<P> A McKinsey book, In Search of Excellence, was published in 1982 . It featured eight characteristics of successful businesses based on an analysis of 43 top performing companies . It became one of the most influential and highly read management books and marked the beginning of McKinsey's shift from accounting to "softer" aspects of management, like skills and culture . In Search of Excellence's distribution prompted others, including McKinsey consultants, to write more management books . According to David Guest from King's College, In Search of Excellence became popular among business managers because it was easy to read, well - marketed and some of its core messages were valid . However, it was disliked by academics because of flaws in its methodology . Additionally, a 1984 analysis by BusinessWeek found that many of those companies identified as "excellent" in the book no longer met the criteria only two years later . </P> <P> A 1997 article and a book it published in 2001 on "The War for Talent" prompted academics and the business community to start focusing more on talent management . The authors found that the best - performing companies were "obsessed" with acquiring and managing the best talent . They advocated that companies rank employees by their performance and promote "stars", while targeting under - performers for improvement or layoffs . After the book was published, Enron, a company which followed many of its principles, was involved in a scandal that led to its bankruptcy . In May 2001, a Stanford professor wrote a paper critical of the "War on Talent" arguing that it prioritized individuals at the expense of the larger organization . </P> <P> McKinsey consultants published Creative Destruction in 2001 . The book suggested that CEOs need to be willing to change or rebuild a company, rather than protect what they have created . It found that out of the first S&P 500 list from 1957, only 74 were still in business by 1998 . The New York Times said it "makes a cogent argument that in times of rampant, uncertain change...established companies are handcuffed by success ." In 2009, McKinsey consultants published "The Alchemy of Growth", which established three "horizons" for growth: core enhancements, new growth platforms and options . Its three horizons became adopted widely, because it gave executives a simple vocabulary about business growth . </P> <P> In February 2011, McKinsey surveyed 1,300 US private - sector employers on their expected response to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). 30 percent of respondents said they anticipated they would probably or definitely stop offering employer sponsored health coverage after the ACA went into effect in 2014 . These results, published in June 2011 in the McKinsey e-Quarterly, became "a useful tool for critics of the ACA and a deep annoyance for defenders of the law" according to an article in TIME Magazine . Supporters of healthcare reform argued the survey far surpassed estimates by the Congressional Budget Office and insisted that McKinsey disclose the survey's methodology . Two weeks after publishing the survey results, McKinsey released the contents of the survey including the questionnaire and 206 - pages of survey data . In its accompanying statement, McKinsey said it was intended to capture the attitude of employers at a certain point in time, not make a prediction . </P>

Who introduced the concept of the 3 horizons for growth to the management world