TIME‐COST‐QUALITY LEADERSHIP: NEW WAYS TO GAIN A SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN RETAILING

Observes the success of Japanese companies and industries and attempts to analyse the reasons behind such success and to identify the strategic success factors. Lists the three determining factors for the attainment of competitive advantage as: time; cost; and quality, and shows how each of these has been exploited in full by Japanese companies. Uses the examples of Wal Mart (USA) and Ito‐Yokado (Japan) to illustrate how these factors can be translated successfully into retailing.