Blue Ocean Strategy

The global phenomenon that has sold 3.5 million copies, is published in a record-breaking 43 languages and is a bestseller across five continents—now updated and expanded with new content. This global bestseller, embraced by organizations and industries worldwide, challenges everything you thought you knew about the requirements for strategic success. Now updated with fresh content from the authors, Blue Ocean Strategy argues that cutthroat competition results in nothing but a bloody red ocean of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. Based on a study of 150 strategic moves (spanning more than 100 years across 30 industries), the authors argue that lasting success comes not from battling competitors but from creating “blue oceans”—untapped new market spaces ripe for growth.

To learn more about the power of blue ocean strategy, visit blueoceanstrategy.com.

 QB House Now let's look at a real example.In Japan, for a man to have a haircut, it takes about an hour. It's a ritualistic process, and it costs about 30 to $40. So you go in and they offer you shampooing. they give you a little massage. They offer you cups of tea and coffee. Blow-drying, shaving, skin treatment a whole range of things. But sometimes, a man just wants to walk in and get a simple trim. And he can't get that in a regular hair salon for a man. Then a company called QB House came out, and created a whole blue ocean. So they simplified things they only charged a set rate, about $10 for a haircut. Remember, in a regular hair salon, it costs about 30 to $40. They use a machine to take your money. No change is given. They don't have shampooing, they don't have blow-drying, and they have a waiting system. So you pay the money, you get a ticket, and you have a waiting system which resembles a traffic light. So when it is green, it means you can just walk in, it's ready. And when it's amber, you have to wait a little bit longer. Red means you have to wait even longer. But the waiting times are really short, now with the QB House, because they only offer one option. It's a simple process. It only takes about 10 minutes to get a haircut. So this is how the Blue Ocean strategy canvas  looks for QB House.They're actually, if you look at in relation to the red ocean shown in the red line, in terms of price they're cheaper. They only charge the customers one set rate. The waiting times are shorter, because there aren't all these additional services. There are no service options. They only provide one service, a trim. The service experience is poor There are no massage and all6:17these other additional bits. The service environment is virtually absent, because there is no waiting area in the salon. And they added other things. They added the waiting system, the traffic light waiting system. The machine, ease of payment. And all their products are single use, so everything is disposable. And the result was massive success for that company, which is now available in many, many Asian countries.Dr. N Shehabuddeen /Innovation/