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MEYER, CHRISTOPHER. Fast Cycle Time: How to Align Purpose, Strategy, and Structure for Speed. New York: The Free Press, a division of Macmillan, Inc., 1993. Pp. xiii + 290. $29.95.
Since the early 1980s, several solutions to the problem of how organizations can compete successfully have been proposed. Two of the most frequently proposed solutions are total quality management (TQM), in all its manifestations, and service excellence (Albrecht, 1988; Lele, 1987). These approaches share a common operational orientation: isolate and manage in terms of some dimension of organizational performance (be it product quality or customer service), and organizational success will follow closely. A third approach, advanced by Stalk and Hout (1990), singles out "business cycle time" as the key performance dimension. The road to success is found in reducing cycle time as much as possible in order to increase the speed with which products get to market.
For Christopher Meyer, author of Fast Cycle Time, Rule #1 for competing successfully is that "the competitor who consistently, reliably and profitably provides the greatest value to the customer first, wins. There are no other rules." Meyer argues that there are a number of good reasons for being first: The firm can achieve a commanding market share position while pricing the product at a premium, distribution channels can be locked up, an innovative reputation is engendered, and progress along the learning curve is quickened.
Fast Cycle Time is a very thorough examination of how organizations can beat the business-cycle clock. In this regard, he focuses on how the product development process can be accelerated to contribute to success. In general, this book is a well considered and to-the-point review of the issues and techniques involved in how to increase the speed or "fast cycle time" (FCT) of creating new products for competitive advantage. For Meyer, being skilled in competing on a FCT basis will become more and more important in tomorrow's business environment. According to Meyer, the trends of increasing global competition, expanding technology, and growing educational parity are eliminating market protection, high technology production methods, and labor force talents as sustainable sources of advantage. As a result, the destiny of the company is tied to the products under development and to how quickly those products are...