In 1993, Bain & Company launched a multiyear research project to gather facts about the use and performance of management tools. The objectives of this study are twofold: 1) to provide managers with an understanding of how their current application of these tools and subsequent results compare with those of other organizations across industries and around the globe; and 2) to provide the information they need to identify, select, implement and integrate the right tools to improve their company's performance. As part of this study, Bain creates a yearly guide to 25 of the most popular and pertinent management tools. This guide provides a description, methodology, common uses and selected references for each of the tools.