In this series of articles, the Malaysian Prime Minister encourages government workers to apply BOS to be more creative and innovative. He wants every civil servant to adopt the four important elements enshrined in blue ocean strategy, Eliminate, Reduce, Raise and Create.

This article reports on the strong start of the Malaysian National Blue Ocean Strategy where crime was reduced by the highest percentage since Malaysian independence more than 50 years ago. Also mentioned are the fight against corruption, raising standards of living for low-income households, improving rural infrastructure and urban public transport.

Malaysia’s Second National Blue Ocean Strategy aims to equip petty criminals with skills and strengthen family ties

Malaysia’s Second National Blue Ocean Strategy aims to prevent petty offenders becoming hardened criminals by placing them in Community Rehabilitation Centres instead of high security prisons. Prisoners will be able to have frequent contact with their families and learn skills to encourage their successful reintegration into society.

Re-invigorate your approach, the Blue Ocean way

This article discusses how Apple, Samsung and others have defied conventional wisdom to create new markets and remarks that the Pan-Arab technology and media marketplace is another blue ocean waiting to be discovered.

In this interview, Professor Kim describes how blue ocean strategy can be applied to the insurance industry. He explains how to create new markets by focusing on noncustomers and how value innovation can be achieved by not only focusing on the product, but also on complimentary services and distribution.

Descobrindo mercados intocados

In this interview, Professor Mauborgne discusses various aspects of Blue Ocean Strategy including the biggest challenges to implementing a blue ocean strategy and the challenge of imitation.

Yongye Nongfeng, an affiliate of Yongye International (Nasdaq: YONG), a leading manufacturer of organic nutrient products, recently received the HBR China Best Practice award. Yongye spokesman, Mr Wu comments on how rather than competing on price, his company has focused on building a trustworthy brand and delivering value for farmers by providing them with platforms of technical support in remote villages.

Japanese Gaming Firm Provides Lessons

Marketing consultant Owen Scott explains how New Zealand exporters should learn from Nintendo by employing Blue Ocean Strategy instead of engaging in head-to-head competition. He underlines that companies succeed by finding a better way to satisfy a different set of customers’ needs and creating blue oceans of opportunity.

KB serves small shop owners as well

Koomin bank hopes to have unlocked a blue ocean of new market space after introducing a special tailored account exclusively for small business owners. The product was developed after examining what business owners valued and creating an offering that brought these factors to light.

Etterspørselens tid

This article published by the Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv illustrates the blue ocean strategy theory by providing the example of Iceland’s recent election as a successful implementation of Blue Ocean Strategy.

Blue Ocean vs. Five Forces

In this Harvard Business Review article, Professors Andrew Burk, Andre van Stel and Roy Thurk from Cranfield, EIM and Erasmus University respectively, comment on their recent empirical study comparing the results of blue ocean strategy and Porter’s five forces. Amongst their findings, they found evidence to support that blue ocean strategy is both sustainable and has a positive impact on profitability. In conclusion they note that business may want to consider a blend of both approaches, using effective competitive strategy for existing markets while increasing funds available for blue ocean investments to increase the chances of finding an untapped market.

Paddling together toward a Blue Ocean

In this article, Alex Terego, an educational consultant, explains how the concepts and theory of blue ocean strategy are particularly relevant to the educational sector and how unconventional thinking is urgent in this period of globalization where our schools and pupils are facing ‘a red ocean of competition’.

Ude på det blå ocean

Rohit Aggarwal, CEO of Koenig Solutions, expresses his enthusiasm for blue ocean strategy”. He explains his objective to create a ‘blue ocean offering’ of longer-term IT courses and a Bachelor’s degrees to differentiate his company from his competitors and attract noncustomers.

Gov. Jindal Announces New Director of Pennington Biomedical Research Center, Clinical Trials and Research Initiative

This article gives us more details on one of the 12 growth sectors targeted by Louisiana Economic Development (LED) in their recently launched ‘blue ocean’ strategic growth plan. Realizing that Louisiana and the United States are disproportionately affected by nutrition based chronic diseases such as diabetes and obesity, the LED estimates that a focus on research and treatments in this domain could result in the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs over the next 20 years, creating a blue ocean of new jobs for the state.

Blue Ocean Strategy named one of the most influential books in China

China’s leading book review journal ‘China Book Business Report’ reports that Blue Ocean Strategy has been selected for two prominent national book lists.

Blue Ocean Strategy chosen as one of the best management books of the decade in Belgium

The Belgium business journal TRENDS selected Blue Ocean Strategy as one of the 10 best Management books of the last decade.

Using Blue Ocean Strategy to reposition Louisiana

Below are several articles describing how Stephen Moret, Secretary of Louisiana Economic Development (LED), is targeting blue ocean industries to ‘reposition Louisiana as the next great American state’.

A different way to look at a law firm strategy

This article compares red ocean and blue ocean strategy as applied to the legal services sector, and explains how Heritage Law Firm is using a blue ocean strategic approach by creating a online branch to deliver online legal services aimed at noncustomers of the traditional legal services industry.

Gouter l’Aveyron – Une offre innovante de l’aire du Viaduc de Millau

This article explains in some depth how 3 star Michelin French chef, Michel Bras, may have created a blue ocean near the monumental Millau Viaduc in France, the world’s highest road bridge. It explains how this new offering achieves differentiation and reasonable cost by combining fast food and ‘grande cuisine’.

In Search of Blue Oceans

In this interview Professors Kim and Mauborgne talk about the research journey that led to the success of the book Blue Ocean Strategy. They claim that any profound management theory should have both academic rigor and popular appeal to insure lasting impact.

Sara Proprio allora che si conteranno “le perdite”, perchè la…

This article, Luca Targa, CEO of “Inside Btb”, discusses the importance of value innovation during a period of extreme economic uncertainty. He explains that in a world of frenetic competition there is a need to identify new and uncontested market space.

Expats emerge as Blue Ocean for local banks

This article describes how Korean Banks recognize foreign residents as noncustomers and how they are trying to attract these noncustomers through new services.

Blue Ocean Strategies assist Yongye in winning 2009 Chinese Enterprise Marketing Innovation Award

The 2009 Chinese Enterprise Marketing Innovation Award, delivered by China’s largest and most influential marketing summit, was awarded to Yongye International (NASDAQ:YONG) to honor the company’s excellent performance and their ability to implement a blue ocean strategic approach.Yongye International has unlocked vast demand by defying the traditional industry practice that focused on selling agricultural nutrient products to distributors, and instead, looked across the chain of buyers to appeal to end users –Chinese peasants. By setting up prototype farmlands dispersed across China, Yongye showed farmers firsthand how its products dramatically increase the yield and market value of crops while simultaneously cutting overall input costs by reducing the use of fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides. Yongye’s strategic move has unlocked vast demand among peasants, increased sales and profits for distributors, while at the same time allowing the company to rapidly build its brand name and break away from the red ocean competition among producers of similar products.

Max New York Life uncovers the brand positioning for Max Vijay: Empowering the underserved masses

This article discusses how Max New York Life Insurance Company Limited has revolutionized the way insurance is procured, sold and served through its new and innovative business concept called “Max Vijay”. This new concept described as a Blue Ocean business model is specially designed for society’s underprivileged to help them meet the challenges of unpredictability in life and income flow.

The Strategic Move of Crocs, Inc.

Jennifer von Briesen, Founder & Principal, Frontier Strategy, presents her analysis of Crocs Inc., the U.S. based shoe designer, manufacturer, and retailer that launched its business in 2002, creating undeniable business success. In this analysis, von Briesen discusses how Crocs successfully challenged conventional assumptions of competition to create a blue ocean and how its deviation away from blue ocean strategy logic explains to no small extent the company’s current situation.

The Strategic Move of Peirce College

Dr. Arthur Lendo, the recent President of Peirce College, discusses the major strategic transformation of Peirce College, a Civil War college founded in 1865 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In this article, Dr. Lendo discusses how blue ocean strategic logic was the driving force for the needed fundamental institutional changes he spearheaded as college president featuring original, entrepreneurial thinking and prudent risk, bolstered and actualized by employee teamwork.

By reconstructing market boundaries, Peirce was able to unlock a vast market of adult learners not only across the US but also internationally while enjoying a low cost structure. The result was rewarding outcomes for both students and the College including a tripling of enrollment. Dr. Arthur Lendo served as President, Peirce College, Philadelphia, PA from 1991 to 2009. His tenure placed him among the most experienced college presidents in the United States. He shepherded the College through the major strategic transformation including a charter change to four year baccalaureate status, record fundraising levels and the creation of Peirce Corporate College and Peirce Online. The College now has a national scope with international reach. Degree seeking students have enrolled from 43 states, and 30 other countries.

Blue Ocean versus Competitive Strategy: Theory and Evidence

In this academic article, Andrew Burke, Andre van Stel, and Roy Thurik from Cranfield business school in the UK, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and the University of Amsterdam bring statistical evidence to the debate about the relevance of blue ocean strategy versus competitive strategy. Their analysis of data concerning the Dutch retail industry from 1980 to 2000 finds that blue ocean and competitive strategy are complementary, and managers do not face a discrete either/or decision between each strategy. Additionally, their research indicates that blue ocean strategy prevailed as a dominant long term viable strategy

Louisiana’s blue ocean

In this article, Stephen Moret, Louisiana’s economic development secretary, explains how the state is helping existing companies to expand and find their own blue ocean opportunities. Moret says that blue ocean strategy will set the state apart and bring it closer to new markets, which are not fully exploited by other states. The aim is to create high growth opportunities and create new jobs in fields such as nuclear energy manufacturing, digital interactive media and advanced manufacturing.

Brazil: Kimberly-Clark enjoys swim in Blue Ocean

The Kimberly-Clark Blue Ocean Strategy Institute in Sao Paulo has helped develop the company’s most recent product using BOS methodology. Kimberly-Clark Brazil is soon to launch its Fralda Magica or ‘magic diaper’. To develop this product, employees of the K-C Blue Ocean Strategy Institute spoke to customers and noncustomers and discovered ways to break away from the competition and create new market space.

Thinkers 50: Blue Ocean Strategy Authors move up to 5th position

Blue Ocean Strategy authors Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne move up to 5th position this year in the recently released 2009 Thinkers 50 list. More than 3,000 people, voted in The Thinkers 50. The top 100 thinkers were then assessed against ten criteria, including originality of ideas, impact, presentation style, research rigour and business sense, with business schools and management experts consulted.

Suche nach neuen “Fischgründen”

In this article, Peter Blösch, CEO of Blösch GmbH describes blue ocean strategy as his company’s philosophy and has applied it successfully to devise an innovative electroplating technique. The company has gone from a small family-owned business to one of the world’s leading companies in the electroplating sector. First, this new technique was applied to the Swiss clock industry and now it is widely used in medical technology, telecommunications and aerospace industries.

Tipping Point Leadership

In this Q&A, blue ocean strategy’s continued relevance in the face of the economic crisis is discussed. This includes a detailed overview of tipping point leadership and its benefits in bringing about fundamental change quickly and with limited resources, and a discussion on how this is especially important during tough economic conditions. The Q&A concludes with how to overcome the four key organizational hurdles that a business leader is likely to face.

Seair turns Caticlan crisis into opportunity

Long accustomed to owning a monopoly in the lucrative Manila-Caticlan air route, Seair has suddenly found itself searching for a blue ocean after a string of accidents has allowed their competitors to gain the advantage. Seair says it has identified that its blue ocean lies in developing routes to less popular destinations which have the potential to become travel hotspots in the future. New destinations such as Basco in Batanes, Masbate and Marinduque have been added in hopes of making the competition irrelevant.

“How Strategy Shapes Structure,” by W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Harvard Business Review, September, 2009

This article argues that there are two types of strategy: structuralist strategies that assume that the operating environment is given and reconstructionist strategies that seek to shape the environment. In choosing which of the two is most appropriate for your organization, you need to consider environmental attractiveness, the capabilities and resources you can call on, and whether your organization has a strategic orientation for competing or for innovating. Whichever type of strategy is chosen, success will depend on creating an aligned set of strategy propositions targeted at three different sets of stakeholders: buyers, shareholders, and the people working for or with the organization. Where the approaches diverge is in the nature of their proper alignment. Structuralist strategies require that the three propositions — the value, the profit, and the people propositions — focus on delivering either low cost or differentiation. Reconstructionist strategy propositions aim to deliver both.

Making the Old New: Organizations need to stay ahead of curve

Executive Director, Claudette Leclerc, at Manitoba Museum was inspired by Blue Ocean Strategy to create a new strategic plan and vision for redefining the museum experience. Leclerc relates to the Cirque du Soleil example in the book. Like Cirque du Soleil she wants to transform the museum experience from being passé, like the circus once was, into something with great community impact that stands apart.

Sharks in a Blue Ocean Don’t Bite

This article argues that the advertising industry is suffering during these tough economic conditions and can no longer be content with developing plans that seek to dominate existing markets. Instead the industry must develop an entirely new approach. This is where Blue Ocean Strategy is needed. This article outlines three immediate things, found in the six paths framework that can be done to reconstruct market boundaries. They are as follows: look across the chain of buyers, participate in shaping external trends, and look across alternative industries.

Islamic Finance Emerging as Blue Ocean

This article argues that Islamic finance largely survived the crisis thanks to the stable management of assets based on Islamic law and has investors increasingly turning their attention to it as an alternative to Western-style finance, which was rattled by U.S. subprime mortgage trouble. Islamic banks have been less affected than many conventional banks because they are not exposed to losses from investment in toxic assets nor have they been dependent on wholesale funds, as they are prohibited from such activities. Countries like Korea, which are swimming in a red ocean of dependence on the U.S. dollar and investments, have determined that a blue ocean of opportunity lies in Islamic finance as an option for diversification.

Nintendo’s Innovation Console: A Q&A With Reggie Fils-Aime, Nintendo’s North American President

This article introduces Nintendo’s latest innovation which they previewed at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo. The Wii Vitality Sensor, a hardware device that will monitor an interactive game player’s heart rate, is Nintendo’s most recent move to extend its blue ocean. North American President and COO, Reggie Fils-Aime argues that the combination of fun and fitness in the video-gaming world is becoming a red ocean and so Nintendo’s strategy is to push the envelope with the Wii Vitality Sensor towards creating compelling content and an entertaining experience in ways that haven’t been done before.

Blue Ocean Strategy: Forbes features business leaders talking about the books that influence them

Vineet Nayar, CEO of HCL Technologies, expresses how the book Blue Ocean Strategy is the most influential book he has read to date. He explains how his company has gone on to create new engines of growth, business lines and pricing models; shifted from being volume-driven to value-driven; ventured into new geographies; and indentified SAP as a potential market and growth engine to catapult the company into a position of global leadership.

CT + IT = Blue Ocean

An interesting article about how Culture Technology, which refers to the convergence of culture and technology to form a new business and information technology, creates what is argued to be a blue ocean. Korea’s Culture Technology Institute of Kyungwon University has been working on a massive scanning project since July 2008, which is taking the nation’s cultural artefacts and historic landmarks and scanning them into a digital 3D database. It claims that this project has reconstructed market boundaries and challenges traditional ways of experiencing cultural history and heritage, and that this new market space of cyber museums vitalizes the education systems and encourages noncustomers to become customers.

Bangkok House Builders Co. Ltd. provides new service: building only house structure

Inspired by Blue Ocean Strategy, Bangkok House Builder Co. Ltd. has launched a new service. The new product, Yourchoice is attracting those homebuyers who have a limited budget and only want to pay for the basic house structure as well as those customers who are attracted by low-prices but lack confidence in the quality and standards of individual contractors.

Blue Oceans in Human Resources

Chief People Officer at Symphony Services, C. Mahalingam, advocates the application of Blue Ocean thinking in Human Resources. He names Blue Ocean Strategy as a very refreshingly different perspective in comparison to “frou-frou” practices which appear promising and new however do not deliver real value. The article continues with an illustrative list of blue ocean practices that can be applied to the employee life cycle from hiring to training to performance management to employee relations and exit management.

To keep sparkling, jewellers must ‘find own niche’

As jewellers face tough economic conditions within the luxury goods industry, Managing Director of On Cheong Jewellery, Mr. Ho, encourages jewellers to apply Blue Ocean Strategy by avoiding intense competition where the market is saturated. Instead, jewellers should consider finding a blue ocean where the market has yet to be developed, for example by selling customized jewellery rather than designs identical to those found in multiple outlets.

A selection of news from around the business campuses

This article highlights the success of the case study “Evolution of the Circus Industry A” which won the best overall case award by ecch. The case highlights how Cirque du Soleil was able to reinvent the circus industry and create new market space by challenging conventional assumptions about how to compete.

Nintendo recognizes the importance of launching blue oceans

In this article, Nintendo CEO Saturo Iwata describes how they will increase the value of their current offer by releasing a stronger catalogue of games this semester, while recognizing the need to create a new blue ocean as traditional competitors, Microsoft and Sony launch imitations of the Wii.

BusinessWeek on Blue Ocean Strategy

In this video clip, BusinessWeek’s innovation guru Bruce Nussbaum tells us how the entire global economy requires Blue Ocean Strategy to go into a whole new space in corporate strategy and do well in the global economic downturn.

Chilean Senator, Eduardo Frei’s presidential campaign has been inspired by Blue Ocean Strategy:

Frei se reunirá hoy con su equipo programático “Creando Océanos Azules y Despejando la Cordillera”.

What Can Tata’s Nano Teach Detroit?

This article focuses on Tata’s micro-car, the Nano. It suggests that Nano’s Blue Ocean approach is a great lesson for Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ automakers to reconnect with customers and attract noncustomers.

What Can Tata’s Nano Teach Detroit?

This article focuses on Tata’s micro-car, the Nano. It suggests that Nano’s Blue Ocean approach is a great lesson for Detroit’s ‘Big Three’ automakers to reconnect with customers and attract noncustomers.

Adopt Blue Ocean Strategy

The George Sleeba, Chairman and Managing Director of Fertilizers and Chemicals Travancore (FACT), inaugurated the 12th Annual Management Convention which focused on the economic recession and survival strategies. He advocates Blue Ocean Strategy to face the recession and says that companies should create blue oceans instead of focusing on competitors.

Citrix Sets Course for Blue Ocean Strategy

Citrix, caught up in red oceans, is implementing Blue Ocean Strategy to set themselves apart from their competitors by pursuing both cost reductions and differentiation. Citrix reduced the cost of enterprise-level virtualization and differentiated themselves by including features and functionality.

Exploração de mercados abre oportunidades a bancas

This article promotes Blue Ocean Strategy in the legal sector. It discusses how to apply the six paths framework of Blue Ocean Strategy to this sector.

Blue Ocean that’s also green

In this interesting article, Dr Lin, a Harvard educated economist, explains how Blue Ocean Strategy should be a stimulus during the current economic downturn and how it can provide the tools to meet two of Malaysia’s major policy objectives: creating new jobs and launching new initiatives to restructure the economy. He emphasizes how it is possible to create value while simultaneously reducing waste and the carbon footprint.

Why Should Customers Buy from You?

This article asks the question above and emphasizes the importance of Blue Ocean Strategy to create a unique offering that will lift you above competition at a low cost.

Blue Ocean thinking can create waves

The Guardian explains how Nintendo stopped benchmarking its competitors and focused on non customers by applying ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ by challenging traditional industry assumptions. Since the tremendous success of the Wii, Sony and Microsoft have been forced to re-examine their strategy and create more family oriented games but the article concludes that even with this shift in direction, Xbox or PS3’s continued focus on clever technology is unlikely to lure away Nintendo’s new audience.

INSEAD Professor stresses need to change traditional corporate strategy

Professor Narayan Pant, INSEAD’s Dean of Executive Education in Singapore, emphasizes the necessity to change traditional corporate strategy and that creating Blue Oceans is the forward to creating strong, profitable growth for the future.

Ford Model T ve Mavi Okyanus

Dunya, a Turkish national newspaper, highlights the growing importance of Blue Ocean Strategy and redefining new market space. The article talks about the Ford Model T as a compelling example of a Blue Ocean strategic move.

Create Blue Oceans to make the Competition Irrelevant

This Q & A with BOS author Professor Chan Kim, discusses the main concepts of Blue Ocean Strategy including the difference between Value Innovation, the cornerstone of BOS and ‘incremental innovation’ that can sometimes detract value for the buyer rather than creating it.

Manager, è questo il momento di osare

This article emphasizes tipping point leadership and fair process especially in a time of crisis and urges firms to stop competing head on.

The UCSI Blue Ocean Strategy Regional Centre was recently established. UCSI aims to make the Blue Ocean Strategy Regional Centre its crown jewel. The geographic scope of UCSI BOSRC includes Malaysia, Australia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Toward this end, the BOS Regional Centre will be housed in a campus worth RM200 million (USD 61 million) situated in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. In 2009, there will also be a BOS Research Centre located on a sprawling campus of close to 200-acres in an exciting education township in Bandar Springhill.

The BOS Regional Centre builds and extends UCSI International Groups state-of-the-art facilities that support education, research and training activities, among which include the latest conference facilities, auditoriums, lecture theatres, concert halls and studios. Areas into which the Group is looking at expanding into in the near future include industry specific training centres and research facilities and computer graphic and animation studios, all of which would add to the capabilities the Group can bring to creating far-reaching success for the BOS Regional Centre.

Blue Ocean Strategy rated #1 Management Practice in China

Blue Ocean Strategy has been voted #1 in the annual Top 10 Management Practices survey carried out by Chief Executive China, the largest-circulation management magazine in mainland China. More than 1,200 senior mainland China managers responded to the survey, placing Blue Ocean Strategy first in this years results.

Design Your Future: Blue Ocean Strategy

Ralph Trombetta, Senior Strategist of The Value Innovation Network, explains how Blue Ocean Strategy can provide untapped pools of profit through the creation of value for both the buyer and the company.

Margins to remain intact in near-term: HCL

Vineet Nayar, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of HCL Technologies, describes how its Blue Ocean Strategy has safeguarded the company in the face of the volatile foreign exchange market.

Big Blue Ocean

Hong Sik Ko, CEO of Samsung Total Petrochemicals – a joint venture between Samsung and oil major Total , describes how the company aims to differentiate itself from the red ocean of Asias plastic manufacturers and create a Blue Ocean of opportunity.

Apprendre innover pour se demarquer

INSEAD together with the Blue Ocean Strategy Institute has launched the new INSEAD Open Enrollment Program Blue Ocean Strategy. This new programme is specifically designed for CEOs, executives and managing groups. Professor Peter Zemsky, the Programme Director explains how the participants will gain keen insights into how the Blue Ocean Strategy concept complements and goes beyond traditional approaches to strategy.