blue ocean strategyFrequently asked QuestionsCan you briefly explain the concept of Blue Ocean Strategy?We use the terms red and blue oceans to denote the market universe. Red oceans are all the industries in existence today - the known market space. In the red oceans, industry boundaries are defined and accepted, and the competitive rules of the game are known. Here companies try to outperform their rivals to grab a greater share of existing demand. As the market space gets crowded, prospects for profits and growth are reduced. Products become commodities, and cutthroat competition turns the red ocean bloody. More...How does blue ocean strategy fundamentally differ from red ocean strategy?In simple terms, red ocean strategy is about how to out-pace rivals in existing market space; it is a market-competing strategy. In contrast, blue ocean strategy is about how to get out of established market boundaries to leave the competition behind; it is a market-creating strategy.Red ocean strategy assumes that an industry's structural conditions are given and that firms are forced to compete within a finite market space. Taking market structure as given, companies are driven to try to carve out a defensible position against the competition in the existing industry terrain. More...Are you saying red ocean strategy is no longer useful?Absolutely not. It will always be important to swim successfully in the red ocean by out-competing rivals. Red oceans will always matter and will always be a fact of business life. But with supply exceeding demand in more industries, competing for a share of contracting markets, while necessary, will not be sufficient to sustain high performance. Companies need to go beyond competing. To seize new profit and growth opportunities they also need to create blue oceans. More...Blue ocean strategy may be perceived as involving high risk. How does blue ocean strategy address the issue of risk?Above all, blue ocean strategy is about risk minimization and not about risk taking. Of course, there is no such thing as a riskless strategy. Any strategy, whether red or blue, will always involve risk. Nonetheless, when it comes to venturing beyond the red ocean to create and capture blue oceans there are six key risks companies face: search risk, planning risk, scope risk, business model risk, organizational risk, and management risk. The first four risks revolve around strategy formulation, and the latter two around strategy execution. More...Is blue ocean strategy new?Although the term blue oceans is new, their existence is not. They are a feature of business life, past and present. Look back one hundred years and ask yourself, How many of today's industries were then unknown? The answer: Many industries as basic as automobiles, music recording, aviation, petrochemicals, health care, and management consulting were unheard of or had just begun to emerge at the time. Now turn the clock back only thirty years. Again, a plethora of multibillion-dollar industries jumps out - mutual funds, cell phones, gas-fired electricity plants, biotechnology, discount retail, express delivery, minivans, snowboards, coffee bars, and home videos to name a few. More...What makes blue ocean strategy imperative in today's business environment?Prospects in most established market spaces (red oceans) are shrinking steadily. Technological advances have substantially improved industrial productivity, permitting suppliers to produce an unprecedented array of products and services. And as trade barriers between nations and regions fall and information on products and prices becomes instantly and globally available, niche markets and monopoly havens are continuing to disappear. At the same time, there is little evidence of any increase in demand, at least in the developed markets, where recent United Nations statistics even point to declining populations. More...Why are so many CEOs focused on the red ocean, while the money is increasingly in the blue ocean?Blue and red oceans have always coexisted and always will. Practical reality, therefore, demands that companies understand the strategic logic of both types of oceans. At present, however, competing in red oceans dominates the field of strategy in theory and in practice. Part of the reason traces back to the historical foundation of business strategy, war, where territory is defined and limited and opponents compete to protect and enlarge their share of limited and existing terrain. More...How durable is the advantage associated with a blue ocean strategy and what is the process for defending it?Creating blue oceans is not a static achievement but a dynamic process. Once a company creates a blue ocean and its powerful performance consequences are known, sooner or later imitators appear on the horizon. However, a blue ocean strategy brings with it considerable barriers to imitation. Some of these are cognitive, and others are operational.The first barrier is often cognitive. Competitors are often blocked from imitating because of brand image conflicts, or the blue ocean strategy just does not fit conventional strategic logic. More...Trademarks | © Kim & Mauborgne, 2010 |