Creating A Blue Ocean Strategy

Managers generally consider the rivalry among competitors as a major source for deriving strategy. As explained by the Michael Porter it is a narrow view of competition. A set of other parameters should be evaluated, mentioned in article as five competitive forces, along with industry

HCAD 790: Practitioner Application 2 Jennifer Chaix J16006447 September 12, 2017 Turning Today’s Bloody Healthcare Market Blue When discussing healthcare, “blue” and “red” are adjectives typically associated with the color of a patient’s veins and blood. However, from the executive’s point of view, these two adjectives mean something completely different. In the healthcare field, there are two market strategies: red ocean strategy and blue ocean strategy. “Red Oceans” represent the pre-identified market place which is comprised of all the types of businesses which are actively participating in the industry day.

Apple wants to expand sales to clients who do not own products. Produce hassles free products for the enjoyment for customers. Become the leader in the mobile market. Strategy: Expanding the company’s distribution network to hit more consumers. Continue to invest prudently in Research and Development. Become the mobile leader.

As we begin to strategically plan for our business, it is important for us to take a deep dive into our competitive environment to understand where we are strong competitively and where we are weak competitively. An analysis of the forces driving industry competition using M.E. Porter’s Five Forces Model will assist us in determining where the power lies in a business situation as we begin to plan. We must understand how they work in our industry and how they affect our particular situation. Whatever the collective strength of these forces is, our job as the strategists of the organization is to

According The Wall Street Journal” … Cirque du Soleil, the Canadian company that redefined the dynamics of a declining circus industry in the 1980s. Under conventional strategy analysis, the circus industry was a loser. Star performers had “supplier power” over the company. Alternative forms of entertainment, from sporting events to home entertainment systems, were relatively inexpensive and on the rise. Moreover, animal rights groups were putting increased pressure on circuses for their treatment of animals.” (Murray, 2014) A new era was created transforming the concept of what is a circus today. As the Wall Street Journal described, “Cirque du Soleil eliminated the animals and reduced the importance of individual stars. It created a new form of entertainment that combined dance, music and athletic skill to appeal to an upscale adult audience that had abandoned the traditional circus. (Murray, 2014)

Issue 02: Apple is a wildly successful company that generates billions of dollars in profits every year. This is one of the strongest examples of how a company with the right strategy, great products, a strong leader and the willingness to take some risks can become vastly successful. The market in which Apple is strong has intense rivalry for market share. Apple is challenged with staying ahead of its competitors and maintaining long-term relationships with its customers. In order to stay ahead of the competition Apple is forced to keep product innovation a top priority. I would maintain a Blue Ocean Strategy to market our product and maintain our competitive advantage (McGraw-Hill Irwin, Page 152). The company has a strong and loyal customer base which will allow Apple to concentrate the focus to highlighting the features of our products. I will not focus on what our competitors can and cannot do; I will focus the attention to the benefits of having Apple products. Strategic marketing campaigns highlighting the different uses and features of the popular iPhone and iPad will headline the campaign.

In the article, “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter argues that the five forces are an important element for managers and investors in the business industry. Porter stated that it is important to “understand the competitive forces, and their underlying causes” which many companies will use to determine if they will gain profit or not (Porter 80). Companies determine their profitability of the industry through the level of the force that they face. For instance, when the forces are favorable, most companies will be profitable. Porter gives a detail description of the five forces and explains the importance of each force. The five forces are the threats of new entrants, the power of the buyers, the power of the suppliers, the threats of substitute for products or services, and the rivalry among existing competitors. Porter believes that “a company strategist who understands the competition extends well beyond existing rivals will detect wider competitive threats and be better equipped to address them” (Porter 93). In other words, when strategists understand the different forces it will benefit them to make better decisions and to be ready to face the different challenges between competitors. In the article, Porter’s main goal is to present the importance of the five forces to the audience.

The secondary market targets high school, college, and graduate students. For this market, it seems that the once popular iPod is now being replaced with the iPhone (1). We will examine the marketing mix: product, price, promotion, and place, to see if Apple is delivering the intended value to target customers. When researching the company’s environment, we will study the economic, political, cultural, technological, and natural forces in the company’s microenvironment (71). By researching all these aspects, we will get a better idea of how Apple continues to grow and market itself into a prosperous technological company. Apple’s iPhone interests us because it seems to be the cell phone that has the latest technical advancements, and can do more than just the average cell phone. By studying this company’s market perspective, we can get a better understanding of how Apple can continue to have the highest sales in the cell phone market.

Apple has created a culture associated with its products (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Owning the latest iPhone is as much to do with image as it is the product (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014). Accordingly, customers with a high need for conformity to a group held in esteem are willing to pay more certain products (Labrecque et al., 2011). Consequently, Apple has been a success commanding higher sales prices than its competitors (Ferrell & Hartline, 2014).

This is done by creating a leap in value both for the buyers as well as for the organization thereby creating a new and uncontested market space. Companies left out in the red ocean usually follow a conventional approach, running to beat competition by creating a defensible position in the current market space order.

To remain competitive a company must consider who their biggest competitors are while considering its own size and position in the industry. The company should develop a strategic advantage over their competitors’

This strategy seem challenging since this strategy focus on capture new market and new demand, which it’s required extra efforts in term of innovation of products and promotion in order to make customers realize about their product. Even there are some discussions about the blue ocean strategies; however, based on my review on customers comment said that the practical guidance on how to create them is limited. Therefore, without usual analytic framework which can be used as guidelines to create blue oceans as well as effective principles to manage risk, creating blue oceans viewed as too risky for managers to pursue as strategy for their company.

I have done research on Mr Price clothing stores as a division and I will use the Blue Ocean strategy namely, a swot analysis, porter five force model, integration of sales and other costs, the attached newspaper article as well as a quantitative risk assessment. It is through these factors in which I will assess their already existing strategic plan and to think creatively to draft a viable strategic plan for the company’s future and to also give recommendations on how to improve.

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).

There are some tool produce to help implement blue ocean strategy. The Eliminate-Reduce-Raise-Create (ERRC) Grid is the matrix that help execute blue ocean strategy with the four action framework: eliminating, reducing, aising and creating. ERRC Grid help company to remain on their competitive factors. Eliminating and reduce the factor that the transitional industry take it for granted can help the new strategy to remain unique from the transitional market. Nevertheless, raising and creating some unique competitive factor the transitional market never or seldom offered that is above the industry standard. With all these “Four Actions Framework” the company can escape the transitional red ocean market by activate a new blue ocean market and create a new value curve. (Kim & Mauborgne, 2005)