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Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
by
The global phenomenon, embraced by business worldwide and now published in more than 40 languages.
This international bestseller challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success.
Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for compet ...more
This international bestseller challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success.
Since the dawn of the industrial age, companies have engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for compet ...more
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Hardcover, 240 pages
Published
February 1st 2005
by Harvard Business Review Press
(first published 2004)
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Start your review of Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
The signal-to-noise ratio of business books generally tends towards zero. They fall into one of three categories: baked-over platitudes designed to reinforce the self-esteem of the reader (see First Break all the Rules), laughably faulty reasoning (see Good to Great), and interesting ideas that are overextended and driven into the ground (see The Tipping Point). Fortunately for Blue Ocean Strategy, it tends towards the latter.
There are a few good ideas in the book, but they are shrouded in unnec ...more
There are a few good ideas in the book, but they are shrouded in unnec ...more
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Harvard Business School Press
This is an especially thought-provoking book that, as have so many others, evolved from an article published in the Harvard Business Review. According to Kim and Mauborgne, "Blue Ocean Strategy challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant...T ...more
W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne
Harvard Business School Press
This is an especially thought-provoking book that, as have so many others, evolved from an article published in the Harvard Business Review. According to Kim and Mauborgne, "Blue Ocean Strategy challenges companies to break out of the red ocean of bloody competition by creating uncontested market space that makes the competition irrelevant...T ...more
Kind of a stupid book. The overall premise is, don’t compete directly with your competitors, create new markets. Of course, it falls into the classic trap that all business books seem to fall into, which is looking only at cases that support the theory and ignoring all that don’t. The theory itself is pretty obvious when you look at it - basically it argues that making a profit in any commodities market boils down to reducing costs, and that when your competitors cannot directly compete against
...more
The authors provide case studies on how some companies left their "bloody-red" oceans of competition for completely open blue oceans where they were unique.
Some are well-known business stories, such as Southwest Airlines becoming a low-cost provider. However, the book provides details into Southwest's underlying business strategies that may not be well known. Other case studies gave new insight into various companies and their product strategics. One interesting story, for example, was [yellow ...more
Some are well-known business stories, such as Southwest Airlines becoming a low-cost provider. However, the book provides details into Southwest's underlying business strategies that may not be well known. Other case studies gave new insight into various companies and their product strategics. One interesting story, for example, was [yellow ...more
This well-written book seems like common sense however it is an eye-opener for less sophisticated colleagues who doesn't know much about competitive advantage. It arguments how contested markets ("red oceans") should look for uncontested markets ("blue oceans"). Everything in this book is common sense. Nintendo is another high-profile example. Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's CEO, has referred to the Blue Ocean Strategy in interviews.
I do think the Blue Ocean Strategy is nothing without execution though ...more
I do think the Blue Ocean Strategy is nothing without execution though ...more
Jan 25, 2008
Ia Tjitrawasita
rated it
it was amazing
Recommends it for:
entrepreneur, policy makers
Shelves:
strategic-management
Keywords: blue ocean - red ocean - value innovation
How to win the competition? You can challenge your opponents on a head-to-head competition. Suppose that your target is to book 200 contracts each month. In order to fulfil the target you can compete on pricing. It means that you should give bigger discount than your opponents.
But head-to-head competition has its own limitation. There is another way to compete. A smarter way. Chan Kim and Mauborgne propose another solution: don't compete with ...more
How to win the competition? You can challenge your opponents on a head-to-head competition. Suppose that your target is to book 200 contracts each month. In order to fulfil the target you can compete on pricing. It means that you should give bigger discount than your opponents.
But head-to-head competition has its own limitation. There is another way to compete. A smarter way. Chan Kim and Mauborgne propose another solution: don't compete with ...more
This book is an essential read for any entrepreneur looking to compete in a saturated marketplace and build a successful business. Too many startups fail because founders try to compete directly with well-established companies that dominate the market. The Blue Ocean Strategy is a book about finding your niche within a niche so you can stay competitive and grow.
all my previous comments/critique was encapsulated on 2 appendixes at the end of the book so it confirmed my assumptions rather nicely. I believe he made for him self a blue ocean consultancy business and this book was the start of it? Beyond the Machiaveli political tips , everything else was around a catchy phrase and that what his main message seems to be. Rest are old theories in new color.
This ise a business school sort of trade book that has been getting a lots of hype. I had to read it for some other purposes so I worked through the book rather than through the numerous HBR articles. The premise of this book is that firms should not bother with messy competition, which will limit their profits and keep them warring with other competitors. Instead, firms should redefine their businesses into new offerings that are appealing to customers but are in such conditions or situations t
...more
I had to read this book for a strategy class. Business strategy is all about how you intend to differentiate yourself from the competition and how you plan to get there. The premise of Blue Ocean Strategy is, as stated on page 4, "Red oceans represent all the industries in existence today. This is the known market space. Blue oceans denote all the industries not in existence today. This is the unknown market space." So the point of this strategy is to remove your business from the bloody sea of
...more
I remember as a child asking my dad why I should pick up skiing over snowboarding. He responded that while snowboarding was certainly fun, because of its popularity it was also commonplace. Reasonably talented teenage snowboarders were a dime a dozen on any ski hill. Good young skiers, however, were few and far between. Reflecting on the choice between becoming one of the unwashed masses of snowboarders or one of the few, the happy few skiers, I chose the latter. Over the years being a reasonabl
...more
A boring book with several great insights.
The take-aways:
- Competition can be tough. Well-defined business spaces (a.k.a. red ocean, filled with blood) are vicious.
- Instead of competing in red oceans, consider creating a new space (a.k.a. blue oceans, no blood)
- There are several ways to create a blue ocean. The main idea is to re-evaluate core assumptions about (1) who your customers are/could be, and (2) what your customers value.
- For example, "the circus" was traditionally for kids. It had ...more
The take-aways:
- Competition can be tough. Well-defined business spaces (a.k.a. red ocean, filled with blood) are vicious.
- Instead of competing in red oceans, consider creating a new space (a.k.a. blue oceans, no blood)
- There are several ways to create a blue ocean. The main idea is to re-evaluate core assumptions about (1) who your customers are/could be, and (2) what your customers value.
- For example, "the circus" was traditionally for kids. It had ...more
It took me 7 years to finish this book. This book is one of those books that I can't find a reasonable explanation why I bought it in the first place. Maybe, seven years ago, I was searching for some interesting ideas how to run a company, maybe, my attention was drawn by the label "International Bestseller, millions of copies sold", maybe, lack of better alternatives at that moment at the airport shop, etc. I have Another stupid behavior of mine is that I force myself to finish even a totally i
...more
This is a very good book. I am reading it for the first time because the new one has come out and I wanted a baseline. The premise is simple most competitors compete in price, variety, quality etc but the profits are slim and market is stagnant. This is called the red (bloody) ocean. To win big, you need to develop the Blue Ocean Strategy, bu looking into unexplored market. For example, Cirque du Soleil had transformed circus performance into sort of a theatre thing, attracting audience who woul
...more
The "blue ocean" strategy means that you find some aspect of your market that NO ONE is doing, and try to dominate that, rather than fighting it out with other vendors in your space -- a "red ocean" strategy.
It's a good book that's just long enough. Long enough to describe the strategy and explain the pitfalls, but not padded too far.
It's a good book that's just long enough. Long enough to describe the strategy and explain the pitfalls, but not padded too far.
A few too many examples in my opinion - it became repetitive.
assess trends across time: "decisive to your business...irreversible...have clear trajectory"
1) focus
2) divergence
3) Compelling tag line
Without buyer utility there's no blue ocean. Compelling reason for a mass of people to buy.
Setting strategic price - compelling ability to pay for offering
Product at cost. Cost don't drive price.
Address adoption hurdles.
volume intensive - more costs in knowledge marketplace on r&d not on production.
The ...more
assess trends across time: "decisive to your business...irreversible...have clear trajectory"
1) focus
2) divergence
3) Compelling tag line
Without buyer utility there's no blue ocean. Compelling reason for a mass of people to buy.
Setting strategic price - compelling ability to pay for offering
Product at cost. Cost don't drive price.
Address adoption hurdles.
volume intensive - more costs in knowledge marketplace on r&d not on production.
The ...more
Insightful observations on how to create market differentiation without feature comparisons against competitors. Since this was written 15 years ago, several of the case studies were rather dated (Borders, Barnes & Noble, iTunes), yet I was also fascinated to observe the businesses that have continued to succeed in their blue oceans (Cirque du Soleil, Southwest Airlines, Starbucks).
...more
Another great model. That doesn't take into account halo effect and bias in the data. Great for having a tool and framework for business model, but not an generalised model. Read Phil Rosenzweig book to get perspectives on the common mistakes from its data
It was super interesting!
Modeling disruptive innovation is easier read than done.
Blue Ocean Strategy comes with the promise of an absolute shift in how you will think about business and just delivers some new interesting frameworks to add to your toolkit.
The idea that competitors are fighting in a red sea of blood while there is always a blue ocean of opportunity is very a powerful visual idea that most readers could feel as absolutely disruptive and inspiring. However is nothing new, it all comes back to the idea of th ...more
Blue Ocean Strategy comes with the promise of an absolute shift in how you will think about business and just delivers some new interesting frameworks to add to your toolkit.
The idea that competitors are fighting in a red sea of blood while there is always a blue ocean of opportunity is very a powerful visual idea that most readers could feel as absolutely disruptive and inspiring. However is nothing new, it all comes back to the idea of th ...more
Practical advice from one of the bosses at the INSEAD Strategy Institute. Sometimes it gets a little self-helpy in the sense that creates its own vocabulary and repeats them ad nauseaum until we can't take it anymore. The references, of course, are dated. But I like its insights.
Some reviewers accuse it of nitpicking evidences, but business is already a tricky area for scientific exactness: there is just too many variables, and this book doesn't (nor tries to) cover all of them. This is a book a ...more
Some reviewers accuse it of nitpicking evidences, but business is already a tricky area for scientific exactness: there is just too many variables, and this book doesn't (nor tries to) cover all of them. This is a book a ...more
What a good book for those who are interested in strategy. Very clear examples with many case studies on how some companies get a big profit by leaving the traditional red oceans of competitions for blue oceans where they are unique.
it's a little bit unfortunately for me that I've recently read this book while it was actually published more than 12 years ago. In the past 12 years, the strategy of companies has changed a lot, come along with changes in the market, mostly because of the technolog ...more
it's a little bit unfortunately for me that I've recently read this book while it was actually published more than 12 years ago. In the past 12 years, the strategy of companies has changed a lot, come along with changes in the market, mostly because of the technolog ...more
May 27, 2018
Ryan
rated it
it was amazing
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
startup-core,
favorites
This is a classic business book about creating new markets rather than competing in existing markets. The core idea is simple, but the authors go through a fairly rigorous (for a business book) system, including how to accomplish this with existing teams and organizations. They provide solid examples of products, companies, and industries where this kind of innovation has happened. Especially since it is so short and clear, it is a good book for anyone in business. It probably would be less inte
...more
It was a booming marketing strategy that suddenly every body talked about. Even my 'ex' boss!
With curiousity I bought this book to find out what is this so famous new marketing strategy?!?!? when I finally read the book, actually there is nothing new in it. It is actually the same strategy that I've learned in university. Mainly it talks about DIFFERENTIATION AND BEING DIFFERENT, that's it.
Thanks God I didn't buy the original english version that cost a fortune!!
With curiousity I bought this book to find out what is this so famous new marketing strategy?!?!? when I finally read the book, actually there is nothing new in it. It is actually the same strategy that I've learned in university. Mainly it talks about DIFFERENTIATION AND BEING DIFFERENT, that's it.
Thanks God I didn't buy the original english version that cost a fortune!!
A decent but not groundbreaking explanation of how to beat your competition through value innovation: creating a leap of value for buyers while driving costs down. The book explains the theory and gives examples. There are many questions for you to ask yourself about your business. There are some helpful tables and graphs. The book is fairly dry, and not especially engaging. It's written for larger companies with mass-market products, so small businesses that provide services (like mine) need to
...more
This book has a few good insights. The core premise: as a business, you should minimize time spent in "red oceans," where fierce, bloody competition has turned the waters red, and instead look for "blue oceans" where you create a new market that is uncontested. Instead of beating the competition, you look to make them irrelevant; instead of squabbling over existing demand, you create and capture new demand; instead of incrementally tweaking the value-cost trade-off, you break the value-cost trad
...more
The main idea is pretty good and there are lots of good cases (I had no idea about the Yellowtail wine story!), lots of good information on how to handle the move towards a blue ocean strategy (specially making sure people are aware of what is going on before making brutal changes) and looking for places where you can improve the business. Most of the "tips" are stuff you will find in many other management books, the most interesting pieces are the case studies and the main idea itself (even if
...more
An interesting approach to strategic thinking, though the guidelines feel as if they were written much more for managers which are looking for a hands on approach with direct tips rather than for consultants working with managers on strategic projects. The framework is a classical case study based work which attempts to define the reason behind companies success stories. Though the methodology of thinking in "blue ocean" terms has merit and I plan to test it out in the field with my own clients,
...more
It is a complicated task to review a non-fiction. So here are the parameters upon which I see the book.
Avoiding Redundancy: 3/5
Case Studies: 5/5
Authenticity: 4/5
Readability: 4/5
Overall: The book deals with the idea of providing something to people which others are not and in some cases not providing something others are providing. It will revolve around the product differentiation and niche market. I suggest to give it a read as this one plunged deeper into product differentiation and how to sta ...more
Avoiding Redundancy: 3/5
Case Studies: 5/5
Authenticity: 4/5
Readability: 4/5
Overall: The book deals with the idea of providing something to people which others are not and in some cases not providing something others are providing. It will revolve around the product differentiation and niche market. I suggest to give it a read as this one plunged deeper into product differentiation and how to sta ...more
This book provides a comprehensive and, more importantly, an easily accessible in-depth discussion of blue oceans strategy. Initially I wasn’t very excited about what seemed like a heavy business read. After all, I’ve studied blue oceans on a number of occasions. Despite previous knowledge and preconceived ideas about blue oceans, it wasn’t until picking this book up that I got an idea of the full scope of the concept... and now I’m in love with it
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneur Book...: June 2018 Additional Discussion: Blue Ocean Strategy | 4 | 23 | Jul 02, 2018 07:54PM | |
| Clase 583: Oceano azul | 1 | 3 | Mar 20, 2017 11:04AM | |
| Jesse’s factory salad | 1 | 19 | Nov 17, 2014 11:11PM |
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W. Chan Kim is the Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute and a Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. His book Blue Ocean Strategy, co-authored with Renée Mauborgne, has sold 3.6 million copies and is recognized as one of the most iconic and impactful strategy books ever written. It is being published in a record-breaking 44 languages and is a bestsel
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“Value innovation requires companies to orient the whole system toward achieving a leap in value for both buyers and themselves.”
—
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“An Incoherent Strategy When a company’s value curve looks like a bowl of spaghetti—a zigzag with no rhyme or reason, where the offering can be described as “low-high-low-low-high-low-high”—it signals that the company doesn’t have a coherent strategy. Its strategy is likely based on independent substrategies. These may individually make sense and keep the business running and everyone busy, but collectively they do little to distinguish the company from the best competitor or to provide a clear strategic vision. This is often a reflection of an organization with divisional or functional silos.”
—
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