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Latest "Strategic Planning" Posts

Is There a Blue Ocean Strategy for the Health-care Industry?

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.

Blue Ocean Strategy: When failure isn’t an option


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.

CAMPAIGN 2008 – With all the diversity in this presidential campaign, is there a Blue Ocean Strategy Candidate?

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.

Microsoft needs a Blue Ocean Strategy

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
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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.

Do you know your Competitive Factors?

Ask any CEO if s/he and her/his team know the factors of competition for their products and services and they will always tell me they do. When asked to define competitive factor, often there comes a “deer in the headlights” response. Further, when you get these same people in a room, divide them into teams and have each team come up with the competitive factors for their products and services, you may get very different answers.

Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Growth, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on November 27, 2007.

An Attitude of Gratitude

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and a reminder that we need to stop, take a breath, and at least once a year, count our blessings instead of whining about all the perceived imperfections in our lives.

As a poor kid growing up in Miami, I was always taught to be thankful, and to show gratitude for anything anyone did for me or gave to me. We take for granted so much in our lives. It is only when we lose something, like our health, that we realize how blessed we were when we had good health.

Posted in Governance, Growth, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on November 21, 2007.

Decisive Leadership and Strategic Planning

It takes creative thinking today and new strategy tools to move away from the competitive fray and into a blue ocean of value innovation where the revenue and profits are higher, the markets are unserved and the competition is nowhere in sight.

But what if you are a CEO raring to go with, say the Blue Ocean Strategy tools, ready to see if there is a Blue Ocean out there, or at least to make your bloody red ocean less competitive, and your team seems resistant, either actively or passively, to a move toward a new strategy that might advance the company past its current state of bloody competitive moves? Under those conditions, a CEO might be inclined to give up on innovation, feeling that maybe s/he is just too “out there” for his/her business/industry.

Posted in Governance, Growth, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on November 5, 2007.

Blue Ocean Strategy – Strategic Planning made Innovative

Retired Chairman and CEO of Lockheed Martin, Norm Augustine said that in this global economy, we only have two options… either innovate or evaporate.
The view from here says that many companies are on the path toward evaporation. How many CEOs actually know how to innovate; know a process that would help them innovate and gain sustainable advantage over a long period of time?
Let’s look at what innovation actually is. Webster tells us that “to innovate” means to do something in a new way. It is a simple definition. Most of the time we look at our competitors first, see what they are doing and then try to do something different or better, or prettier, or less costly….in other words…we try to innovate. We ask our customers what they want. The reality is they want more for less. That doesn’t help us do anything but erode our margins.
Unfortunately, most of the time, we have innovated little, our competitors are right behind us and we have received little or no advantage from the action we took. The reality is that most companies don’t take the time to determine if the innovative idea is valuable to our customers. Many customers just shake their heads in disbelief at what we do.
In the 20+ years I have been helping clients formulate strategy and do strategic planning, until now, there has never been a step-by-step method for innovating in such a way that it cannot be duplicated for a very long time. It is very exciting to finally have the tools necessary to help my clients get really innovative, if they want to.
Prior to this posting, the summary/review of the book Blue Ocean Strategy: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne was posted. If you would like a copy emailed, please let me know. You can contact me at info@corporatestrategy.com.

Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance, Growth, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on October 29, 2007.

Blue Ocean Strategy Review

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY BOOK SUMMARY AND REVIEWBlue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and

Make the Competition Irrelevant
by Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne

Reviewed by Dr. Sarah Layton

Dr. Sarah Layton (mailto:info@corporatestrategy.com; http://www.corporatestrategy.com/) is Managing Partner of Corporate Strategy Institute, Orlando, Florida. She is qualified by the Blue Ocean Strategy Initiative Center – London, in Blue Ocean Strategy concepts, tools and frameworks and specializes in helping organizations create their Blue Ocean Strategy future.

Posted in Blue Ocean Strategy, Governance, Growth, Organizational Strategy, Strategic Planning by Dr. Sarah Layton on October 21, 2007.