Management ideas are as susceptible to fashion as hairstyles and eyeglasses are. A consultant or professor presents a Big New Idea in a book or an academic management review. Consultants tout it in more articles and books and persaude a few leading-edge clients to adopt it. That's the start of the . . . . . . Reporters and researchers start writing up the idea as the next hot trend.
More companies adopt it, providing the fuel for more articles and reports.
Wall Street notices and starts rewarding vendors that are seen as market leaders. From this point on, it's all downhill. Next comes . . . . . . The start of the slide. The press begins to question whether the idea really works.