Blue Ocean Classics

Ten years ago, W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne broke ground by introducing "blue ocean strategy," a new model for discovering uncontested markets that are ripe for growth. This book brings together three of their classic Harvard Business Review articles that address the challenges that prevent companies from creating and capturing lasting value.In "Blue Ocean Strategy," Kim and Mauborgne introduce the idea of blue oceans, previously unknown market spaces where demand is created rather than fought over, and the opportunities for growth are profitable and rapid.In "Blue Ocean Leadership," the authors address how to close the gulf between the potential and the realized talent and energy of employees. They outline an approach to uncovering which leadership acts and activities will inspire employees, and a process for getting managers to start doing them.In "Red Ocean Traps," Kim and Mauborgne show how managers' mental models--ingrained assumptions about the way the world works--undermine attempts to discover blue oceans. They provide a framework for avoiding spaces where competition is bloody (red oceans) and moving to spaces with ample potential.