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Eight years ago, Bain & Company launched an annual survey to investigate the actual experience of companies that adopt leading management tools: Which tools are the most popular? How well do they work? And do they continue to deliver results over time? This article presents the answers to these questions, based on the latest (2000) North American survey results. On the one hand, 78 percent of respondents agreed that “Companies that use the right tools are more likely to succeed.” Yet, at the same time, 82 percent agreed that “Most management tools promise more than they deliver.” Senior executives fundamentally believe there are tools that can improve organizational performance, yet experience using these tools has also dampened their enthusiasm for the results. Includes a discussion of the 25 top management tools.

Hoping to find a potent formula for performance improvement, executives have invested heavily in new management tools and techniques in recent years. But there has been no objective evidence on whether increased tool usage is good or bad for companies, or which tools have produced what results over what period of time.

Here's a three‐part blueprint for building processes for innovation—disruptive innovation—into your organization.

To win in turbulence, senior executives must continually review three dimensions of their business context: their industry’s source and level of turbulence, their own strategic position within their sector, and their financial strength. The author reports on a study that suggests that there is a significant opportunity to win in turbulence. The companies that were prepared for bad times captured a disproportionate share of industry growth and profits. These companies had developed situational strategies that could be called upon immediately when the market changed. The article describes the key steps in developing and implementing these alternative strategic moves.

These days, the first order of business at many firms seems to be learning new management tools and techniques, not creating profitable customers. The employees at many companies are getting groggy from Hying to absorb and implement initiatives ranging from business process reenginering to agile manufacturing. It's time for results‐minded managers to take control of the situation, and to actively and intelligently manage the adoption of management tools.

The authors reviews the leadership responsibilities involved in managing an organization that practices Agile management.

Outlines the best practices of major corporations that have adopted Agile processes both for teams and C-suite leadership.

Agile leaders spend less time reviewing the work of subordinates. They add value by adapting corporate strategies, leading critical agile teams, spending time with customers, mentoring individuals and coaching teams.

It is the C-suite leadership’s responsibility to establish and maintain a hierarchy of competence rather than a bureaucratic hierarchy of authority.

Describes how top management at some of the world’s largest and most successful corporations are adopting Agile practices to spur innovation and promote continuously adding customer vale.

Some classes of scenario planning tools and techniques are designed to inform near‐term strategic decisions. In addition, some of these are more appropriate for lower levels of uncertainty, while others are best suited for highly uncertain, truly ambiguous business environments. This paper provides a typology of scenario planning tools and techniques that enables managers to identify the best approach to follow in various circumstances. By choosing the right scenario‐planning tool for near‐term strategy decisions, companies can generate the foresight necessary to prevail in today’s turbulent markets. Though most scenario exercises are intended to enrich an organization’s awareness of potential environmental discontinuity in the long‐term, some classes of scenario planning tools and techniques are designed to inform near‐term strategic decisions. Some of these tools for assessing the near term are more appropriate for lower levels of uncertainty, and others are best suited for highly uncertain, truly ambiguous business environments. This paper provides a typology of scenario planning tools and techniques that enables managers to identify the best approach to follow in various circumstances. By choosing the right scenario‐planning tool for near‐term strategy decisions, managers can generate the foresight necessary to help their organization prevail in today’s turbulent markets.

With Agile’s success in accelerating software products and services that customers valued and with the increasing importance of software in general business strategy, business leaders are increasingly turning to Agile for every aspect of their operations.

There are more than 70 different Agile practices. The author advises traditional managers on how to make sense of such a bewildering assortment of ideas.

His research found thatrganizations that have embraced Agile practice three core principles–The Law of the Small Team; The Law of the Customer; The Law of the Network.

The first and almost universal characteristic of Agile organizations is that practitioners share a mindset that work should be done in small autonomous cross-functional teams working in short cycles on relatively small tasks that deliver value to customers and getting continuous feedback from the ultimate customers or end users.

As a network, the organization becomes a growing, learning, adapting organism that is in constant flux to exploit new opportunities and add new value for customers. The future of Agile is ultimately about implementing the third principle: the whole organization operating as an interactive network. In the rapidly evolving “Connected Economy” the power of the network is increasing geometrically.