Own the Future: 50 Ways to Win from The Boston Consulting Group

Chapter 42

Time-Based Management

Thomas M. Hout and George Stalk, Jr.

This chapter was first published in 1993, a time when the concept of time-based competition had taken hold and companies were moving beyond cost-based competition through an understanding of the strategic value of time and of the importance of focusing on business processes.

We first spoke of time-based competition in the 1980s. The concept was simple: companies that meet the needs of their customers faster than competitors grow faster and are more profitable than others in their industries. We argued that time could be the next decade's most powerful competitive weapon and management tool for U.S. companies.

We were right. Companies of all sorts and sizes became time-based competitors. By inspecting their processes and organizations through the lens of time these companies have found new ways to operate, satisfy their customers, compete, grow, and invigorate themselves. Consider the results of three very different companies.

Time and Innovation

Chrysler entered the 1990s with only two profitable product lines—minivans and Jeeps—and several outdated lines of cars and trucks. It needed a new winner soon and made the do-or-die decision to reinvent its new car development process and cut the old time of four to six years to 39 months.

In the company's traditional process, a new car concept moved sequentially from ...