24 December 2008 MEDIA BRIEF About Blue Ocean Strategy Blue Ocean Strategy is the systematic pursuit of new market and demand creation through the simultaneous pursuit of higher value and lower cost. It is called Blue Ocean Strategy because it is about creating unknown market space where you do not compete head-to-head against the competition but rather make them irrelevant by creating new markets where no competition exists. The book, Blue Ocean Strategy, by Professor W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne, has become an international bestseller, with over one million copies sold in its first year and published in 41 languages, a record for Harvard Business School Press. Blue ocean strategy is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years (1880-2000). The objective of blue ocean strategy is not to out-perform the competition in your existing industry, but to make it irrelevant through the simultaneous pursuit of higher value and lower cost. A proven and practical approach to creating profitable growth strategies, blue ocean strategy is based on a family of frameworks, tools, and methodologies, including: strategy canvas, value curve, four actions framework, six paths, buyer experience cycle, buyer utility map, and blue ocean idea index. While innovation has been seen as a random/experimental process where entrepreneurs and spin-offs are the primary drivers, blue ocean strategy offers a systematic and reproducible process in pursuit of value innovation by both new and existing firms. 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. The three key conceptual building blocks of blue ocean strategy are: value innovation, tipping point leadership, and fair process. Page1
About the Authors W. Chan Kim is Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute and The Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD, France (the world's second largest business school). Prior to joining INSEAD, he was a professor at the University of Michigan Business School, USA. He has served as a board member as well as an advisor for a number of multinational corporations in Europe, the U.S. and Pacific Asia. He is an advisory member for the European Union and is the Country Advisor to Malaysia. Renée Mauborgne is The INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and a professor of strategy at INSEAD. She is also Co-Director of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Mauborgne is a Fellow of the World Economic Forum. Her Harvard Business Review articles, co-authored with W. Chan Kim, are worldwide bestsellers and have sold over half a million reprints. Their Value Innovation and Fair Process articles were selected as among the best classic articles ever published in Harvard Business Review. They have co-authored articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The New York Times and The Financial Times amongst others. Centre Centre is the Official Regional Representative of Blue Ocean Strategy Businesses and has the Exclusive Regional License in Malaysia, Australia, Canada, China, India, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, and Thailand. We are a part of the UCSI Education Group and we are committed to accurately present BOS concepts and tools with the highest professional standards for the benefit of our clients. Our vision is to make a significant positive difference wherever we operate by the application of BOS to meet needs and create wealth. Page2
Our Supporting Systems To advance the practice of Blue Ocean Strategy through Education, Research, and Consultancy, we have put in place the following: A Blue Ocean Strategy Applied Research Centre where business strategies, value innovation and tipping point leadership is continuously researched and applied. Jason Hunter has been appointed as Director of Training at UCSI BOSRC to lead in our training and consultancy work. He is the former Director of Training at Blue Ocean Strategy Network and INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute Executive Fellow. A Centre for Value Innovation and Entrepreneurship that seeks to mentor young adults to become entrepreneurs and to start new ventures. An international network of qualified Blue Ocean Strategy consultants with extensive knowledge and experience. Strategic alliances with reputable strategic partners to promote the learning, adoption and implementation of BOS. An E-Learning Portal for the community of practitioners to promote the knowledge and application of Blue Ocean Strategy as well as hosting a range of exciting learning modules. Post graduate courses in Blue Ocean Strategy for MBA and DBA programmes in conjunction with UCCSI University. Priority access to the latest case studies and updated materials on Blue Ocean Strategy. Our Services We offer the following services to help our clients learn, adopt and apply BOS: Major BOS conferences where Professor Chan Kim or Professor Mauborgne will be the main speaker. One-day Introduction to Blue Ocean Strategy Workshops covering a comprehensive overview of the framework and concepts of Blue Ocean Strategy. Two-day Blue Ocean Strategy Workshops with multiple speakers and hands-on case exercises. Page3
Three-day Blue Ocean Strategy in Action Workshops specially designed for companies to apply in their own situations. In house training for client organisations. Long term consultancy in formulating and executing Blue Ocean Strategy. Consultancy for new start ups in formulating commercially viable blue ocean ideas. Media Interests Blue Ocean Strategy provides a comprehensive framework to provide thought leadership in the following areas and concepts: Value innovation Creation of uncontested market space Reaching beyond industry boundaries Reaching out beyond existing markets to non customers Business strategy Change management Tipping point leadership Fair process These areas are of particular interest to the public and business community especially during the current global financial turmoil. As the Official Regional Representative of Blue Ocean Strategy, UCSI BOSRC seeks to provide the public with news, articles, regular columns, interviews, and speeches covering the above areas. In particular, our Applied Research Centre is responsible for the following: Provide press releases on news worthy events and happenings related to Blue Ocean Strategy from around the world, especially in the 10 countries within our licensed territories. Write case studies of successful adoption and implementation of BOS in various countries from around the world in various industries. Arrange for BOS spokes persons to be interviewed through emails, telephone, or face to face by selected media. Arrange for BOS spokes persons to give speeches at press conferences, interviews and meetings. Write and compile regular columns on the concepts related to BOS as listed above. Page4
Key spokes persons on BOS We have several key spokes persons who are available to the mass media as listed below. Members of the press are invited to contact our office for access to our spokes persons. Professor Chan Kim Author of Blue Ocean Strategy Peter T. S. Ng Group President of the UCSI Education Group Peter Tan Chief Operations Officer Centre Jason Hunter Director of Training Centre Dr. Dominic Lau Head of Applied Research Centre Centre Page5