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Over the years, Corporate Strategy Institute has conducted regular CEO research to help us keep abreast of the major issues affecting our clients. It has never ceased to amaze us how many CEOs and Boards of Directors keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
Many CEOs and Boards do not know when to create a new strategy. Maybe asking yourself some critical questions will help. Answer the following questions True or False:
1. Is the growth on the top line insufficient with no reversal in sight?
2. Are your costs greater than the return on the investment?
Posted in Growth, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on October 13, 2008.
Why not?
According to Wikipedia, a community association is a nongovernmental association of participating members of a community, such as a neighborhood, village, condominium, cooperative, or group of homeowners or property owners in a delineated geographic area. Participation may be voluntary, require a specific residency, or require participation in an intentional community. Community associations may serve as social clubs, community promotional groups, service organizations, or quasi-governmental groups.
There are many communities around the US and the world and more are being developed every day. Many are aging and now must face the future competing with the fresh new developments unconstrained by age, and old construction material and design.
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance by Dr. Sarah Layton on July 31, 2008.
Qualified Blue Ocean Strategist Dr. Sarah Layton was invited to present two day workshops on Blue Ocean Strategy to executives in Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and India. Comments from attendees include:
“It’s one of the most impressive seminars I’ve ever taken.”
“We had such a great time together with Dr. Sarah. I will take BOS back to my company and get started”
Two day sessions included case studies from known Blue Ocean Strategy companies such as Cirque du Soleil, Nintendo, Curves and SouthWest Airlines. Delegates were then able to select a company and industry in which to practice utilizing the Blue Ocean Strategy tools to create a Blue Ocean Strategy. This enabled them to gain confidence to return to their companies to begin their own Blue Ocean Strategy process.
Posted in News & Media by Dr. Sarah Layton on July 1, 2008.
According to Craig Barrett, Chairman of Intel Corporation, the United States will need to improve its capacity to innovate if it wants to maintain its economic position in the world,. Furthermore, government must make R&D more of a priority, as should private industry.
In an interview putblished by Insead Univeristy, Barrett says that INTEL is one of the largest venture capitalists in the world and no longer invests as heavily in the US and Europe, but rather in Asia.
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance, Growth by Dr. Sarah Layton on March 25, 2008.
It is the object of calls for reform on the presidential campaign trail. Its medical errors come under scrutiny on CBS News’s “60 Minutes.” It undergoes the Michael Moore treatment in such biased films as “Sicko.” Yes, health care in America looks like it needs a fresh prescription.
“Like it or not, our health-care system has become a price-driven commodity business,” says Florida-based corporate strategist Dr. Sarah Layton. “Blue Ocean Strategy – an approach which creates brand-new market space where no competition yet exists based on creating value — is not prevalent in this industry. Nevertheless, it is possible in any industry — even in healthcare with its regulations and constraints.”
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on March 18, 2008.
The other day someone asked me when Blue Ocean Strategy should be considered as a process for their company. I kept wondering when shouldn’t it be considered as a process?
Most companies seem to be in a do or die situation with our economy today. Blue Ocean Strategy tools and processes are the very best way to navigate past all that mess and create something you don’t have to worry about. Wouldn’t it be nice not to have to worry about your competitors?
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance, Growth, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on March 7, 2008.
Barack Obama may have stumbled upon Blue Ocean Strategy’s number-one principle: Reconstruct Market Boundaries. Is he achieving that with new voters? Is he getting non-voters to register? How is the Obama campaign – or Clinton’s (that’s Hillary’s not Bill’s!) or Huckabee for that matter – breaking through the boundaries and changing the competitive factors? The interesting question is would he make a good President? Of course, as we saw with President Bush, only time will tell.
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Growth, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on February 15, 2008.
What is Microsoft thinking? Some think the acquisition of aQuantive by Microsoft might be Phase 1 of a Blue Ocean Strategy* and their hostile bid for Yahoo the Phase 2 of a Blue Ocean Strategy. While these acquisitions may increase share of the online advertising market and make them more competitive, competitors already exist and will be hot on their heels. They are simply buying more space in the already bloody red ocean of competition
.
The acquisition of aQuantive seems a good perfect fit for Microsoft if they want to be more competitive in their current market, because its technology targets ads based on Web surfer’s habits. That opens large swaths of new customers to Microsoft, but the markets will soon be flooded with competitors after the same business.
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Growth, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on February 13, 2008.
OK, so you are Mitt Romney or John McCain, Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama. If you want to make your competition irrelevant, how would you go about doing that?
Let’s look at the one of the principles of Blue Ocean Strategy and see if we can apply it to politics.
Principle #1 – reconstruct market boundaries. How would a candidate do that? There are about 223 Million adults over 18 in the US. Approximately 78% are registered voters but only about 35% are fairly regular voters. So if you were going to reconstruct market boundaries, BOS style, you would go to where the registered active voters aren’t, to the registered non-voters and the 22% non registered US citizens.
Posted in Growth by Dr. Sarah Layton on February 5, 2008.
Many companies think they are so different and doing such wonderful things for their customers. They probably are doing OK, but based on my conversations with many of their customers, there is no differentiation at all from their competitors. The customers are saying they are all different in the same way.
How can you determine whether you are in a bloody red ocean or a true blue ocean? How can you determine if there is a possibility of creating a blue ocean for any of your current products or services? The Pioneer-Migrator-Settler Map helps you visualize where your portfolio of products falls in the proverbial ocean.
Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy by Dr. Sarah Layton on January 29, 2008.
