1) A slaveowner decides to place an advertisement for the return of a lost slave.

2) Apple decides to develop the first salable PC.

3) Henry Ford decides to start his own company.

4) Sears, Roebuck decides to go into retail sales.

5) Julius Reuter decides to use carrier pigeons to deliver information.

6) Swiss watch manufacturers decide to collaborate.

7) Bill Gates decides to license MS-DOS to IBM.

8) Reuben Mattus decides to market ice cream to supermarkets.

9) Thomas Watson decides to change his company's name to IBM.

10) Walt Disney decides to name his cartoon character Mickey.

11) Marvin Bower decides to keep the McKinsey name for his company.

12) Richard Sears decides to sell products through a catalog.

13) Coca-Cola decides to hold a competition for the design of its new bottle.

14) Konosuke Matsushita decides to institute product demonstrations.

15) Mattel decides to add the Ken doll to its line of Barbie toys.

16) Alfred P. Sloan of GM decides to segment the market for car models.

17) The Grateful Dead decide to allow fans to tape their concerts.

18) Philip Morris decides to reposition Marlboro as a man's cigarette.

19) Henry Heinz decides his company needs a slogan.

20) William Hoover decides to distribute his sweepers through a retail network.

21) Harley-Davidson executives decide to establish the Harley Owners Group.

22) Coca-Cola decides to sell to members of the armed forces for a nickel a bottle.   

23) Henry Luce decides to rank companies as the Fortune 500.

24) Akito Morita decides to develop the Walkman.

25) Hartford doctors decide to install telephones in their offices.

26) Honda decides to market small motorbikes in the United States.

27) Aaron Feuerstein decides to keep Malden Mills open after a major fire in its factory.

28) Levi-Strauss decides to extend credit to wholesalers after an earthquake and fire, and later decides to keep employees working during the Great Depression.

29) Baron de Coubertin decides to convene a conference to establish the Olympic Games.

30) American Express decides to continue cashing traveler's checks during the Great Depression.

31) Warren Buffett decides to invest in Berkshire Hathaway.

32) Coca-Cola decides to return to its original recipe.

33) Johnson & Johnson decides to pull Tylenol from store shelves.

34) Percy Barnevick decides to merge Asea and Brown Boveri.

35) The Incas decide to build a network of roads and administrative centers.

36) The ITT board decides to appoint Harold Geneen its CEO.

37) Pierre Du Pont of GM decides to adopt Alfred P. Sloan's reorganization plan for GM.

38) St. Bernard decides to reorganize the Cistercian monasteries.

39) Michael Dell decides to sell PCs directly to consumers and built to order.

40) Procter & Gamble decides to introduce brand management.

41) Jeff Bezos decides to sell books over the Internet.

42) Henry Dunant decides to go see Napoleon III.

43) Paul Garrett of GM decides to invite Peter Drucker to study the company.

44) Elvis Presley decides to join the army.

45) John Larson decides to ask Tom Peters to make a presentation to a client.

46) Napoleon decides to promote people based on merit.

47) Jack Welch of GE decides to institute Work-Out.

48) Thomas Watson Jr. decides to commit IBM to developing a new line of computers.

49) Wal-Mart decides to move into the grocery business.

50) Edward L. Bernays decides to stage a march to promote smoking for women.

51) Harvard Business School decides to launch the Harvard Business Review and to establish the HBS Fund.

52) Lou Gerstner decides not to split IBM.

53) Rupert Murdoch decides to build a printing plant that doesn't require union labor.

54) Luciano Benetton decides to invest in an advanced clothing factory.

55) Toyota decides to implement W. Edwards Deming's quality techniques.

56) Herb Kelleher of Southwest Airlines decides to cut the extras.

57) Leaders of Miletus in Ancient Greece decide to specialize in one industry.

58) Belgian business leaders decide to apply the principles of action learning.

59) Cities in Northern Germany decide to form an association to promote their commercial interests.

60) Edwin Land decides to take a walk and comes up with the idea for the Polaroid camera.

61) Ray Kroc decides to buy the rights to McDonald's restaurants and franchise them.

62) The ancient Chinese decide to institute a system of currency.

63) William Wrigley decides to offer free packs of chewing gum with his cans of baking powder.

64) Kemmons Wilson decides to build his own motel.

65) Gillette decides to position itself at the high-quality, premium-price end of the market.

66) Arthur Fry of 3M decides what Post-Its can be used for.

67) Henry Ford decides to pay his workers $5 a day.

68) 3M decides to allow its researchers to spend 15 percent of their time working on their own projects.

69) Hewlett-Packard decides to hire some of the excess technical talent after World War II.

70) Emperor Hadrian decides to provide all miners in the Roman Empire with bath houses.

71) GE decides to establish a center for executive development.

72) Ricardo Semler of Semco decides to fire 60 percent of his company's top management.

73) Jan Carlzon of SAS decides to send 35,000 managers to customer service training courses.

74) Reg Jones of GE decides to implement a management succession process.

75) President McKinley decides to allow Elihu Root to restructure the U.S. armed services.