Blue Ocean Strategy by W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne

W. C. Kim's, R. Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy

PART ONE
Blue Ocean Strategy
CHAPTER 1
Creating Blue Oceans

A ONE TIME ACCORDION PLAYER, stilt-walker, and fireeater, Guy

Laliberté is now CEO of Cirque du Soleil,
one of Canada’s largest cultural exports. Created in 1984 by a group
of street performers, Cirque’s productions have been seen by almost
forty million people in ninety cities around the world. In less than
twenty years Cirque du Soleil has achieved a level of revenues that
took Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey—the global champion of
the circus industry—more than one hundred years to attain.
What makes this rapid growth all the more remarkable is that it
was not achieved in an attractive industry but rather in a declining
industry in which traditional strategic analysis pointed to limited
potential for growth. Supplier power on the part of star performers
was strong. So was buyer power. Alternative forms of entertainment—

ranging from various kinds of urban live entertainment to
sporting events to home entertainment—cast an increasingly long
shadow. Children cried out for PlayStations rather than a visit to
the traveling circus. Partially as a result, the industry was suffering from

steadily decreasing audiences and, in turn, declining revenue and profits.

There was also increasing sentiment against the

Blue Ocean Strategy by W. C. Kim, R. Mauborgne