Today, time is the cutting edge. In fact, as a strategic weapon,
contend George Stalk, Jr., and Thomas M. Hout, time is the
equivalent of money, productivity, quality, even innovation. In
this path-breaking book based upon ten years of research, the
authors argue that the ways leading companies manage time--in
production, in new product development, and in sales and
distribution--represent the most powerful new sources of
competitive advantage.
With many detailed examples from companies that have put
time-based strategies in place, such as Federal Express, Ford,
Milliken, Honda, Deere, Toyota, Sun Microsystems, Wal-Mart,
Citicorp, Harley-Davidson, and Mitsubishi, the authors describe
exactly how reducing elapsed time can make the critical difference
between success and failure. Give customers what they want when
they want it, or the competition will. Time-based companies are
offering greater varieties of products and services, at lower
costs, and with quicker delivery times than their more pedestrian
competitors. Moreover, the authors show that by refocusing their
organizations on responsiveness, companies are discovering that
long-held assumptions about the behavior of costs and customers are
not true: Costs do not increase when lead times are reduced; they
decline. Costs do not increase with greater investment in quality;
they decrease. Costs do not go up when product variety is increased
and response time is decreased; they go down. And contrary to a
commonly held belief that customer demand would be only marginally
improved by expanded product choice and better responsiveness, the
authors show that the actual results have been an explosion in the
demand for the product or serviceof a time-sensitive competitor, in
most cases catapulting it into the most profitable segments of its
markets.
With persuasive evidence, Stalk and Hout document that time
consumption, like cost, is quantifiable and therefore manageable.
Today's new-generation companies recognize time as the fourth
dimension of competitiveness and, as a result, operate with
flexible manufacturing and rapid-response systems, and place
extraordinary emphasis on R&D and innovation. Factories are
close to the customers they serve. Organizations are structured to
produce fast responses rather than low costs and control. Companies
concentrate on reducing if not eliminating delays and using their
response advantage to attract the most profitable customers.
Stalk and Hout conclude that virtually all businesses can use
time as a competitive weapon. In industry after industry, they
illustrate the processes involved in becoming a time-based
competitor and the ways managers can open and sustain a significant
advantage over the competition.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
