
Comeback
Can Great Companies Rise Again?
Alfred Marcus(Author)
University of Toronto Press
Published on 7. April 2026
Book
Hardback
430 pages
978-1-4875-4797-4 (ISBN)
Description
A cardinal rule of business? Success is never permanent. Comeback explores the turbulent journeys of eight iconic firms - Intel, Amazon, Dell, Best Buy, Disney, Pepsi, Monsanto, and Tesla - as they struggled to reclaim their former status in the face of various crises they confronted. This book offers a deep and compelling analysis of the strategic choices, leadership decisions, and market forces that shaped their rise, fall, and recoveries.
Most of these firms were able to stabilize their situations after experiencing crises, but none has fully regained industry-shaping dominance: Amazon remains caught between its low-margin retail core and its high-growth cloud unit, Pepsi has pulled back from the healthier alternatives it started to sell, and Tesla's global lead in EVs is weakening under assault from rising Chinese competitors. Advancing the invaluable lesson that while downturns of different types in business are extremely common and full resurgence is rare, author Alfred A. Marcus investigates what held these companies back from restoring their past glory. Drawing on decades of expertise in strategy and business analysis, Marcus presents a compelling framework for understanding corporate renewal.
Comeback explores the paradoxes that underperforming businesses must navigate and reveals the challenges of innovation, competitive pressures, and shifting consumer expectations. The book demonstrates how the companies it describes hedged their bets, adapted to evolving conditions, and wrestled with the uncertainty of transformation. It sheds light on their accomplishments and setbacks, providing key insights into the paths that any company needs to take to make a comeback.
Whether you're an investor, strategist, or business leader Comeback provides essential lessons about resilience, transformation, and the difficult path from survival to sustained success.
Most of these firms were able to stabilize their situations after experiencing crises, but none has fully regained industry-shaping dominance: Amazon remains caught between its low-margin retail core and its high-growth cloud unit, Pepsi has pulled back from the healthier alternatives it started to sell, and Tesla's global lead in EVs is weakening under assault from rising Chinese competitors. Advancing the invaluable lesson that while downturns of different types in business are extremely common and full resurgence is rare, author Alfred A. Marcus investigates what held these companies back from restoring their past glory. Drawing on decades of expertise in strategy and business analysis, Marcus presents a compelling framework for understanding corporate renewal.
Comeback explores the paradoxes that underperforming businesses must navigate and reveals the challenges of innovation, competitive pressures, and shifting consumer expectations. The book demonstrates how the companies it describes hedged their bets, adapted to evolving conditions, and wrestled with the uncertainty of transformation. It sheds light on their accomplishments and setbacks, providing key insights into the paths that any company needs to take to make a comeback.
Whether you're an investor, strategist, or business leader Comeback provides essential lessons about resilience, transformation, and the difficult path from survival to sustained success.
Reviews / Votes
"Among the more captivating tales in business history involve great companies that eventually risk failing into irrelevance but manage to avoid that fate. How did these companies avoid joining a long list of corporate dinosaurs? Alfred A. Marcus explores the reasons for success against the odds through the experience of eight such "comeback" companies. The stories are compelling and his conclusions about leadership and judgment insightful." -- Christopher Farrell, author of Purpose and a Paycheck "Alfred A. Marcus contrasts firms who never returned to their former greatness with eight diverse candidates attempting a comeback to regain their past glory. His emphasis is less on operating turnarounds than on wrestling with some difficult tradeoffs faced when making key decisions regarding which markets to serve and products to offer. The business histories he offers are entertaining reading even when exogenous industry changes have made replication of a firm's original recipe for success impossible to cook again." -- Kathryn Rudie Harrigan, Columbia Business School, Columbia University "Most strategy books focus on companies that were phenomenally successful or spectacular failures. This book fills the gap with useful stories of companies that recovered from challenges but left them facing continued uncertainty. These examples would be good for any business leader to keep in mind as they face obstacles." -- John Horn, Olin Business School, Washington University in St. LouisMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Toronto
Canada
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
25 b&w figures
Dimensions
Height: 232 mm
Width: 150 mm
Thickness: 30 mm
Weight
757 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4875-4797-4 (9781487547974)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Alfred A. Marcus is a professor and Edson Spencer endowed chair in strategy and technological leadership at Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota. He is the author, co-author, or editor of more than 20 books and many academic articles. In 2022, he was awarded the Distinguished Scholar Award from the Academy of Management ONE Division for his work on strategy and sustainability.