The Blue Ocean Strategy is a macro method for the strategic development of new profitable business models, without competitive pressure, from the field of strategic innovation management.
The basic idea behind the methodology is that lasting success can only be achieved by developing innovative new markets that offer truly differentiating and relevant benefits to the broad mass of customers and non-customers (so-called blue oceans), including competitors that have become irrelevant, new customer acquisition and optimized cost structures.
First, a benefit curve is drawn up for a market or industry to clarify which core elements characterize it from the perspective of customers and non-customers. The benefit curve of a company is visualized with the benefit curve of the current and potential competition.
Benefit curves can be permanently altered by changing the core elements that have been previously defined.
There are four measures to redefine core elements:
– Elimination: Which factors should be omitted?
– Reduction: What can be radically cut?
– Increase: What elements of the product need to be elevated above the industry standard?
– Creation: Which components of a product need to be reinvented?
By modifying the core elements of a value curve, new business models are developed.
The most important core ideas of the “Blue Ocean Strategy”:
– Digitization is generating at an increasingly rapid pace
new products and services. As a result, the
supply exceeds demand, globalization is exacerbating this
Aspect.
– Competition is increasing, the red oceans are expanding.
Increasingly strong competition should therefore not be
at the center of your strategic thinking – which is often a
approach of classical management methods is.
– Don’t try to beat your competition, but instead
dodge it with agile strategies.
– Swim into a blue ocean. Concentrate
rather on the concrete benefit gain of your customers.
