Window of opportunity


A window of opportunity is a period of time during which some action can be taken that will achieve a desired outcome. Once this period is over, or the "window is closed", the specified outcome is no longer possible.

Examples

Examples of windows of opportunity include:

Timing

The length of a critical window may be well known or poorly known. In some cases, there may be multiple windows during which a goal can be achieved.

Automation

In situations with very brief or unpredictable windows of opportunity, automation may be employed to take advantage of these windows, as in algorithmic trading. Real-time computing systems can guarantee responses on the order of milliseconds or less.

Costs

In some time-critical situations, failure to act may entail a continuously increasing cost over time, or a continuously decreasing probability over time of achieving the desired outcome. This may be represented in real-time computing systems by time-utility functions.

Use as a marketing tactic

Critical windows for making purchases may be artificially imposed as a marketing tactic to encourage action, in what is known as a "limited time offer".