Today, time is the cutting edge. In fact, as a strategic weapon, George Stalk and Thomas M. Hout contend time is the equivalent of money, productivity, quality, even innovation. In this ground-breaking book based upon ten years of research, the authors argue that the ways leading companies manage time represent the most powerful new sources of competitive advantage.

Using examples from companies such as Federal Express, Ford, John Deere, Sun Microsystems, Wal-Mart, and Citicorp, the authors describe exactly how reducing elapsed time can make the critical difference between success and failure. By refocusing their organizations on responsiveness, companies are discovering that long-held cost assumptions are not true.