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ISSUE 5, 2013
DEAR BOS COMMUNITY,
In this issue of
Blue Ocean Strategy Global
Current we focus on governments and private sector
organizations that contribute to national development by applying blue
ocean strategy.
Growing economic disparities and political and social unrest around the
world continue to challenge the conventional way of thinking about
national development. Governments can no longer bear the sole
responsibility of propelling countries towards greater heights. Instead,
it is often the private sector that has a greater chance to influence the
trajectory a country embarks upon. The power of business can be harnessed
by using blue ocean tools and frameworks to unlock hidden potential for
social, economic, and political change. The sustainable way of
approaching national development is when both public and private sector
organizations are committed to delivering change.
The In Focus
section showcases the newly added Blue
Ocean Strategy for National Development section on our
website, which covers government initiatives around the world that are
transforming countries.
Traditionally, whenever companies undertake a range of programs beyond
their core business activities it is framed as part of their corporate
social responsibility (CSR). But what happens when companies’ core
business activities are contributing to development? The Zoom-in section
focuses on companies that use blue ocean strategy to address pressing
social and economic concerns. Gramble World reinvents the way people
donate to charity, iHub sees blue ocean opportunity in bringing internet
connectivity to Africa, AGSI Global works on bringing sustainable housing
to Brazil, and Mobile Point of Sale (mPOS) has an opportunity to
revolutionize banking in less developed countries, to name a few.
We hope you will enjoy reading this issue. For those highly curious,
there are over 200 new articles in 29 countries that have been published
on blue ocean strategy in the last two months. We have stored over 100 of
the best and invite you to check them out in the eLibrary.
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In Focus:
BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY FOR NATIONAL
DEVELOPMENT
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Mistakenly, blue ocean strategy is often
associated solely with the corporate sector. While it is true that the
concept emerged from studying strategic moves in business settings, its
applicability reaches far beyond.
We have now added a Blue
Ocean Strategy for National Development section on our
website which highlights how governments around the world are using
blue ocean strategy to transform their countries.
Malaysia is one example of a country where blue ocean strategy has been
adopted at the highest levels of government. Through National Blue
Ocean Strategy, over 80 ministries and agencies are collaborating to
formulate and execute creative blue ocean strategy initiatives that are
transforming the country. Visit our Malaysia’s
National Blue Ocean Strategy page to learn more about
initiatives currently being undertaken by the Malaysian government.
In different parts of the word, countries have seen blue ocean strategy
spread across federal, regional, state, and local levels of government
bringing economic, social and political change. In America, the state
of Louisiana’s application of blue ocean strategy is cited as being key
central to its bid to transform the state economically. The state’s
Blue Ocean Initiative aims to create high growth opportunities and new
jobs in fields such as digital interactive media and advanced
manufacturing. Since the inception of the initiative in 2009, the
results have been promising - Louisiana is adding jobs at a faster rate
than other states in the US.
In Taiwan, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses blue ocean strategy to
build relations with other nations and South Korea’s 2012 presidential
candidates emphasize creating blue oceans and their commitment to
making blue ocean strategy the core of their policy strategies.
Visit our Blue
Ocean Strategy for National Development page to learn more
about public sector initiatives that are transforming countries around
the world.
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“Louisiana’s “Blue Ocean” strategy for economic
development may provide the state with workable dreams and doable goals
that last much longer than madcap dashes spent trying to land the next
big industry.”
Stephen Moret
Secretary
Louisiana
Economic Development Department
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Zoom-in:
PRIVATE SECTOR IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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THE CHIEF OF SMILES - REINVENTING
THE WAY PEOPLE DONATE TO CHARITY
Inspired by Blue
Ocean Strategy, Gramble World BV, a mobile gaming and
social network company, reinvented the way people donate to charity.
Gramble created a network where game players donate to specific
causes they care about. “Gaming is no longer a guilty pleasure; you
play for good,” says Jon Butterfield, Co-Founder and Chief Creative
Officer of Gramble.
Read more
The Underground The Hague, July 12, 2013, the Netherlands.
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BLUE OCEAN IN PUBLIC MOBILE
BROADBAND
Heavy investments in providing digital voice solutions with
country-wide coverage is the traditional way of approaching public
safety networks around the globe. Big players tend to dominate the
landscape and business has been conducted in the same way for years
without much innovation. However, a potential blue ocean in public
safety communication lies in multichannel routing solutions.
Scandinavia is an early adopter.
Read more
Goodmill System blog, September 9, 2013, Finland.
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mPOS: ADDRESSING NEW CUSTOMER
SEGMENTS! A CASE OF BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY!
Mobile point of sale (mPOS), rapidly trending in an evolving payments
market, is presented as an example of blue ocean strategy. mPOS,
which involves attaching payment terminals such as credit card
scanners to mobile devices, has potential to access an untapped
market and noncustomers, such as micro-merchants who predominantly
transact with cash.
Read more
Shubham Bhattacharya blog, July 16, 2013, France.
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INFRASTRUCTURE DEFICIT, NIGERIA’S
GREATEST CHALLENGE
Dapo Odojukan, CEO of Rosaab International, Nigeria’s leading signage
company, discusses how the company has moved into infrastructure
development and continues to create blue oceans: “We have a culture
of evolving from one area of business to another. It is also a
strategy. There is a strategy in business we call ‘Blue Ocean
Strategy.’ There is a line of thinking that every market has ‘a blue
ocean’ and ‘a red ocean.’ In Red Ocean, competition is very intense.
The Blue Ocean is a vast space where nobody is. In a real sense,
nobody takes the chance to step out of where everybody is to create
new things. I say it everywhere I go that we do not know how to
compete. That is why we continue to create our blue ocean…”
Read more
This Day Live, September 7, 2013, Nigeria.
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FRANK O’DEA SPEAKS ON BLUE OCEAN
STRATEGY
Frank O’Dea, a successful entrepreneur, discusses in this video the
concept of Value Innovation as well as his blue ocean ventures. His
company, AGSI Global focuses on bringing sustainable, affordable
housing to Brazil.
Read more
Vimeo, July 12, 2013, United States.
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MOST CONTAGIOUS / NEW YORK / ERIK
HERSMAN
Erik Hersman, founder of iHub, a Nairobi technological innovation
hub, believes Africa to be a blue ocean opportunity for internet
penetration. He discusses why Africa is prime territory for creative
thinkers to solve large and small issues around last-mile connectivity,
energy needs, food and agriculture-related uses, and how technology
can be used to enhance education and healthcare.
Read more
Contagious Magazine, August 8, 2013, United States.
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FUNDZA: A REVOLUTION IN TEEN READING
The Fundza Literacy Trust, a South African NGO, has created a blue ocean
of uncontested market space by focusing on an area overlooked by
others due to its complexity, lack of information, and questionable
viability. Fundza commissions short books written in accessible
English that reflect the lives and issues of underprivileged South
African youth. It was selected as one of the top 10 most innovative
global companies in Education for 2013 by Fast Company Magazine. The
NGO created new demand by focusing on noncustomers - disadvantaged
teenagers who previously could not relate to the stories published by
other publishers.
Read more
The Independent, August 9, 2013, United Kingdom.
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NATIONAL BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY: iM4U
BRINGING YOUTH TO THE FORE
1Malaysia for Youth (iM4U), an initiative under National Blue Ocean
Strategy launched by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last year,
has made great strides in its mission to cultivate volunteerism among
youth in Malaysia. iM4U is founded on the belief that youth can and
should play an active role in the transformation of Malaysia. Through
various programs, iM4U aims to encourage initiative,
entrepreneurship, and greater involvement among youngsters.
Read more
New Straits Times, August 12, 2013, Malaysia.
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‘THE PRESIDENT’S SPEECH WILL
DETERMINE DIRECTION OF BUSINESS’
Zimbabwe’s Clerk of Parliament, Austin Zvoma, discusses issues
related to the opening session of the Eighth Parliament and about
creating blue oceans in informing the public about its works.
Read more
The Herald, September 14, 2013, Zimbabwe.
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HORACIO CARTES Y LA CORRUPCIóN (II)
(HORACIO CARTES AND CORRUPTION (II))
The author calls on Paraguay’s new president, Horacio Cartes, to use
blue ocean strategy to fight widespread corruption. The article
suggests that the answer to fighting corruption lies not in
implementing new laws, the impact of which cannot be felt by the
public, but rather in leadership transformation. Using tipping point
leadership to overcome organizational hurdles is presented as a way
to break the status quo and defeat corruption.
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MICROSOFT: SEVEN LESSONS FOR STEVEN
BALLMER’S SUCCESSOR
Finding a blue ocean - an area where there isn’t already intense
competition - is one of the seven lessons for Steve Ballmer’s
successor after Ballmer announced his retirement as CEO of Microsoft.
Read more
Forbes, August 23, 2013, United States.
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STALKING THE FORTUNE 500
“Salesforce is the only vendor out there with a true blue ocean
strategy,” argues Denis Pombriant of the Beagle Research Group. From
the man-to-machine interface to bringing social concepts the last
mile into the enterprise, everybody else is watching Salesforce and
waiting to see what it does next in these areas so that they can
quickly emulate it.
Read more
CRM Buyer, September 5, 2013, United States.
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WESTERN WILDFIRES: ECONOMIC
DEVASTATION AND OPPORTUNITY
Seeing opportunity where others don’t is a first step to discovering
a blue ocean. Sun Valley is a world famous resort community where
celebrities such as Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis have vacation homes.
It is also an area recently afflicted by ravaging wildfires that led
to an exodus of businesses and investors from the area. All Star
Vacation Homes, a top vacation property management firm, is moving
into the Sun Valley while others flee, seizing what it hopes will be
a blue ocean.
Read more
Seeking Alpha, June 5, 2013, United States.
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ADDISON’S BOTTLE ROCKET FINDS
STRATOSPHERE IN MOBILE APPS
Calvin Carter, founder of Bottle Rocket, a fast growing mobile apps
development company, discusses his business philosophy: “We don’t
worry about our competitors. We have to pick our own journey.” He
adds, “We focus on blue ocean.”
Read more
Dallas News, August 17, 2013, United States.
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THE SURPRISING WAY TO ELIMINATE YOUR
COMPETITION
Co-founder of the website Gentlemint, Glen Stansberry, urges
small-business owners to create blue oceans in which the need for beating
competitors at their own game is a thing of a past. On
ever-challenging competition he comments: “There is another way.
Instead of matching your competitors feature for feature, try taking
an easier road to overcoming your competition: rendering them
irrelevant.”
Read more
AmericanExpress Open Forum, September 4, 2013, United States.
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MODELO INDITEX: UN OCéANO AZUL EN LA
MODA (INDITEX MODEL: A BLUE OCEAN IN FASHION)
The author argues that fashion retail giant Inditex Group, whose
portfolio consists of companies such as Zara, Massimo Dutti, and
Bershka, has been able to detect blue oceans and create demand with a
business model based on a new and unusual (to date) value curve in
the textile retail sector.
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A BLUE OCEAN INDUSTRY - BEYOND THE
OCEAN. SURF PARK CENTRAL
Surf parks are emerging as a new blue ocean industry, against the
backdrop of a stagnating, increasingly competitive and commoditized
surfing industry. Surf Park Central, a San Diego based startup is
navigating these uncharted waters with its blue ocean strategy. Yet,
the vast ocean is filled with opportunities that are waiting to be
capitalized.
Read more
Forbes, August 2, 2013, United States.
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Featured Academic Research
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PLANNING WITH BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY IN
THE UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
Theme:
Empirical investigation of blue ocean strategy principles in firms of
various sizes in the UAE.
Summary:
This paper reports on an empirical investigation of blue ocean
strategy formulation and implementation. The study employs a large
scale survey of randomly sampled managers from small (<100
employees), medium (>100 and <750), and large (>750 employees)
companies in the United Arab Emirates, testing seven hypotheses
derived from blue ocean strategy frameworks including the six
principles of blue ocean strategy, the four actions framework, and
the six paths to creating new market spaces. The analysis shows that
there are significant differences between the opinions of managers
from small and medium companies, as compared to large multinational
enterprises. The authors report that even though multinational
corporations are leading rapid diversification in the UAE, small and
medium sized companies are more dynamic, able to make quicker
decisions and react to market changes, and hold to the primary
principles of blue ocean strategy more strongly than large firms. The
authors found a negative correlation between the size of the firm and
how strongly executives feel that they should look for uncontested
market spaces. They also report significant correlation between
executives who feel that it is important to open up new and
uncontested market spaces and executives who feel that it is
important to remain focused on a select few factors in the value
chain.
Reference: Butler, Colin. “Planning with Blue
Ocean Strategy in the United Arab Emirates.” Strategic Change.
Vol. 17, issue 5/6 (August 2008): 169-178.
Access this academic article here
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HOW THE SEC BECAME THE MOST
SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATION IN COLLEGE SPORTS HISTORY
Fair Process is instrumental to the execution of blue ocean strategy.
Mike Slive, Commissioner of the Southeastern Conference (SEC), who is
running the most successful collegiate sports organization employed
Tipping Point Leadership and Fair Process to bring together a group
of rival institutions and make them work together as a cohesive unit.
The results speak for themselves: no other conference has been as
successful as the SEC during the last decade. Read on to learn how
Fair Process induces individuals to cooperate voluntarily where
well-being of the organization as a whole overrides the self-interest
of its members.
Read more
Forbes, July 29, 2013, United States.
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7 BOOKS THAT INFLUENCED BOSTON
ENTREPRENEURS AND INNOVATORS
Brian Halligan, CEO and Founder of HubSpot, explains that Blue Ocean Strategy
was been influential in the early days of the company: “When we first
started HubSpot, Dharmesh and I used Blue Ocean Strategy to map out
our approach.” He adds, “The book is great at challenging you to
differentiate from not only your competitors, but your alternatives.”
Read more
Venture Fizz, September 16, 2013, United States.
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SMART E-GOVERNANCE - AN ENTRY
STRATEGY FOR SMART CITIES
To satisfy the needs of a modern day urban resident, the performance
of cities relies not only on hard infrastructure, but also on the
quality of knowledge communication and social infrastructure,
characteristics of “Smart Cities”. Players in the market try to find
the gaps in various service offerings and close them to become
dominant. Read on to find out what are the main factors of
competition among Smart Cities and how blue ocean strategy tools and
frameworks can be applied to create uncontested market spaces.
Read more
Shubham Bhattacharya blog, September 14, 2013, France.
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WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY? THOUGHTS ON
THE ART OF REPEATING YOURSELF
This blog post argues that there is value in repeating the same
messages and concepts. Facebook wasn’t the first social network, yet
it is the most successful. Similarly, Dropbox wasn’t the first
file-sharing solution on the market, yet it was able to surpass other
competitors. The author claims to have used blue ocean strategy
frameworks to develop Draft,
an online word processor that focuses on addressing the needs that
Google Docs hasn’t, and in author’s words: “It’s working!”
Read more
Fast Company Labs, September 18, 2013, United States.
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CAN CORPORATE CULTURE BE MANAGED?
One of the toughest tasks for managers in any organization is to
change organizational culture. Change requires winning over minds and
hearts. To overcome these organizational hurdles, this article
addresses how tipping point leadership focuses on people with
disproportionate influence in the organization to make them into
agents for change.
Read more
Workplace Ethics Advice, August 27, 2013, United States.
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JAK WSPÓŁISTNIEĆ NA RYNKU A
KONKURENCJĄ? WCALE NIE TRZEBA WALCZYĆ (HOW TO CO-EXIST WITH THE
COMPETITION IN THE MARKET? NO NEED TO FIGHT AT ALL)
Does it make sense to compete with existing companies in the market?
What does it mean to create a blue ocean? What does it take to create
value for the buyer and for the company? Paweł Szwarcbach, board
member of Mensa Poland, answers these questions and more in Money.pl,
one of the leading business and finance websites in Poland.
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Just Released:
Blue Ocean
Strategy Visualizer App 2.0
Our Blue Ocean Strategy Visualizer app is now updated to fit the needs
of the non-profit sector. It allows you to switch between ‘for-profit’
and ‘not-for-profit’ modes. While ‘price’ is always a crucial competing
factor in for-profit strategies, this is not always the case in those
that are not-for-profit. The App allows you to rename or delete ‘price’
as a competing factor when plotting strategic landscapes of
not-for-profit organizations.
Click
here to download the updated app for free.
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