It is becoming clear today that most of the management truisms that have guided executives and business educators for two generations no longer work. This book, written by three internationally recognized authorities on global competitiveness, is designed to help any business - large or small - come to terms with change and develop effective, profit-centered strategies. Clear, real-world examples are used to describe what it takes for companies and individuals to become "agile" - how they can thrive in a competitive environment of constant, unpredictable change. The book is the product of the authors' extensive research in cooperation with industry and government leaders that resulted in the influential 1991 report, 21st Century Manufacturing Enterprise Strategy. This book presents an updated and expanded vision of agile competition, which promises to affect life in the 21st century as profoundly as mass production-based competition affected life in the 20th century. By focusing on practice rather than on theory, the book describes in detail how this new form of competition is rapidly differentiating winners from losers, not just in the U.S. but around the world.