BusinessWeek writes:
"A good idea for a new business tends not to occur in isolation, and often the window of opportunity is very small," explains Branson. "So speed is of the essence."
It's all being driven by a new innovation imperative. Competition is more intense than ever because of the rise of the Asian powerhouses and the spread of disruptive new Internet technologies and business models. Companies realize that all of their attention to efficiency in the past half-decade was fine -- but it's not nearly enough. If they are to thrive in this hypercompetitive environment, they must innovate more and faster.
Take clothing retailer H&M. Every time it designs a new outfit, the Swedish company can choose on the fly among more than 700 manufacturers worldwide. It looks for the right skills, geographic proximity, and ability to finish the job quickly -- and then gets the plant rolling in a matter of hours or days. Or consider Wipro Ltd., the Indian outsourcing firm. It does engineering and design for clients, and in some cases, part of its fee is based on the success of the product it delivers. Customers can keep costs low, until they know they've got a hit on their hands. "Our clients are under a lot of pressure to get new products faster into the market. Their core employment isn't adequate for it, so they're looking for partners who can do it for them," says Azim Premji, Wipro's chairman.
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