain some of the historic computing/electronics business, albeit the original test and measurement instruments business was spun off back in 1999. But companion HP Enterprise (2010s) does not count as it's a new entity that retains little from the original aside from branding.

Not interested in banks, investment firms, consultancies, law firms, etc.

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