The SQUEEZE: Today, the commercial marketplace is crowded with different product offerings, leaving companies with the problem of sustaining their competitive positions. W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, the world’s newest business gurus, suggest to companies to create new market spaces. In Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make Competition Irrelevant, Kim and Mauborgne present the findings of their study where they evaluate 150 strategic moves of multiple companies over the span of a hundred years. The authors conclude that lasting business success comes through companies creating their own “blue oceans,” those market spaces that have been untapped and areas ripe for growth. Kim and Mauborgne realize today companies are increasingly foregoing the “bloody red oceans” where many companies swim for the market space where they can create and realize greater revenue potential. Blue Ocean Strategy is a must-read for small businesses and larger companies.

Notable Endorsement: “This is an extremely valuable book to read. It examines the experience of companies in areas as diverse as watches, wine, cement, computers, automobiles, and even the circus to shed new light on the development of future strategies.” –Nicolas G. Hayek, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Swatch Group

Common Q’s Answered by this Book:

• What is “blue ocean strategy”?
• What are the 150 strategic moves?
• What are examples of “blue oceans”?
• What is the definition of “blue oceans”?
• What are some examples of ways to create your own blue ocean?

About the Author: W. Chan Kim is the Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International Management at INSEAD. Kim is also an advisory member for the European Union. For more information, visit: http://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/aut/chan_kim.html. Rene Mauborgne is a distinguished fellow of INSEAD. Mauborgne is also a professor of strategy and management, a fellow for the World Economic Forum, and a co-director for INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute. Mauborgne, along with Kim, have co-authored Harvard Business Review articles and frequently write for The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Financial Times.  In 2008, Mauborgne received the Nobel’s Colloquia Prize for Leadership on Business and Economic Thinking. For more information, visit: http://www.leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id=306.

Book Vitals:

• Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press (February 2005)