8 Worst Business Decisions

3. Firestone

Worst decision: Bridgestone was able to successfully bid for the company in 1988 due to defective products, lawsuits and negative publicity .

Global rank: 3
Years on Fortune 500: 34
Peak Fortune 500 rank: 24 (1956)
Peak revenue: $5.3 billion (1979)
Current status: Bought out

4. Digital Equipment

Worst decision: Though Digital Equipment controlled the minicomputer market from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s, it failed to enter the workstation and personal computer markets quickly. When DEC finally determined to get into PCs, it tried to use its own operating platform, VMS, without success.

Global rank: 4
Years on Fortune 500: 25
Peak Fortune 500 rank: 27 (1990, 1993)

Peak revenue: $14.6 billion (1996)
Current status: Bought out

5. Kmart

Worst decision: Kmart's made it worst mistake in the mid-to-late 1990s by trying to compete with Walmart on price. Walmart had a supply chain system known as "just-in-time" inventory, which permitted the retailer to restock shelves proficiently.

Global rank: 5
Years on Fortune 500: 11
Peak Fortune 500 rank: 15 (1995)
Peak revenue: $37.0 billion (2000)
Current status: Merged