Competing for the Future by CK Prahalad and Gary Hamel was one of the most influential business books of the 1990s. The thesis was that changes in technology and the growth of international competition would erode boundaries between markets and industries. Companies would prosper only if they were quick to perceive these changes and act accordingly.

The authors argued that "the challenge is to pierce the fog of uncertainty and develop great foresight into the whereabouts of tomorrow's markets". They went on to propose "a view of strategy that is less concerned with ensuring a tight fit between goals and resources and is more concerned with creating stretch goals that challenge employees to accomplish the seemingly impossible".