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INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute

Welcome to IBOSI

W. Chan Kim Professor of Strategy and Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute

Renée Mauborgne Professor of Strategy and Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute

The INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute (IBOSI) is dedicated to extending the research on Blue Ocean Strategy, Blue Ocean Shift, Blue Ocean Leadership and Beyond Disruption by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne and disseminating it to professors, researchers, and practitioners around the globe. 

Its main objectives are to make significant theoretical and scientific contributions to the strategy, management and innovation fields and to contribute to the practice and high performance of companies, governments, and non-profit organisations through practical application of these research outputs. 

The Institute's research streams include corporate, public, and social sector applications and the creation of innovative teaching materials that apply the theory of blue ocean strategy and leadership to the classroom to create a new standard of pedagogical and learning excellence.

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Blue Ocean Leadership

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What is Blue Ocean Strategy?

Be Inspired. Be Blue Ocean. Make a BLUE OCEAN SHIFT.

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From Blue Ocean Strategy to Blue Ocean Leadership

Blue Ocean Strategy, by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim (Harvard Business School Press, 2005), conceived of a new way for companies to drive profitable growth: by creating uncontested market spaces (blue oceans) where the competition is irrelevant, instead of fighting it out in overcrowded, commoditized industries (red oceans). In blue oceans, companies invent and […]

Blue Ocean Strategy, by Renee Mauborgne and W. Chan Kim (Harvard Business School Press, 2005), conceived of a new way for companies to drive profitable growth: by creating uncontested market spaces (blue oceans) where the competition is irrelevant, instead of fighting it out in overcrowded, commoditized industries (red oceans). In blue oceans, companies invent and capture new demand by turning noncustomers into customers, and by providing customers with more value while streamlining costs and building brand equity.

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Case study: blue ocean strategy for leadership development.

Audience and Objectives:

The leaders were global and cross-functional and the division president was looking to foster innovative thinking in managers’ minds, while making sure that the process could be applicable to external customer-facing functions as well as for internal-customer-facing functions (IT, HR, Legal, R&D).

StratX developed a customized 2-day session, with 2 phases.

In the first phase, teams competed in a computer-based simulation in order to learn about the 4 steps of Blue Ocean Strategy and how to move away from the bloody waters of competition towards the uncontested market space of blue oceans. Using the simulation case, teams debated how they could drive customer value up while at the same time decreasing the cost to the company and unlocking new demand. Specifically, they had a chance to first build their ''As Is'' strategy canvas, then deconstruct the market boundaries by applying the 6 Paths, then use the ERRC grid in order to eliminate, raise, reduce and create competing factors, and then finally create the new ''To Be'' strategy canvas, which describes the new blue ocean offering.

The second phase focused on applying the 4-step process to the real world and looking at creating blue ocean offerings for the client company. Intact teams looked at the current competing factors and how they could use the ERRC grid to develop a new offering in order to unlock new demand. Teams were able to pitch their big ideas in a “start-up competition” like forum called the Value Fair. After each team has pitched, participants shopped for the best ideas and voted for the best offer. 

Participants surfaced exciting growth-generating and cost-reducing ideas that will be implemented in real life. In addition, several participants decided to replicate the process with their local teams in key geographies in order to generate innovative ideas for the business at the local level and to drive local ownership of these ideas.

Other divisions are now considering the possibility of adopting a similar approach to drive innovation and growth.

Innovation Training with Blue Ocean Strategy

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The Blue Ocean Strategy: What It Is & How to Use It [+4 Examples]

Discover the Blue Ocean Strategy and learn how it creates new market spaces, with 4 great illustrative examples. Contact us for more information!

Of the many strategic planning models that exist, the Blue Ocean Strategy could be considered the pacifist of the group.

Based on an eponymously titled book, this strategy argues that “cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool.” Companies should instead look for new market space and ways to reinvent the industry. In short, avoid head-to-head competition and focus on innovation.

The goal of a Blue Ocean Strategy is for organizations to find and develop “blue oceans” (uncontested, growing markets) and avoid “red oceans” (overdeveloped, saturated markets). A company will have more success, fewer risks, and increased profits in a blue ocean market.

ClearPoint Strategy offers a comprehensive platform that can help your organization effectively implement Blue Ocean Strategy by simplifying strategic planning and performance management. Our software provides intuitive tools that help you map out innovative strategies, align your team, and monitor progress to ensure successful execution.

See ClearPoint Strategy in action! Click here to watch a quick DEMO on the software

Summary of the blue ocean strategy.

This strategic planning model is a departure from the typical management exercise that focuses on number crunching and competitive benchmarking. Here are key points of the Blue Ocean Strategy:

• It’s more than theoretical. Some strategic planning models are based on theories that don’t quite pan out during go-to-market executions. In contrast, Blue Ocean Strategy originated from a study that took place over 10 years and analyzed company successes and failures in more than 30 industries. It’s based on proven data rather than unproven ideas.
• The competition is irrelevant. Taking a Blue Ocean approach means your goal isn’t to outperform the competition or be the best in the industry. Instead, your aim is to redraw industry boundaries and operate within that new space, making the competition immaterial.
• Differentiation and low cost can coexist. The Blue Ocean Strategy argues that consumers don’t have to choose between value and affordability. If a company can identify what consumers currently value and then rethink how to provide that value, differentiation and low cost can both be achieved. This is termed “value innovation.”
• You have a framework to test ideas. The Blue Ocean Idea Index is part of the overarching strategy and lets companies test the commercial viability of ideas. This process helps refine ideas and identify opportunities with the most potential, minimizing risk.

Claim your FREE eBook on 8 effective strategic planning templates here

4 examples of blue ocean strategy.

Seeing is believing. Here are a few organizations that successfully captured a blue-ocean market:

In this David versus Goliath story, Netflix came on the scene when Blockbuster was at the top of the video rental game. Rather than trying to compete with the popular giant solely on price or entertainment choices, Netflix reinvented the market by creating an entirely new kind of online DVD rental service. It utilized postal mail rather than brick-and-mortar stores.

And its flat-fee monthly payment model solved two major pain points many Blockbuster customers experienced: return deadlines and late fees. Netflix customers could keep a DVD for as long as they wanted, without incurring any late fees.

Plus, they could browse and select a video to rent, without having to leave their house. Netflix has continued to innovate since then by switching from DVDs to streaming, and then by creating their own shows and movies.

By using the Blue Ocean Strategy, Netflix has been able to constantly move to new, uncontested spaces to capture demand.

‍ Before Uber was founded in 2009, customers looking to get from point A to point B without their own vehicle had to rely primarily on taxis to obtain a private mode of transportation. But the taxi industry hadn’t done much in the way of innovation since its inception more than a century earlier.

The founders of Uber recognized the industry’s shortcomings—including limited payment options, a lack of customer trust, and the absence of location tracking—and decided to create a new type of mobility service that would compete in a slightly different space. Instead of trying to buy its own fleet of vehicles, Uber sought out drivers who were willing to use their own cars to provide on-demand rides requested via mobile app.

Today, Uber has annual revenues of over $11 billion, and more than 19,000 employees.

‍ When iTunes entered the market, it solved the recording industry’s problem of consumers illegally downloading music while simultaneously addressing the demand for digital, a la carte songs.

iTunes’ Blue Ocean Strategy created an entirely new category of music sales that allowed artists to profit and consumers to buy single songs versus entire albums. iTunes has dominated this market space for years and is largely credited with driving the growth of digital music.

Meta (Previously Facebook)

‍ In October of 2021, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook’s new name would now be Meta. When Facebook started, it was at the forefront of its own blue ocean, known as social networks.

More than a decade later, social networking has become a red ocean. With the name change, Meta can steer its product offerings into something new, exciting, and unconquered: the “metaverse.” In the metaverse, Zuckerberg pictures holograms, virtual reality, and digital worlds that feel like the physical world.

Although the strategy change is unproven, it’s clear that the idea of jumping from the red ocean of social media to the blue ocean of the metaverse played a part in the decision.

Using Blue Ocean With Your Existing Strategic Planning Model

Most likely, your organization is already running on an existing strategic planning model. Luckily, the Blue Ocean Strategy can be paired with other models. It doesn’t need to replace your current mode of operation.

Here are a few examples:

‍ Blue Ocean + SWOT

• A SWOT analysis helps determine areas where an organization is doing well and areas it needs to improve.
• By running both frameworks together, you’ll be able to identify how your organization can grow in the future.

‍ Blue Ocean + Balanced Scorecard

• The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) is a framework used for tracking and managing an organization’s strategy.
• By running both frameworks together, you can find uncontested markets (blue oceans) and chart the course to get there.

Think of the Blue Ocean Strategy as a way to open up opportunities and markets for a new organization, or an existing organization looking to grow. Your current strategy reporting model will help execute the blue ocean ideas.

Advice On Implementing A Blue Ocean Strategy

When you begin your strategic planning, recognizing the difference between a red and blue ocean may not be as easy as the colors would indicate. Start by identifying what your target market needs and doesn’t currently have. Then look at what existing organizations are doing well (or not so well) to serve that market and determine how you can differentiate (for example, by price point or audience). Use the above checklist as a guide through the process and hold internal brainstorming sessions for each point.

‍ ClearPoint Strategy’s Experience Using the Blue Ocean Strategy ‍

Here at ClearPoint, we recently used the framework for our own business. These were the general questions we discussed and answered in order to highlight our blue ocean opportunities.

1. What do we do well? Why do customers choose us and stay with us? ‍

2. What do our competitors do? Why might our ideal customers choose a different solution? ‍

3. Where are the red oceans? Which features and benefits do we compete head to head with our competitors?

4. What is our blue ocean? What do we provide our customers that no one else can? ‍

We learned that on any given feature, there are lots of competitors that offer good solutions. But no other company offers all of the necessary features for strategy reporting in one place.

‍ Blue Ocean challenges companies to push the boundaries of their industries and offer consumers something unique of immense value. By defining and seeing examples of the Blue Ocean Strategy, your organization can learn how to execute on this strategic planning model and successfully reconstruct your market. Once you know where you’re competing, you can add unique goals and measures to track your progress in charting that blue ocean.

Create Your Blue Ocean Strategy with ClearPoint Strategy Software

Ready to create your own Blue Ocean and leave the competition behind?

ClearPoint Strategy can help you innovate and execute your strategic vision effectively. Our comprehensive software solutions streamline your planning and performance management, enabling you to focus on what matters most—creating value and achieving sustainable growth. Take the first step towards transforming your organization and unlocking new opportunities.

Book a personalized demo with ClearPoint Strategy today and see how we can support your journey to success.

Book your FREE 1-on-1 DEMO with ClearPoint Strategy

Ted Jackson

Ted is a Founder and Managing Partner of ClearPoint Strategy and leads the sales and marketing teams.

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The curious case study of Zerodha's blue ocean strategy

Founded by Nithin Kamath, the online discount brokerage company has changed the dynamics of retail stock investment in India. Here's a look at how the blue ocean strategy worked and what it needs to do to face new challengers

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[This article has been reproduced with permission from SP Jain Institute of Management & Research, Mumbai . Views expressed by authors are personal.]

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Blue Ocean Leadership: How to Achieve High Impact at Low Cost

This highly engaging exercise is designed to give participants a keen understanding of Blue Ocean Leadership and how to achieve high impact at low cost while saving time as leaders. Participants are introduced to a scenario-based exercise focusing on the fictional company Dunamis, an American video game company, and its recently appointed Director of Development, John Kedge. Kedge’s first challenge is to create and produce a differentiated and low-cost mobile game. But during the production phase, Kedge finds out that all his good employees are leaving. Turnover is high. People are demotivated. He has to hire massively and still keeps missing deadlines. Now Kedge is really behind schedule and getting pressure from his boss. The scenario-based exercise is an engaging way to learn how to apply the theory of Blue Ocean Leadership and its tools to achieve high-impact leadership fast and at low cost. The exercise comes with a Teaching Note and templates for participants to apply.

• Analyse the current leadership using the As-Is Leadership Canvas. This visual framework will help participants to get a clear picture of the current leadership reality and to understand the way employees experience this leadership and where it may be falling short. • Understand the Blue Ocean Grid. This is an action framework that drives participants to find out what leadership activities should be eliminated, reduced, raised, and created to create a step change in leadership strength and achieve high impact with a lower investment of time. The tool drives you to ask four questions that challenge the current leadership reality: - Eliminate: Which acts and activities do leaders invest their time and intelligence in that should be eliminated? - Reduce: Which acts and activities do leaders invest their time and intelligence in that should be reduced well below their current level? - Raise: Which acts and activities do leaders invest their time and intelligence in that should be raised well above their current level? - Create: Which acts and activities should leaders invest their time and intelligence in that they currently don’t undertake? • With the help of the To-Be Leadership Canvas, develop a new, effective Blue Ocean Leadership profile that releases the unrealised talent and energy of employees and lifts individual and organisational performance.

• Blue Ocean Leadership
• Change Management
• Managing People
• Motivating People
• Organizational Change
• Human Resource Management
• Organizational Behaviour
• Blue Ocean Strategy
• Blue Ocean Shift

W. Chan Kim

Renée Mauborgne

Melanie Pipino

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BLUE OCEAN LEADERSHIP: CASE IN POINT

A British Retail Group (BRG) applied Blue Ocean Leadership, as developed by Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, to redefine what effectiveness meant for frontline, mid-level and senior leaders.

By getting everyone involved in redefining what leaders should be doing the results were rapid and significant. In the space of the first year in the frontline alone:

• Employee turnover of its 10,000 plus frontline employees dropped from about 40% to 11%
• Recruitment and training costs reduced by 50%
• Customer satisfaction rose by over 30%
• And the group saved more than $50 million

For leaders it was a real ‘win’ since they eliminated and reduced acts and activities which they found tedious and draining. And employees re-engaged because they were led to do what they needed to do to succeed.

The group’s as-is Leadership Canvases revealed how disengaged their people were. They gave each canvas a summary tagline. The tagline for frontline leaders was ‘Please the Boss’, for middle managers it was ‘Control and Play Safe’ and for senior managers it was ‘Focus on the Day-to-Day’.

In contrast, the to-be Leader Profiles are shown below in three separate canvases with each juxtaposing the as-is Leadership Profile of each level with their new to-be Leadership Profile. Click on the below boxes to see each of these:

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