Blue Ocean Strategy

ASEAN countries have been sluggish to change domestic legislation to support integration efforts across the region. Governments are reluctant to abandon protectionist barriers for less competitive industries largely due to fear of alienating key constituents. The author suggests one way of helping less competitive industries is to encourage companies to take advantage of an emerging middle class. ASEAN countries can pursue either red ocean strategies and compete in the same markets, trying to beat competitors, or they can turn to blue ocean strategies, creating markets for themselves and making the competition irrelevant. The latter could bring more compatibility to ASEAN economies and strengthen integration. Read more

The panel of medical industry practitioners at the Becker’s Hospital Review Annual Meeting in Chicago on May 10th discussed the challenges and trends facing academic medical centers. Dr. Bryan Becker, CEO of the University of Illinois Hospital in Chicago, discussed how the hospital redefined their strategy to focus on creating blue oceans and providing a unique offering to current and future patient base. Read more

Having once enjoyed a blue ocean of uncontested market space in the video game console industry, Nintendo is now facing increased competition from Ouya, an up-start company showing a lot of promise. To repeat the success of Nintendo Wii, the company will need to drastically change its strategy and offer something the market has not yet seen. Otherwise, Nintendo could fall from grace quickly. Read more

Panasonic Corporation President, Kazuhiro Tsuga, intends for the company to move away from traditional in-house manufacturing and partner with industries that range from automobiles and aviation, to logistics, retail, housing, and healthcare. He comments on Panasonic’s future strategy: “Future growth will [be] in B2B. Our objective is now to provide a better life to consumers through their cars, their businesses, and their home construction. This is a classic blue ocean strategy, where the company moves out of hyper-competitive waters to uncontested markets.” Read more

How do you stand out online now that there are over 200 million blogs and a billion Facebook accounts? Dan Zarrella, social media scientist and marketer, does not put much stock into “early adoption” as a business tactic. It is possible to get some good play early on if marketers can identify which sites, platforms, or memes are going to catch on. However, in the long run, it is all about blue ocean strategy. Read more

“Most, if not all of us, will find ourselves in a red ocean industry. You can only win if someone else loses,” says Majjits ten Brink, SVP sales for KLM-Air France-Martinair at Cargo 2000. Indicating that the air cargo industry suffers from low reliability for airlines and forwarders, low asset usage, and a lack of industry standards, he suggests that Cargo 2000 is planning to implement blue ocean strategy and become a catalyst for fundamental change in the industry. Read more

Failure or success in retail is the consequence of the strategic decisions every retailer adopts. The article suggests that in the era of increased internet ecommerce, blue ocean strategy is the “salvation” for physical book, DVD, music, and furniture retailers which are in danger of becoming obsolete. Blue ocean strategy helps firms maintain relevance by emphasizing the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost. Richer Sounds, a British home entertainment retailer, is presented as a case of a retailer that successfully adopted blue ocean strategy. Read more

A continuation of the previous post on how to devise a strategy to successfully swim in the information and communications technology industry. Blue ocean strategy’s ERRC grid (Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create) is used to analyze a telecom operator’s strategy. This post focuses on what an operator should create to find blue ocean. Read more

The claim that competition is healthy for an industry, consumers, and competitors may be true to some extent, but not completely. The article discusses the difference between creating a new market and remaining within an existing one wrought with competition. Read more in Spanish

In praise of Blue Ocean Strategy , the author recommends, “If you ever hear your executives whine about the competition, you will want to read this book.” Read on to learn how to dive into untapped market space, challenge industry’s conventional wisdom, and reach out to noncustomers. Read more

TIs the latest Blackberry model an attempt to catch up with competition? Did Blackberry miss the opportunity to create a blue ocean for itself in Africa? By providing both internet access as well as normal mobile services, and at a better data rate than other phone companies in the region, Blackberry could have accessed a largely untapped market but it may have just missed that opportunity. Read more

Companies should listen to their customers. For decades this dictum has been taken as fact and the practice is now so cemented into strategic thinking that it is, perhaps, no longer a conscious decision by firms. Kim and Mauborgne’s Blue Ocean Strategy as well as other recent work on innovation by Clayton Christensen and Roberto Verganti, challenge such misguided assumptions. Many companies have started wondering whether listening to customers may actually hurt the business, or if there are some cases in which it may be more profitable to ignore customer opinions altogether. Read more in Danish

The 1Malaysia Hawkers Programme (PP1M), one of the initiatives under National Blue Ocean Strategy, was implemented by the Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry. The program aims to improve the physical appearance, cleanliness, and hygiene standards among food vendors. In addition, hawkers can enrol in the ministry’s 1Malaysia Hawkers and Petty Traders National Insurance Plan (P1MPIN). Read more

Have you ever wondered how some entrepreneurs are able to create new companies, or how certain investors are capable of bringing new products to market? This article argues these successes are possible when people can challenge existing assumptions, assess a situation with fresh perspectives, follow a blue ocean strategic approach of eliminating or reducing undesired features and raising or creating desirable ones, and finally practice a dose of humility. Examples of challenging conventional boundaries include the movie Gorillas in the Mist, Coca-Cola’s Freestyle touchscreen soda machine, and IKEA. Read more

Apple observed the flood of illegal music file sharing that began in the late 1990s, enabled by file sharing programs such as Napster, Kazaa, and LimeWire. By 2003 the trend towards digital music was clear and the demand for MP3 music players was growing. Apple created its online music store, iTunes, unlocking a blue ocean in digital music, with the added advantage of increasing the attractiveness of its highly successful iPod player. Read more in Spanish

The Networked Society Blog provides an interesting analysis of the strategy that a telecom operator would have to pursue in order to create a blue ocean of uncontested market space. The author uses Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create framework to analyze specific actions a company could take. Companies in the information and communications technology industry may find this article insightful and inspiring as they attempt to embark on a new path to finding blue oceans. Read more

The article showcases Spotify, Flavi, Netflix, and Valve as blue ocean examples of innovation. The companies exhibit distinctly different innovation characteristics based on their own specific situations, calling on readers to consider which model is better. The author suggests that blue ocean innovation involves developing distinctive innovation value propositions by focusing on context, following three main steps: creating, developing and engaging. Read more

Conventional knowledge suggests that to distance themselves from competition companies need to either reduce costs or increase value for customers. Blue ocean strategy offers an alternative where low cost and increased value can be achieved simultaneously. The article describes how Nintendo Wii has achieved these dual objectives to successfully sail a blue ocean. Read more

In difficult economic times, companies are struggling to stay afloat. Creative application of blue ocean strategy may help your company to survive the turbulent times and emerge unscathed. Learn how to create a blue ocean to create a sustainable and uncontested market space. Read more

Deputy Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, expressed pride at the extraordinary cooperation among security forces to ensure peace and security in the country. He credited strong partnership between the Royal Malaysia Police and the Malaysian Armed Forces to blue ocean strategy. Read more

Bobbi Newman, member of the American Library Association, argues that even though Blue Ocean Strategy was written with business people in mind, its applicability to libraries makes it equally valuable to librarians. Read more

On April 28th, Apple’s iTunes celebrated its 10 year anniversary. iTunes Music Store has revolutionized the music industry, opening up unexplored blue oceans free from competition. Since 2003, Apple has reconstructed many industry boundaries, achieving a number of significant milestones. Read more in Italian

The 1Malaysia Support for Housewives program, introduced under National Blue Ocean Strategy, is expected to benefit housewives, single mothers, and the disabled. The initiative assists the target group in earning supplementary incomes through awareness programs, trainings, and entrepreneurship. Read more

China’s economic growth rate is declining and strict national real estate policies are adding an additional burden for companies. This decline results in a stagnant market for paint manufacturers. The article suggests that the rural market is the next blue ocean for paint manufacturers and recommends that they carefully analyze how to take advantage of the endless opportunities the rural market presents. Read more in Chinese

Though it was seen as an oversaturated market, in 1995 Curves exploded the demand in the U.S. fitness industry, unlocking a huge untapped market, a veritable blue ocean of women struggling and failing to keep in shape through sound fitness. Curves built on the decisive advantages of two strategic groups in the U.S. fitness industry – traditional health clubs and home exercise programs – and eliminated or reduced everything else. Curves is not competing directly with other health and exercise concepts; it has created a new blue ocean of demand. Read more in Spanish

A recent report by the Greater New Orleans Community Data Center is in-line with the state’s blue ocean strategy for economic development. The blue ocean strategy for the state of Louisiana stakes out economic development opportunities that have not been exploited by other states. For example, the state focuses on rebuilding coastal marshes, leveraging regional expertise in both heavy construction and engineering. Read more

Less than two years since it gained its independence, South Sudan is attracting the attention of insurance companies in East Africa. CIC Insurance Group of Kenya is planning to expand its operations in South Sudan, Uganda, Tanzania, and Malawi. South Sudan is considered “a blue ocean with a lot of potential” for CIC Insurance as it doesn’t have mature insurance structures and micro-insurance is thought to play a significant role. Read more

Have you ever wondered whether blue ocean strategy is a quick fix to your problems? Have you asked yourself questions if you can pursue blue ocean strategy on your own and using current understanding of your customers’ behavior? Read about common misconceptions of blue ocean strategy and how AirAsia was able to successfully create a blue ocean for itself. Read more

CEO of Bank Sohar, Dr Mohamed Abdulaziz Kalmoor, commented on his bank’s strategy: “We ascribe to the Blue Ocean Strategy, whereby we try not to rely too much on the spaces occupied by the other competitive players. We strive to create our own space and operate in it. No business today that seeks to outperform the market can do so by simply following the others”. Bank Sohar is one of the leading banks in Oman. Read more

Part IV of a series of blog posts on blue ocean strategy introduces the 6 Paths Framework and applies it in the context of the publishing industry. Path 4, Looking Across Complementary Products and Services, is discussed in depth. Read more