BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY

SIMULATION
Introducing StratXs
Latest Strategy Simulation

Theory by

W. Chan Kim & Rene Mauborgne

Simulation Design and Development by

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY THEORY

OVERVIEW

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY AUTHORS

W. Chan Kim is The Boston Consulting Group Bruce D. Henderson Chair Professor of Strategy and International
Management at INSEAD, France (the worlds second largest business school). Prior to joining INSEAD, he was a professor at
the University of Michigan Business School, USA. He has served as a board member as well as an advisor for a number of
multinational corporations in Europe, the U.S. and Pacific Asia. He is an advisory member for the European Union. He was
born in Korea.
Kim is a fellow of the World Economic Forum. His Harvard Business Review articles, co-authored with Rene Mauborgne,
are worldwide bestsellers and have sold over a half a million reprints. Their Value Innovation and Fair Process articles were
selected as among the best classic articles ever published in Harvard Business Review. They have co-authored articles in The
Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The New York Times, The Financial Times, The Asian Wall Street
Journal, and numerous journals.
Kim has published numerous articles on strategy and managing the multinational which can be found in: Academy of
Management Journal, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, Administrative Science
Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies, Harvard Business Review, Sloan Management Review, and others. He is
the co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant
(Harvard Business School Press, 2005).
Kim is a winner of the Eldridge Haynes Prize, awarded by the Academy of International Business and the Eldridge Haynes
Memorial Trust of Business International, for the best original paper in the field of international business. He was selected

for Thinkers 50, the global ranking of business thinkers, and was named along with his colleague Rene Mauborgne, as the
number one gurus of the future by L'Expansion, one of France's leading business magazines. The Sunday Times (London)
called them two of Europes brightest business thinkers Kim and Mauborgne provide a sizeable challenge to the way
managers think about and practice strategy. The Observer called Kim and Mauborgne, "the next big gurus to hit the
business world."

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY AUTHORS

Rene Mauborgne is The INSEAD Distinguished Fellow and a Professor of Strategy and Management at
INSEAD, France (the world's second largest business school). She was born in the United States.
Mauborgne is a fellow of the World Economic Forum. Her Harvard Business Review articles, co-authored with
W. Chan Kim, are worldwide bestsellers and have sold over half a million reprints. Their Value Innovation and
Fair Process articles were selected as among the best classic articles ever published in Harvard Business

Review. They have co-authored articles in The Wall Street Journal, The Wall Street Journal Europe, The New
York Times, The Financial Times and numerous journals.
Mauborgne has published numerous articles on strategy and managing the multinational which can be found
in: Academy of Management Journal, Management Science, Organization Science, Strategic Management
Journal, Administrative Science Quarterly, Journal of International Business Studies, Harvard Business Review,
Sloan Management Review and others. She is the co-author of Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create
Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant (Harvard Business School Press, 2005).
Mauborgne is a winner of the Eldridge Haynes Prize, awarded by the Academy of International Business and
the Eldridge Haynes Memorial Trust of Business International, for the best original paper in the field of
international business. In 2005 she was selected as the highest placed woman on Thinkers 50, the global
ranking of business gurus, and was named along with her colleague W. Chan Kim, as "the number one gurus of
the future" by L'Expansion, one of France's leading business magazines. The Sunday Times (London) called
them "two of Europe's brightest business thinkers. Kim and Mauborgne provide a sizeable challenge to the
way managers think about and practice strategy." The Observer called Kim and Mauborgne, "the next big gurus
to hit the business world."

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY KEY POINTS

BOS is the result of a decade-long study of 150 strategic moves spanning more than 30
industries over 100 years (1880-2000).
BOS is the simultaneous pursuit of differentiation and low cost.
The aim of BOS is not to out-perform the competition in the existing industry, but to create
new market space or a blue ocean, thereby making the competition irrelevant.
BOS offers a set of methodologies and tools to create new market space.
While innovation has been seen as a random/experimental process where entrepreneurs
and spin-offs are the primary drivers as argued by Schumpeter and his followers BOS
offers systematic and reproducible methodologies and processes in pursuit of innovation
by both new and existing firms.
BOS frameworks and tools include: strategy canvas, value curve, four actions framework,
six paths, buyer experience cycle, buyer utility map, and blue ocean idea index.
These frameworks and tools are designed to be visual in order to not only effectively build
the collective wisdom of the company but also to effectively execute a strategy through
easy communication.
BOS covers both strategy formulation and strategy execution.
The three key conceptual building blocks of BOS are: value innovation, tipping point
leadership, and fair process.

Kim & Mauborgne, 2007

RED OCEAN VS BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY METHODOLOGIES & TOOLS

BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY SIMULATION

OVERVIEW

WHAT IS BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY SIMULATION ?

A computerized strategy game illustrating

Blue Ocean Strategy concepts,
methodologies & analytical tools
Participants work in team to manage a
fictitious company for several years in the
Game Console industry
They are offered ways to swim out of the
red ocean filled with sharks
The BOS theory, tools and frameworks
allows them to break away from the
competition and create a blue ocean of
new market space for their company
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BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY SIMULATION SAMPLE CHART

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BOSS INCLUDES A MAXIMUM OF 4 DECISION ROUNDS

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

2008

2009

2010

Round
Blue 1
1 run

2011

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

Each Round brings new challenges to the students

Round Red: management of their existing Red Ocean product
Round Blue 1 : creation of a high value and low cost Blue Ocean product
offering comprising competing factors beyond those upon which the industry
competes
Round Blue 2 : refining their offering and further unlocking demand through
the right Strategic Price
Round Blue 3 : extending their Blue Ocean using Service and Delivery
platforms and dealing with the presence of low-priced new competitors
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BOSS ROUND RED

BEATING COMPETITION IN
THE EXISTING MARKET

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

2008

2009

2010

Round
Blue 1
1 run

2011

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

ROUND RED FOCUSES ON THE EXISTING MARKET

The team objective is to compete in the Red Ocean and outperform their
competitors
Students familiarize with the market and industry; with their organization and
its history; with their customers & competitors
They have access to lots of data in their Annual Report and Market Studies:
Company and Brand P&L; Company and Brand Key Performance Indicators; Sales and
Market Shares; Customer Preferences; Benchmarking Information; Market Forecast;
etc

Then they form a strategy and execute it through multiple decisions:

Innovation and R&D; Corporate projects; Production; Segmentation Strategy;
Marketing; Geographical Expansion and Distribution Coverage; Finance

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BOSS ROUND BLUE-1

CREATING A BLUE OCEAN

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

2008

2009

2010

Round
Blue 1
1 run

2011

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

ROUND BLUE-1 FOCUSES ON THE CREATION OF A HIGH

VALUE/LOW COST BLUE OCEAN PRODUCT OFFERING

Visual
Awakening

Students must draw the current industry Value

Curves, discuss the shape of all Curves and draw a
conclusion about the industrys overall Value Curve

Visual
Exploration

Students must read and debate the outcome of the

Visual Exploration conducted by the Executive
Team

Four-Action
Framework and
ERRC Grid

Students must decide which Competing Factors

must be Eliminated, Reduced, Raised or Created

To-Be
Strategy Canvas

Students must create a Blue Ocean product,

deciding what level to offer for each of the existing
or created Competing Factors.
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BOSS SAMPLE CHART VISUAL AWAKENING

DRAWING THE AS-IS STRATEGY CANVAS

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BOSS SAMPLE CHART VISUAL AWAKENING

AUTOMATED FEEDBACK ON AS-IS CURVES

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BOSS SAMPLE CHART VISUAL EXPLORATION

TRANSCRIPT OF NONCUSTOMER INTERVIEWS

These parents were dead against the way

video games can absorb their kids childhood
hours. They said that when their children
were supposed to be researching school
material They were certainly not going to
exacerbate the problem by buying a video
gaming console. They felt that they had lost
control over what their children were doing

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BOSS SAMPLE CHART

THE ELIMINATE-REDUCE-RAISE-CREATE GRID

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BOSS SAMPLE CHART

TO-BE STRATEGY CANVAS

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BOSS ROUND BLUE-2

REFINING THE BLUE OCEAN AND
SETTING THE STRATEGIC PRICE

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

2008

2009

2010

Round
Blue 1
1 run

2011

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

STUDENTS ARE COACHED BY THEIR PROFESSOR AND

BOSS PROVIDES THEM WITH AUTOMATED FEEDBACK
Your Blue Ocean offering includes the competing
factor Multimedia Add-ons".
Although this factor has appealed to some
noncustomers, it provides low additional value to
the vast majority of noncustomers.
As a result, you lost some margin without creating
additional sales.

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BOSS ROUND BLUE-3

BREAKING AWAY FROM THE
COMPETITION AGAIN

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

2008

2009

2010

Round
Blue 1
1 run

2011

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

BOSS SAMPLE CHART

EXTENDED TO-BE STRATEGY CANVAS

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USING BOSS IN YOUR CLASS

BENEFITS FOR STUDENTS & PARTICIPANTS

BOSS is a fun, innovative and highly

effective tool to learn, practice and
experience Blue Ocean Strategy
BOSS will provide a deeper understanding
and higher retention of Blue Ocean
Strategy theory, methodologies and tools
The competition across teams
participating to the BOSS exercise will
lead to a high level of excitement &
enthusiasm
BOSS corporate participants will be much more ready to lead a BOS initiative in
their company
BOSS is the perfect tool to bring together cross functional teams in company
specific programs before they work on actual projects
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What are the benefits for professors?

Students or executives will love your course! The fast pace and hands-on
experience creates an intense energy, making participants eager to apply their new
skills. Its a lot of fun, but also hard work. Students and executives find the
combination irresistible.
BOSS comes with a full range of Instructors materials, which allows you to easily
monitor and control the progress of your teams and highlight key learning points,
round after round.
BOSS couldnt be easier to administer. Its indirect competition setting provides you
with total flexibility on the number of teams, allowing BOSS to work with any class

size.
StratX online support is available to meet your needs and optimize your
pedagogical experience!
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PEDAGOGICAL MATERIALS

BOSS Software
Instructors Website
Course creation & management, team activity monitoring, debriefing and
ranking charts, etc.

Guides (all available online with printer-friendly version)

BOSS handbook; Introduction to reach Round;
Instructors Guide

Powerpoint presentations for instructor

Introduction to Blue Ocean Strategy theory, by Kim & Mauborgne
Introduction to each Round
Sample debriefing for each Round

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3 SCENARIOS TO ADAPT TO YOUR SCHEDULE

CONSTRAINTS

RED&BLUE
4 Sessions

Round
Red
3 runs of one period each

BLUE-ONLY
3 Sessions

Round
Blue 1
1 run

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

Round
Blue 1
1 run

Round
Blue 2
2 runs

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

BLUE-ONLY
FAST-TRACK
2 Sessions

Rounds
Blue 1 & 2
3 runs

2008

2009

2010

2011

2012

Round
Blue 3
3 runs

2013

2014

2015

2016

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SAMPLE SCHEDULE

Round

Red

Activity

Where

Duration

Pre-Reading : BOSS Handbook & Introduction to Round Red

online

30

Introduction to Round Red + Organization of teams

Class

1h00'

Workgroup

2h00

Pre-Reading : Introduction to Round Blue-1

Online

30'

Debriefing of the previous Round results

Introduction to BOS Theory & Introduction to Round Blue-1

Class

1h15'

Workgroup

2h00

Pre-Reading : Introduction to Round Blue-2

Online

30'

Debriefing of the previous Round results

Introduction to Round Blue-2

Class

1h00'

Workgroup

2h00

Pre-Reading : Introduction to Round Blue-3

Online

30'

Debriefing of the previous Round results

Introduction to Round Blue-3

Class

1h00'

Work group

2h00

Class

1h00'

BOSS Session Round Red Instructor available for consultation

Blue-1

BOSS Session Round Blue-1 Instructor available for consultation

Blue-2

BOSS Session Round Blue-2 Instructor available for consultation

Blue-3

BOSS Session Round Blue-3 Instructor available for consultation

BOSS Conclusion and Final Debriefing

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IS BOSS SUITED TO MY COURSE AND AUDIENCE?

BOSS has been designed with a particular focus on Strategy, Management,

Innovation and Entrepreneurship courses

BOSS can handle groups of any size and thus can easily be integrated in large
core courses or smaller elective courses
BOSS can be used at the graduate, MBA or Executive education level
Different licensing options will be available to suit different types of courses.

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HOW DO I GET STARTED WITH BOSS?

BOSS will be available as of August 15th, 2008

Register to one of our comprehensive Train-the-Trainer sessions via
www.stratxsimulations.com
Organize your students in teams of 3 members. BOSS can accommodate any
number of students or executives, with a minimum of 15. Each team will
require a computer with Internet connection (and one printer, optional.
Design the schedule of your course, using one of our sample schedule as a
starting point

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ABOUT STRATX

STRATX WAS FOUNDED IN 1984 BY INSEAD PROFESSOR

JEAN-CLAUDE LARRECHE
StratX is a consulting company specialized in Education
and Management Development

We offer to our Corporate clients tailored Management

Development solutions for all levels, from board members
to young managers
We offer to the Academic community high-technology and
sophisticated simulations and tools, co-developed with
academic stars: Larrch/Gatignon, Kim/Mauborgne, etc.

Professor Jean-Claude Larrch

Founder & CEO, StratX
Marketing Professor, INSEAD

Global deployment with offices in Tokyo, Boston and Paris

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STRATX HAS BEEN A LEADER IN

BUSINESS SIMULATIONS FOR 30 YEARS
A portfolio of over 25 leading-edge simulations
Covering multiple target audiences: Executives, MBAs,
Undergraduates
Adapted to specific industries: Pharmaceuticals, B-to-B, Bto-C, Services, Finances, Retail,
Illustrating different concepts: Blue Ocean Strategy,
Business Strategy, Strategic & Operational Marketing,
Sales, Customer Value, Innovation, Brand Management,
Brand life-cycle,
Multiple format: onsite or online; direct or indirect
competition; half-day to 5-day long; workshop, seminar or
competition;
(European Foundation for Management Development)
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SELECTED ACADEMIC CLIENTS

Top 30 Global MBA Ranking 2008
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2
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University of Pennsylvania: Wharton

London Business School
Columbia Business School
Stanford University GSB
Harvard Business School
Insead
MIT: Sloan
IE Business School
University of Chicago GSB
University of Cambridge: Judge
Ceibs
Iese Business School
New York University: Stern
IMD
Dartmouth College: Tuck
Yale School of Management
Hong Kong UST Business School
HEC Paris
University of Oxford: Sad
Indian School of Business
Esade Business School
Lancaster University Management School
Manchester Business School
Northwestern University: Kellogg
UCLA: Anderson
Emory University: Goizueta
University of Michigan: Ross
Duke University: Fuqua
Warwick Business School
Cranfield School of Management

Top 30 European Business Schools 2007

1
2
3
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5
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7
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HEC Paris
London Business School
Insead
IMD
IE Business School
IESE Business School
ESCP-EAP European School of Management
Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University
EM Lyon
Esade Business School
Cranfield School of Management
Essec Business School
Stockholm School of Economics
City University: Cass
London School of Economics and Political Science
Vlerick Leuven Gent
Lancaster University Management School
Warwick Business School
SDA Bocconi
Helsinki School of Economics
Henley Management College
University of Oxford: Sad
Imperial College London: Tanaka
University of Durham Business School
Ashridge
Universitt St.Gallen
Aston Business School
University of Cambridge: Judge
Edinburgh University Management School
Nyenrode Business Universiteit

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STRATX EXPERTISE WITH CROSS INDUSTRY SECTORS

BUSINESS TO BUSINESS:

PHARMA/HEALTHCARE:

BUSINESS TO CONSUMER:

SERVICES & RETAIL:

37

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION,

CONTACT YOUR STRATX REGIONAL LICENSING MANAGER

Paul Ritmo

Stphanie Zanon

Jeff Schnack

Senior Licensing Manager

Americas
Tel: + 1 617 300 8222
[email protected]

Senior Licensing Manager

Europe, Middle East, Asia,
Oceania
Tel: +33 1 53 46 53 25
[email protected]

Head of Licensing Activities

Japan
Tel: +81 (0) 3 5465 0369
[email protected]

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Cambridge, MA 02142
USA
Tel: +1 617 494 8282

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www.stratxsimulations.com

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