Blue Ocean Shift

June 19, 2017
Business-school professors Kim and Mauborgne (Blue Ocean Strategy) dedicate this stirring business primer to showing how organizations can move from fighting over crowded markets with competitors to creating their own markets. In order to move from “red oceans full of sharks” to “wide-open blue oceans” free of rivals, Kim and Mauborgne explain, leaders must identify and challenge fundamental assumptions. These include, most commonly, that market boundaries are fixed and that companies must decide between differentiation and low cost. The authors bolster their credibility by showing how nonprofits, businesses, and governments have applied their strategies, and they draw lessons from these clients’ successes and failures. The book includes powerful real-life examples, including that of the National Youth Orchestra of Iraq, which challenged sectarian divisions; French appliance maker Groupe SEB, which decided to produce french-fry makers that don’t involve any actual frying; and the government of Malaysia, which moved inmates out of overcrowded prisons to idle land on military bases. This invaluable guide will be empowering to business-minded readers. Agent: Robert Barnett, Williams & Connolly.

Starred review from September 1, 2017

This work is the follow-up to INSEAD strategy professors Kim and Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy (2005). While the first book helped to identify new avenues for strategic success, it fell short on providing the actual steps needed to jump from a crowded marketplace into the fabled blue ocean of the title. This title, however, provides a clear process for businesses identifying opportunities and developing plans for change. It begins with a review of the authors' blue ocean strategy, with new case studies showing how it can be applied to almost any organization from youth orchestras to large, multinational conglomerates. The second part of the book breaks down the approach into five, well-defined steps. The authors provide guidance and examples on how to apply each step within an organization. While tools to develop a plan of attack are offered, Kim and Mauborgne argue that the process works best when a company takes the time to self-reflect and connect with consumers about their needs. VERDICT This tide provides a course of action for readers of the authors' previous book and should find a large readership among all organizational levels. Highly recommended.--John Rodzvilla, Emerson Coll., Boston

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