Japanese companies, masters of manufactur-ing, have also been leaders in the creation, management, and use of knowledge - espe-cially the tacit and often subjective insights, intuitions, and ideas of employees.

When a company ¡s doing well, how would anyone know ¡f it could improve? A landmark benchmarking study - compar-¡ng prosperous companies with firms that have done even better - points the way.

Why do so many companies fail to thrive past their first generation of offerings? It's not because their R&D groups aren't hatching new ¡deas. It's because mature organizations have a disconcerting tendency to eat their young.