Blue Ocean Strategy

Sooner or later, everything old is new again... We may be at this point in tech, where supposedly revolutionary products are becoming eerily similar to the previous offerings they were supposed to beat.

Creating a “blue ocean concept” is like searching for a rare, hidden gem on a well-trodden beach in a world dominated by competition. A blue ocean concept refers to a business that is innovative and cost-effective in a way that has virtually no competition.

Given that customer satisfaction and citizen happiness are neither permanent nor fully obtainable, we need a more accurate way of defining and measuring their experiences. A way that captures the inherent cyclicality of emotional excitement and attachment. This is where the concept of ‘infatuation’ takes center stage. Infatuation is defined as: “An intense but short-lived passion or admiration for someone or something.”, synonyms: passion, enchantment, obsession, crush, fascination, rapture. Infatuation is the only word that simultaneously expresses a highly charged state of exuberance AND its transient, fleeting nature. Therefore, it provides the perfect lens for understanding the cyclicality of emotional transformation in customer relationships, and how to optimize them.

Light production print falls between true, large-scale production printing and office printing. Print volumes for inkjet generally range from 500,000 to 1 million cut-sheet printed copies per month per printer. These print runs often offer additional features, such as higher resolution color, wide-format support, or different paper types. A customer might be a hospital that must produce billing invoices, lab results, and information pamphlets on a regular basis. A business like this doesn’t have the budget or space for a high-volume printing plant, but their needs still far exceed standard office printers.

Innovation strategy goes beyond random acts of innovation and ensures that innovation efforts are aligned with the organization’s overall goals and objectives, ultimately driving sustainable growth and creating value for customers. It includes evaluating and selecting innovation projects, balancing short-term and long-term goals, and allocating resources accordingly. The innovation portfolio may consist of incremental innovations that improve existing products or processes, as well as more disruptive innovations that bring about fundamental changes or create entirely new markets.

South Africa's wine tourism industry holds immense potential for growth and development. However, to fully capitalize on this opportunity, wineries must move beyond generic, standardized offerings and embrace innovative and personalized experiences. This blog post aims to provide advice to South African wineries on how to develop and enhance their wine tourism offerings based on the insights gained from a 2020 research article titled "Developing Blue Ocean Wine Tourism Experiences in the Cape Region."

Disruptive innovation is far more commonly understood and involves creating a new market within existing industry boundaries. Nondisruptive innovation, by contrast, looks beyond those boundaries to create new markets. A key factor in this distinction is the impact the two forms of innovation have on society. When we see disruptive innovation, the new largely comes at the expense of the old, so this is accompanied by job losses and possibly even bankruptcies. As a result, the benefits that come from the new economic activity have to be placed alongside the very real social consequences that are brought by the displacement. While sometimes these consequences are short-term in nature, often they are very much not and can last for generations.

The red ocean is an area of the market where competition can be fierce for companies and where there are serious struggles for superiority in order to grow. The blue ocean, on the other hand, is unexplored, open to development and growth, and does not yet contain any players. Accordingly, the blue ocean can be defined as business areas where there is no competition, unlike the red ocean. Therefore, blue oceans are profitable regions for businesses.

In his book Tools of Titans—a book about the tactics, routines and habits of people who have achieved stunning success in life and business—well-known "life hacker" Tim Ferriss quotes a proverb: "Not my circus; not my monkeys." In Poland, where I come from, this proverb is used to emphasize that someone does not care about a given situation, does not take responsibility or ownership of it or does not take it seriously. The person simply doesn't mind it.

People typically consider a limited number of promising ideas in order to manage the cognitive burden of searching through all possible ideas, but this can lead them to accept adequate solutions without considering potentially superior alternatives. Here we show that people systematically default to searching for additive transformations, and consequently overlook subtractive transformations. Across eight experiments, participants were less likely to identify advantageous subtractive changes when the task did not (versus did) cue them to consider subtraction, when they had only one opportunity (versus several) to recognize the shortcomings of an additive search strategy or when they were under a higher (versus lower) cognitive load. Defaulting to searches for additive changes may be one reason that people struggle to mitigate overburdened schedules, institutional red tape and damaging effects on the planet.

This default to addition isn’t limited to assembling blocks, cooking and writing. Rather, thinking in pluses instead of minuses could well contribute to modern-day excesses such as cluttered homes, institutional red tape and even an overburdened planet, says behavioral scientist Benjamin Converse of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. “We’re missing an entire class of solutions.”

In an April 2021 Nature article, People systematically overlook subtractive changes, researchers showed it is human nature to add to an offering even though subtracting elements is often more effective and lower cost. Individuals are less likely to consider removing elements of an offering, referred to as ‘subtractive behavior’, unless prompted. The researchers showed that “…people systematically default to searching for additive transformations, and consequently overlook subtractive transformations… Defaulting to searches for additive changes may be one reason that people struggle to mitigate overburdened schedules, institutional red tape and damaging effects on the planet…”.

The six red ocean traps are the explicit and implicit assumptions managers often act under in setting out to make market-creating strategic moves. The trouble is, instead of helping in the creation of profitable new markets, they anchor managers in red oceans and prevent them from entering blue waters. It was some of these assumptions that trapped Google in its drive to create a new market with Glass.

Disadvantages and possible limitations of the blue ocean strategy: 

• There is a risk that efforts won’t result in the creation of a blue ocean. This strategy's success depends on an organization’s resources, talent, and position in the market.
• Balancing dual strategic imperatives (cost reduction and buyer value) can take time and effort for organizations.
• Organizational hurdles, such as scarcity of resources and a lack of strategic alignment, can impact the outcomes of the blue ocean strategy.
• Businesses must attract enough customers to generate economies of scale and dissuade immediate competition.
  Blue ocean markets will eventually become red oceans as competitors appear.

Disruption dominates innovation theory and practice. But disruption, for all its power, is destructive—displacing jobs, companies, and even entire industries. Are we missing an alternative approach to innovation and growth? With three decades of research, the #1 global bestselling authors of Blue Ocean Strategy, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, reveal another way to innovate and grow. Just as Blue Ocean Strategy redefined the essence of strategy as creating not competing, Beyond Disruption redefines and expands the existing view of innovation by introducing a new approach, nondisruptive creation, that is free from the destructive displacement that happens when innovators set out to disrupt.

The Blue Ocean Strategy is a framework for creating new markets by focusing on uncontested market space rather than competing in crowded, existing markets. Here are five steps to using the Blue Ocean Strategy to grow your business.

En résumé, "Stratégie Océan Bleu" propose une nouvelle perspective stratégique qui encourage les entreprises à sortir des sentiers battus et à créer de nouveaux marchés inexplorés. Les auteurs offrent des principes, des outils et des conseils pratiques pour guider les lecteurs dans la mise en œuvre de cette approche. Que ce soit en identifiant des propositions de valeur uniques, en recherchant de nouveaux segments de marché ou en cultivant une culture de l'innovation, ce livre offre des stratégies concrètes pour aider les entreprises à se démarquer et à prospérer dans un environnement concurrentiel.Les auteurs soulignent que la création d'un océan bleu nécessite une réflexion stratégique approfondie, une analyse de marché rigoureuse et une compréhension profonde des besoins et des désirs des clients potentiels. Ils encouragent les lecteurs à remettre en question les conventions de l'industrie et à repenser fondamentalement leur approche commerciale pour trouver de nouvelles opportunités.

For a brand that is cruising nicely in the Blue Ocean, catching a tan and watching dolphins, the strategic positioning communicates a pioneering spirit and creates the perception that the brand is an innovator and game-changer. A brand in the Red Ocean is fighting amongst sharks and needs to prove its worth to customers by highlighting points of difference, competing on price, and in essence, spending more or finding innovative communication tactics to remain top of mind.

Now Chan and Mauborgne have a new book called Beyond Disruption, where they contest the common idea that disrupting established players is a preferred path to achieving business success. They instead champion what they call “nondisruptive creation,” businesses built outside of the boundaries of existing companies. Eyeglasses, Viagra, e-sports, and microfinance are examples of such an approach, where their inventors created new market value without needing to weaken any incumbents to succeed.

“Non-disruptive innovation” involves the creation of new markets without the disruption or displacement of existing markets. It does this by creating brand new markets outside or beyond the bounds of existing industries. This approach is good for entrepreneurs because they don’t have to battle with existing incumbents. It’s good for society at large because it doesn’t leave a swathe of failed companies, lost jobs and fractured markets in its wake. Boris Johnson might call it having your cake and eating it.

In the past decade, we have seen that competing against rivals is no longer enough for companies to thrive and strive for future growth. The world’s leading companies achieved strong growth and earned brand recognition by creating 'blue oceans' of uncontested market space.

Things aren't looking good for big booksellers Borders and Barnes & Noble. The AP reports that both chains have posted major losses for this quarter, their sales made worse by the online price wars between Amazon and Walmart that have driven prices on new bestsellers down so much as to make it nearly impossible for bookstores to compete.

As a toy expert (and occupational therapist for kids), I’m often asked about the popular video game system, Nintendo Switch. Is it good for the family? What about for kids who learn and think differently? I’ve been reviewing Nintendo’s consoles and games for the last five years on an unpaid basis, and the Switch is one of my favorites.

Have you ever found yourself overwhelmed by the sheer number of options available in a store? RCG, LLC is a firm believer that “less is more.” By streamlining their product offerings, they make the decision-making process a breeze for their customers. They’ve honed in on the most popular styles and size options of high-quality reclaimed wood furniture, making it easy for you to choose the perfect pieces for your space. Read our latest blog to learn how one company makes it’s competition irrelevant in the eyes of it’s customers!