Eight years of data continue to separate fleeting fads from enduring strategies. Bain & Company's annual Management Tools & Techniques survey shows that executives are opting for classic, tried-and-true management tools to address fundamentals of cost and corporate direction over new economy tools.

"During a year when executives jumped on the Internet bandwagon to seek quick and easy growth, they found no new tool paved the road to riches," said Darrell Rigby, founder of the Tools Survey. The most widely used tools cited by senior managers in 2000 remain the same as in 1999: Strategic Planning (76%), Mission and Vision Statements (70%), and Benchmarking (69%).

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