When Lean Enterprises Collide reveals a new theory of competition in which lean manufacturers become locked in a head-to-head race to create the most innovative product at the lowest price. These firms engage in a game of constant and lightning-fast leapfrogging in pursuit of transitory gains. This is the confrontation strategy, and it will shape the competitive landscape for lean enterprises.

Cooper shows that the key to success in such an environment is the careful balance of cost, quality, and functionality - the survival triplet - in which cost is the critical element. He describes eight innovative cost management techniques - including target costing and value engineering - that have emerged in Japanese firms to manage costs across the value chain.

Leading manufacturers must use aggressive cost management along with TQM and time-to-market to develop products with the appropriate mix of quality, cost, and functionality to satisfy the customer. Evidence of this relentless confrontation strategy and the hidden role of cost management within it emerged during Cooper's five-year study of the management systems inside twenty Japanese companies, including Olympus, Nissan, Citizen, and Komatsu.