TEACHING MATERIALS

Blue ocean pedagogical materials, used in nearly 3,000 universities and in almost every country in the world, go beyond the standard case-based method. Our multimedia cases and interactive exercises are designed to help you build a deeper​ understanding of key blue ocean concepts, from blue ocean strategy to nondisruptive creation, developed by world-renowned professors Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne. Currently, with over 20 Harvard bestselling cases.

Successes and Failures of Amazon’s Growth Strategies: Causes and Consequences

Author(s): KIM, W. Chan, MAUBORGNE, Renée, KOO, Oh Young

Case study trailer

Summary

Started as an online bookstore 22 years earlier, Amazon had achieved unceasing growth, becoming the largest internet bookstore, the largest online marketplace, a global media company, and the most successful IT service provider. In 2015, the online retailer expanded to the brick-and-mortar retail business, launching Amazon Books across the US and beta-testing Amazon Go in Seattle. As of May 2017, Amazon was ranked ‘the most innovative company’ and the world’s fourth-largest company by market capitalization.

To achieve this multi-faceted growth, Amazon has made countless strategic moves. The case explores Amazon’s 20-year path for growth and introduces both successful and failed strategic moves. Successful strategic moves are Marketplace, Prime, Amazon Web Services, and Kindle; failed strategic moves are Auctions, A9 Search Engine, Endless, and Fire Phone. It analyzes commonalities and differences among them; to thereby understand the roots of the company’s high and poor performance. Blue ocean strategy concepts are applied to analyze Amazon’s market-creating strategic logic for future growth.

The case comes with a teaching note and a lecture slide pack.

Case Study

English: HBSP | Case Centre | INSEAD

Chinese: Case Centre | INSEAD

Korean: Case Centre | INSEAD

Teaching Note

English: HBSP | Case Centre | INSEAD

One Page Summary

English: Available to download for free in the Educators’ Space

Lecture Slides

English, Chinese, Korean: Available to download for free in the Educators’ Space