Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30 industries over 100 years (1880-2000) by authors Kim, W. C., Mauborgne, R. 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 framework, 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.
Statement of the purpose of the Journal: “The five competitive forces that shape strategy”
In 1979, a young associate professor at Harvard Business School published his first article for HBR, "How Competitive Forces Shape Strategy." In the years that followed, Michael Porter's explication of the five forces that determine the long-run profitability of any industry has shaped a generation of academic research and business practice. In this article, Porter undertakes a thorough reaffirmation and extension of his classic work of strategy formulation, which includes substantial new sections showing how to put the