The Corner Stone Of Blue Ocean Strategy Marketing Essay

The Corner Stone Of Blue Ocean Strategy Marketing Essay To sustain in the market and show high performance formula is not competition in overcrowded industries. The mantra is to create blue oceans of untapped market space. There are two distinct kinds of space, red and blue oceans, in a business environment. Red ocean represents all the industries that exist and perform by the way of competing with the rivalries. Here the industry boundaries are already defined and followed, the competing rules of the game are known. Companies try to surpass their rivals to clutch a larger share of product or service demand. As the market space gets packed, scenario for economic profits and productivity growth are reduced. Products become commodities  or  niche, and the cutthroat competition turns the ocean red as blood. Blue oceans denote a new concept, not the ones that exist today it is the unknown market space, untainted by competition. Here, demand is created rather than grabbing the existing one. There is ample opportunity for growth, both in terms of profit and the speed at which the profit is obtained; competition is immaterial because the rules of the game are not yet framed. Blue Ocean is an analogy to describe the wider, deeper potential of market space that is not yet explored.   The logic behind blue ocean strategy contrasts with the traditional model that focuses on competing in an already existing market space. The management is not able to differentiate between red and blue ocean strategy because of the difficulty they face in breaking themselves from the competition. Companies have got huge capacities to develop new industries and re-design the existing ones, a fact that is exhibited in the deep changes that are necessary in the way industries are classified. Blue ocean strategy has been the pioneer in the standardisation, continuity and replacement of the segmentation of the industries. To win in the future, companies mustnt challenge with each other. The only way to overcome the competition is to stop trying to be in the competition. The business atmosphere in which most business strategy and management has been based on is changing, evolving or disappearing. Some of this change is due to technology. Other reasons might be culture, globalization, speed of new information, or the role of demographics in the workplace. There are 3 characteristics that contribute to a Good Strategy. 1) It is focused; it is not diffused across all potential aspects of the market. 2) The shape of the value curve diverges from any potential competitors. 3) It has a compelling tagline. STRATEGIES INVOLVED VALUE INNOVATION The corner-stone of Blue Ocean Strategy is Value Innovation. Instead of focussing on thrashing the competition, the spotlight should be on making it erroneous by creating a bound in the value for buyers and creating uncontested market space. A blue ocean is created when a company achieves value innovation that creates value simultaneously for both the buyer and the company. The  innovation  (in product, service, or delivery) must raise and create value for the market, while simultaneously reducing or eliminating features or services that are less valued by the current or future market. Value can be identified in the conventional  market segmentation  and offering value  and  lower cost. Value innovation only occurs when organizations have aligned innovation with utility, price and costs. The market must be ready to accept the product, meaning that timing is a major check. The focus is on both differentiation and low cost to provide value to both customers and the organization. Value innovation can be created in a way that the companys actions are favorable for both the company, through reduced cost structure and to its customers through value proposition. Cost savings are made by disseminating and bringing down the factors an industry competes on. In case of buyers value, it is increased by rising and creating elements the existing industries has not offered in the past. Additive costs are reduced further, as scale of economies kick in due to the increase in volumes of sale. THE STRATEGY CANVAS The strategy canvas acts as an indicative and an action framework for structuring a blue ocean strategy. Strategy Canvas seizes the current state in the market by detailing the factors players compete on in product, service and delivery. This enables the company to gain insight into the areas where the competitors are currently investing, the factors on which the industry is presently contending on its deliverables, and the end products the customers receive from the existing offerings from the competitors market. The four actions framework offers a technique that smashes the trade-off between differentiating the products and reduction in cost, thus creating a new value curve. It attends to the four key queries of the issues that an industry takes for granted and issues that need to be eliminated; factors that needs to be reduced below industry standards; factors that needs to be raised above industry standards; and what to offer that the industry has not offered before. The eliminate-reduce-raise-create grid encourages the companies to act on all four areas to form a new value curve. By motivating the companies to fill the grid with eliminating, reducing, raising, and creating actions the grid provides four immediate benefits: it urges them to concurrently adopt differentiation in the products and adopting reduction of costs; identifies companies who are only creating thereby raising costs; makes it easier for the management to understand and comply; and that drives the companies to scrutinize every factor the industry competes on. This is against the Michael Porters Five Force Strategy which implies that an organization should dominate the market in all sectors to attain competitive advantage and gain excellence. Blue Ocean Strategy embeds the concept of slowing down profit attrition with an efficient cut throat strategy for an already existing market, and through the profit made out of it they can increase the financial resources available for new innovative investments and thus their chances of finding an unexploited market with plenty of potential consumers. Figure 1: Four Actions Framework REDUCE Which factors should be reduced well below industry standards? ELIMINATE Which of the factors that the industry takes for granted should be eliminated? CREATE Which factors should be created that the industry has never offered? A NEW VALUE CURVE RAISE Which factors should be raised well above the industrys standard? SEQUENCE OF BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY The essential concept of blue ocean strategy is to get the strategic sequence right. This sequence washes out and authenticates blue ocean ideas. This reduces the business model risk. In this model, prospective blue ocean ideas must pass through a chain of buyers utility, price, cost, and adoption. At each step there are only two options: a yes, in which case the idea may move on to the next step, or no where the company can either park the idea or rethink it until a yes. Figure 2 : Sequence of Blue Ocean Strategy BUYER UTILITY Is there exceptional buyer utility in your business idea? A Commercially Viable Blue Ocean Idea ADOPTION What are the adoption hurdles in actualizing your business idea? Are you addressing them up front? COST Can you attain your target to profit at your strategic price? PRICE Is your price easily accessible to the mass of buyers? LG ELECTRONICS A CASE STUDY LG ELECTRONICS, wanted to implement Blue Ocean Management to make competition irrelevant. Their strategy was to redefine industry boundaries by focusing more on high end products and entering new segments of emerging markets like China, India and Middle East and Africa and thus create uncontested market space. They shifted their focus from increase in volume to increase in value through high-end product innovation in all of its four product divisions: Mobile Communications, Digital Appliance, Digital Display and Digital Media. Each domain of the company planned to establish high end value added products. In the mobile phone division, LG Chocolate and the Black Label series are LGs Blue Ocean operational strategy in action, which are expected to generate around 30 per cent of sales and 50 per cent of profits by 2010. LGs Chocolate became best selling product through intensifying research capabilities and high-end design which was in the midterm strategies for the company. The Digital Display Company was the leading producer of digital TVs in LCD and Plasma modules. In the increasingly competitive digital TV market, LG Electronics had cutting-edge products through innovative products. Digital Display division was formed in joint venture with Philips to produce LCD TV and plasma TV in 2001. The digital display division had earned $ 2.77 billion which constituted 28% of their global sales in the year 2005. Their business goal being becoming the dominant leader in digital TV and plasma TV, the division had undergone breakthrough innovations and products under the blue ocean strategy. The Digital Appliance, another SBU of LG Electronics, was a leader and pioneer in home appliance products, like air conditioner, refrigerator, vacuum cleaner, washing machine, microwave oven, and other home appliances. They had developed the worlds inbuilt TV, refrigerator, ARTCOOL air conditioners, steam washing machines and many more core technologies for home appliance parts and products. Building on successful home appliance operations, the company was also expanding their business scope to have a greater emphasis on new product sectors such as commercial air conditioners, built-in kitchen appliances and home networks. The digital media segment, with their global sales of $5.7 billion generated synergy with its audio and video (home theatre, DVD recorder), digital storage (super multi DVD rewriter) and personal computer (desktop and notebook PC) divisions65. Through continued technology innovation, the company had developed the worlds first Satellite DMB notebook66 in 2005. In particular, the company was actively penetrating multimedia product markets with mobile technologies, such as PDAs and MP3 players, and with composite products, such as super-multi drives and super-multi DVD recorders. They were also focusing on its Car Infotainment business.

Hand Guns Must Go :: essays research papers fc

Handguns Must Go People own hand guns for many reasons. Some keep handguns for protection; others collect them as a hobby. There is a substantial amount of people in America that own handguns for one specific reason, to commit crimes. Usually they are committing a crime just by having a gun in their possession. The person is breaking current laws anyways; making tougher gun control laws will not change the fact that they are committing a crime. How can guns be kept away from criminals? By taking away their guns, and stopping them from getting replacements. Guns are an easy to use, low cost killing device. One pull of a trigger and a person can intentionally or unintentionally take the life of another. The only way to stop violent crimes committed with the use of guns is to have a complete band on handguns and automatic weapons, and stop the production of any further except for police use. First, handguns are deadly devices that can easily cause thousands of accidental deaths a year. To be exact â€Å"Guns annually accidentally kill three thousand Americans a year† (Desuka 422). Some of these guns that accidentally kill are in a home because they are collected as a hobby. Collecting guns is a dangerous hobby that can have a disastrous outcome. For the same reasons the government does not allow a person to collect nuclear bombs they should not let people collect handguns. Just because a nuclear bomb would kill thousands of people if accidentally set off, and a gun usually only kills one does not mean the government should allow people to collect handguns and automatic weapons. Moreover, guns that accidentally kill are in a house for protection. With regard to burglaries, â€Å"90 percent of America’s burglaries are committed when no one is home† (Desuka 422). In the ten percent of burglaries that people are at home during, threatening a robber with a gun puts the victim more at risk of a violent attack than doing nothing would do. Taking guns out of households would lower the chances of them being a cause of an accidental death or injury. Next, if handguns were outlawed the murder rate would decrease. â€Å"Sixty percent of all murders are caused by guns, and handguns are involved in more than seventy percent of theses† (Desuka 422). Police would need to have a massive crackdown on criminals in order to take their handguns away.

Pearl Harbor :: essays research papers

The movie Pearl Harbor is a depiction of the actual attack from the Japanese on American soil. It appears that the Japanese’s peace talks with the United States was a ploy to set up the most surprising attack that the United States has every experienced. It is clear the attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise and something that Naval Intelligence had at one point hinted of the possibility of such attack occurring.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  On December 7, 1941, from 7 am to 9:45 am., and a clear day on Sunday. Pearl Harbor was attacked and over 3,000 lives were lost. According to our US. History book, 2,400 lives were lost on this day and 1,200 wounded.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Since July of 1941 Naval Intelligence hinted of the possibility of such attack. The Japanese deliberately sent radio messaged to confuse the Americans to think that peace was a common vision. During this time World War II was being fought in Europe. Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain was asking for more planes and warships from the Americans. The United States did not want to commit any troops to the was in â€Å"Europe.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After the attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States had not choice, but to get involved and commit to fighting with the Allies forcer in Europe. This is proof that preempted strikes are sometimes necessary to prevent loss of human lives.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the mist of the attack, the hospitals were being bombarded by patients that they could not handle. Nurses were forced to label bodies or lives that were salvageable against lives that soon die. They had to expand energy on those that had the possibility to survive. Imagine having to label bodies and almost play the role of â€Å"God.† To have to decide who is dying and who has that extreme possibility to live.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Meanwhile, as the Japanese continue their bombing, there some smaller air fields that had not recognized initially. There were some pilots that were able to man their planes and shoot down many planes. The Japanese lost 29 out of 350 planes on their attack on the United States.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Strategically, the Japanese attacked the Island of Pearl Harbor, from the northeast. Which means that they were attacked from behind other Islands of Hawaii.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The technology was that Japanese torpedoes where armed with wooden panels so that when they entered shallow waters and strike their targets at ease.

An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge Essay -- essays research papers

à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬? Ambrose Bierce weaves a tale of intrigue and captivation, by using shifts of voice and time in the story à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridgeà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬?. In the first four paragraphs, Bierce begins the story using third person, and in this point of view, he creates reality. We can view the situation and all aspects while it is written in third person; we know precisely what is going on, we know it is real. Near the end of the fourth paragraph, the author shifts cleverly from third person to limited omniscient. After having us view the story in third person, Bierce transfers from reality, to the main characters' thought processes, having us view Peyton's thoughts and dreams also as reality. "He looked a moment at his "unsteadfast footing," then let his gaze wander to the swirling water of the stream racing madly beneath his feet." (P.67) it is here where Bierce shifts and starts to mislead us, by using Peyton Farquhar's thought processes as a filter. It is a clever shift, because in this moment, we are getting closer to the time of Farquhar's death, and we have previously read reality. Time then slows down; the explanation of the phenomenon, of Peyton Farquhars's death, is both detailed and plausible, and there is a special trick: "He closed his eyes in order to fix his last thoughts upon his wife and children"(P.67) It is in this sentence that Ambrose Bierce starts to evoke hope in the reader. The author knows th...

 Tablets versus Textbooks Essay

One in three adults own a tablet. As tablets are becoming more and more common a new debate has formed over whether K-12 school districts should switch from print textbooks to digital textbooks on tablets. The first benefit of digital textbooks is that students will have new information at their fingertips. The second benefit is that high level education prefers tablets. The negative about having a tablet is that many people don’t have wi-fi. As you can see, the benefits out-weigh the negatives by far and there really should be no debate. On a tablet e-textbooks can be updated instantly to get new editions or information. Schools will not have to constantly buy new copies, which few public schools buy due to the high prices of textbooks. Most public schools still have history books from when Bush was president. FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that, â€Å"too many students are using books that are 7-10 years old with outdated material.† Subjects are especially beneficiary to subjects that constantly change, such as Science and History. On e-textbooks new editions and new information can be constantly at your fingertips. High-level education officials prefer tablets over textbooks. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and Federal Communications Commission chair Julius Genachowski said on February 1, 2012 that schools and publishers should â€Å"switch to digital textbooks within five years to foster interactive education, save money on books, and ensure classrooms in the US use up-to-date content.† The federal government, in collaboration with several tech organizations, released a seventy-page guide for schools called the â€Å"Digital Textbook Playbook,† a â€Å"roadmap for educators to accelerate the transition to digital textbooks.† Some say that using tablets is more expensive than using print textbooks. Putting tablets in K-12 schools involves buying the tablet and the textbooks, building new wi-fi structures, and training administrators how to use the technology. Costs for e-textbooks on IPad tablets are 552% higher than new print textbooks in an average high school. A prominent education marketing expert Lee Wilson, estimated the annual cost per student per year to be seventy-one dollars and fifty-five cents versus fourteen dollars and twenty-six cents for print textbooks. Although, this is true they are thinking of the now and not keeping in mind the later. Right now, yes that much money will be spent but in the long haul it will add up to save you money. Just in a year E-textbooks can save schools between two-hundred and fifty dollars and one thousand dollars per student per year. Also, tablet prices are dropping as the years go by, making them even more affordable. Tablets cost on average four-hundred and eighty-nine dollars in 2011, three hundred and eighty-six dollars in 2012, and are projected to cost two hundred and sixty-three dollars in 2015. In the end using tablets is less expensive than using textbooks. As times are changing it’s important that we roll with the times. Using tablets in school will help supply students with new information all the time and high level education prefers them. Some may have wrong interpretations of them being more expensive than textbooks but as you read, they are not. Clark, Alli. â€Å"Online Textbooks: Friend or Foe? – Private Tutoring and Test Prep – Educational Connections.† Private Tutoring and Test Prep Educational Connections. N.p., 3 Sept. 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013. â€Å"LEAD Commission.† Lead Commission, Np., Nd. Web 27, September 2013. Long, Julie. â€Å"IT Solutions Blog.† 9 Benefits Of Classroom Technology: Ebooks. N.p., 28 June 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2013.

Elementary School and Middle School: The Differences and Similarities Essay

What is it like to transition from elementary to middle school? That is a question many kids ask each year. Having experienced both, I can tell you that there are plenty of similarities as well as some very big differences between the two types of schools. Elementary schools and middle schools have many traits in common. Typically, both are open five days a week for a set number of hours each day. Students sit at desks in classrooms and are expected to listen to and learn from their teachers. There is a set time for lunch. Each day, students are given homework assignments. Students take quizzes and tests. In all of these ways, middle school should somewhat feel similar to new students. However, there are some big changes that new middle school students should be aware of. In elementary school, students usually stay in the same classroom with one teacher for most of the day. This is not the case in middle school, where the students typically have a different teacher for each subject. Students must move to a different classroom for each subject too. Since there is not one classroom in which to store supplies, middle schools often provide students with lockers. For many kids, getting a locker is a welcome rite of passage. Making the move from elementary school to middle school may seem scary, but knowing that to expect can really help. Elementary school provides kids with the experiences they need to be ready for middle school. Even though moving on means adjusting to a new environment, some things, including many of the classmates who accompany you, will remain the same.

Literary Analysis of Sunrise over Fallujah Essay

The novel Sunrise Over Fallujah by Walter Dean Myers is a historical fiction novel that retells the memories of Robin Perry’s experience in Iraqi civil war. He was in a civil affairs unit, which is dedicated to protecting by standers in the war. Robin encounters various setbacks that try to slow down the progress of his unit such as the death of his close friend Jonsey. Walter Dean Myers portrayed his knowledge of the setting, aspects from the past, and made the plot very believable in the historical fiction novel Sunrise Over Fallujah. Firstly, the historical, cultural, and geographical content involving the setting was portrayed accurately and was authentic. In addition, authors must complete detailed research of their settings before attempting to write a book of this genre. If authors want â€Å"To create accurate and authentic settings in their books, they must research the time period thoroughly† (Read). Once the author has completed a detailed research of the setting they are looking to portray they can then start the writing process of their novel. Furthermore, an accurate setting makes the fictional part of the story believable and is what keeps the readers attention. The unit Robin was in had a â€Å"Route that was northward through the city and just out of it to Al Kazimayn mosque† (p.131, 14-15). This is an example of accurate geographical knowledge of the setting. Moreover, making the setting accurate is important, but making it authentic is just as important. When the main character Robin and his crew raided a home they â€Å"Couldn’t tell if it was an apartment house or one big family† (p. 53, 7-8). Researching about how the civilian population lived, ate, and what artifacts were a common part of their lives can make the settings in the novel more authentic. This concludes the importance of the setting in a historical fiction novel. Secondly, aspects from the past were used to help the reader see the development of the plot and fictional characters. Moreover, aspects from the past are important in a historical fiction novel because the readers see key elements develop. Many authors suggest that â€Å"Any aspect from the past can be useful to the present-day novelist attempting to reanimate it to serve as the context for character and plot development† (Facts). Plots and characters begin developing from the author’s research of aspects from the Iraq War. Furthermore, the war in Iraq was full of question, which created many aspects for Walter Dean Myers to choose from. Captain Miller was â€Å"Mad because there were kids in and playing around the school when they attacked it† (p. 100, 24-25). Those types of features from the war in Iraq helped the author develop fictional characters. In addition, aspects from the war in Iraq can be used for the development of the plot. For example, at one point in the novel â€Å"The vehicle ahead of Robin’s crew made a sharp U-turn, ‘RPGs!’ Jonsey shouted; he braked to a skidding halt† (p. 101, 23). This commonly used tactic of the Iraqi military was a feature that Walter Dean Myers used to help develop the plot. After analyzing the novel, readers quickly realize the importance of using aspects to develop characters and the plot. Finally, the most important part of a historical fiction novel by far is the believability of the plot. Moreover, the plot of a historical fiction novel is the most important part because this specific element of a novel is what keeps the readers attention. In a historical fiction novel â€Å"The fictional characters, settings, and plot events must be portrayed authentically as if they actually could’ve happened† (Read). This is a key component to make sure that everything in the â€Å"fictional† event is accurate and authentic to keep the readers attention. Furthermore, the plot consists of multiple parts in the story but the most looked forward to moment is the climax. The main character Robin was explaining that, â€Å"I had my head turned when the bus exploded. The impact went through my body and slammed me against the back of the Humvee† (p. 199, 22-24). The climax of the novel is successful as it creates suspense and kept the reader focused on the rest of the novel. A key component of making the plot believable is using terms based on the event the author is writing about. When Robin’s division had to move they â€Å"Were supposed to go from the FOB (forward operations base), which was nothing but a few tents in the sand, to mining area about fifteen to twenty miles away† (p. 78, 2-4). Complex terminology such as â€Å"FOB† can keep the readers attention because it seems like the author knows what he writing about. Walter Dean Myers successfully made the plot believable and kept the readers attention. The three major components to writing a historical fiction novel; knowledge of the setting, using aspects from the past, and the believability of the plot is what made Sunrise Over Fallujah a successful novel of this genre. This novel met ends with the criteria to writing a historical fiction novel, which is why it is recommended to readers that enjoy this genre. In the end, Walter Dean Myers put together a wonderful piece of literature that was successful in the historical fiction genre. Citations â€Å"Historical Fiction.† Read Write Think. IRA/NCTE, 2013. Web. 29 Apr. 2013. â€Å"Historical Fiction.† Facts On File Companion to the British Novel: 20th Century, vol. 2. 2006. Bloom’s Literary Reference Online.