‘IT IS KEY TO ESCHEW MARKET-COMPETING LOGIC FOR A BLUE OCEAN SHIFT'

In an exclusive interview, W Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne speak at length about ‘blue ocean’ strategy, why businesses need to shift from the familiar waters of red oceans to the uncharted depths of blue oceans, and the prospects such a move holds.

W CHAN KIM AND RENÉE MAUBORGNE are professors of strategy at INSEAD and co-directors of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Authors of the over four million copy global bestseller Blue Ocean Strategy and its indispensable follow-up, the New York Times bestseller Blue Ocean Shift, they are ranked the World’s #1 Most Influential Business Thinkers by Thinkers50. Kim and Mauborgne are also Fellows of the World Economic Forum and recipients of numerous academic and managerial awards.

Why do businesses need to shift from red ocean to blue ocean? What is the potential of such a shift vis-à-vis product development, processes, and other organisational domains?

Kim: When there is too much competition in a market, price will go down and profits will shrink. No matter how familiar a company is with the industry landscape, to keep competing in the old way will not produce profitable growth. In our study of more than 30 industries over a time span of more than 100 years, we found that a blue ocean shift was particularly needed in markets characterised by cut-throat competition, price wars, and shrinking profits.