What is Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS)?
- BOS is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years (1880-2000).
- BOS is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.
- The aim of BOS is not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.
- BOS offers a set of methodologies and tools to create new market space.
- While innovation has been seen as a random/experimental process where entrepreneurs and spin-offs are the primary drivers – as argued by Schumpeter and his followers – BOS offers systematic and reproducible methodologies and processes in pursuit of innovation by both new and existing firms.
- BOS frameworks and tools include: strategy canvas, value curve, Four actions framwwork; six paths, buyer experience cycle, buyer utility map, and blue ocean idea index.
- These frameworks and tools are designed to be visual in order to not only effectively build the collective wisdom of the company but also to effectively execute through easy communication.
- BOS covers both strategy formulation and strategy execution.
- The three key conceptual building blocks of BOS are: value innovation, tipping point leadership, and fair process.