About ahundred years ago, Frederick Winslow Taylor discovered scientific managementwhich led to everyday techniques we take for granted: interchangeable parts,the assembling line. Armed with the cutting-edgetechnologies of his day, a pencil, clipboard and stopwatch, Taylor changed thecourse of business forever.

By applyingscientific management, Ford motors led the charge to enjoy a near monopolyposition, produce the world's best cars, employ hundreds of thousands of peopleand reap the financial awards of this market dominance. 

Afterthe Second World War, Japan's industry was devastated and was infamous for its shoddy quality. Yet within two decades,Japan had become the world's leading industrial powerhouse. The turnaround wasas dramatic as it was unexpected. So what happened? Total quality management.This systematic approach disseminated quality throughout the organization byeliminating waste and rigorously applying statistical methods. Harnessing thepower of Total Quality Management enabled Toyota to emerge as the world'slargest automobile company.

Justtwenty years ago, a mid-size retailer named Wal-Mart developed the mostefficient distribution system in the world through barcodes, optical scannersand radio frequency ID. Wal-Mart embraced the daunting global supply chain: acomplex network of stores, distribution centers, and manufacturers all over theworld and was able to grow to over four times the size of its nearestcompetitor. With more than four hundred billion annual sales and one point sixmillion employees, Wal-Mart established itself as the largest private employerin the world.

Ideasindeed matter. They have transformed companies from the average to theextraordinary. But what's the next big idea that can transform the businesslandscape? Over the past few years, Eloqua has studied the performances of asmall group of companies that have consistently outperformed their peers. Andwe discover something inspiring. It's not luck. These fast growing companies havefound and embraced the next big idea, Revenue Performance Management or RPM. 

RPM is asystematical approach to identify the drivers and impediments to growth, rigorouslymeasuring them and pulling the economic levers that will optimize top linegrowth. Revenue Performance Management revolutionizes how business leadersanalyze and quantify the results of their largest and least understood costcenter, marketing sales efforts. For the first time, companies are makingintelligent evidence-based decisions about where to allocate resources tostimulate predictable, measurable and sustained revenue growth.

Theresult, extraordinary performance!

Companies can bring in new customers at lower cost, close businessfaster, and achieve higher ROI from marketingsales investment. Now that's the ultimate competitive advantage.

You see,ideas do matter. And ideas like RPM will allow those who embrace them to becomethe Fords, Toyotas and Wal-Marts of tomorrow.