Preface<br >Over the past decade， executives have witnessed an explosion of managcment tools<br >such as Growth Strategies， Reengineering， and Strategic Alliances. I)elnands of<br >increasing competition in the global marketplace are driving the explosion， while<br >accelerated， lower-cost delivery systems for ideas and information have enabled it.<br >Today， the sheer volume of ideas can overwhelm a management team.<br >As a result， executives must cast their nets wider than ever before in a sea of options.<br >They must seize on tile tools essential to increasing their compa@ s performance<br >and use such tools creatively to spur better business decisions. Improved decisions<br >in turn lead to enhanced processes， products， and services that better allocate<br >resources and scrve customer needs. This crcates competitive advantage， the key to<br >superior performance and profits.<br >Each tool carries a set of strengths and weaknesses. Successful use of tools requires<br >an understanding of both their effects and side effects， as well as an ability to<br >creatively integrate the right tools， in the right way， at the right time. The secret is<br >not in discovering one magic tool， but in learning which tools to use， how， and when.<br >In the absence of objective data， groundless hype makes choosing and using<br >lnanagement tools a dangerous game of chance. In 1993， Bain & Company launched<br >a multi-year research project to gather facts about the use and performance of<br >management tools. Our objcctives remain tO provide managers with:<br >an understanding of how their current application of these tools and<br > ~ ~ ~S<br >subsequent results compares with those of" other organizations across mdustrlc<br >and around the globe.<br >~ information they nccd to identify， select， implement， and integrate the right<br > tools to improve their own con~pany s performance.<br >Each year we intervicw senior managers and conduct literature searches to identify<br >25 of the most popular and pertinent management tools. We define the tools in<br >this guidc and conduct detailed surveys to examine mauagers use of tools and<br >success rates. We also conduct one-on-one follow-up interviews to further probe<br >the circumstances under which tools are most likely to produce desired results.<br >10<br >The r-s c， carch to date has provid.<br >~ Senior manaeers overwhehl:<br >Financial performance is d<br >unlnet customer opportuni<br >colnpetitive vulnerabilities，<br >and between organizations<br >Executives believe that mai<br >along these four dimension<br >similar worldwide.<br >~ A correlation exists betwee:<br > organizations use managem<br >~ Overall， satisfaction with to(<br > of- implementation， ef fbctiv(<br >~ Managers have learned that<br >We fully revised the 1999 guide<br >relevant management tools. Cust，<br >added to reflec t the use of these<br >Mcrger~ Integration Teams has be<br >to reflect the increasing need to<br >has been struck.<br >We hope you will find this refm<br >fFOlll this year~ global survey and<br >survey results and additional copi<br >writing to<br >Darrell t<br >Director<br >Bain &<br >Two Cc<br >Boston，<br >Phone:<br >Fax: (61<br >e-mail: d<br >