Archive for the 'Strategy' Category

May 12 2008

Blue Ocean Strategy For Personal Finance

Published by Ricky under Personal, Strategy

The blue ocean strategy is more than just a fad. It’s influencing how businesses made their strategic planning for years to come. Its various strategic tools and models, such as the four actions framework, are extremely useful to create blue ocean strategy business.

The blue ocean strategy is not only applicable to businesses, but in other contexts as well, though we can’t apply everything directly in those settings. In particular, the four actions framework is useful in planning our own personal life.

Whether we like it or not, everyone of us is a Me Inc., and we are the CEO of our own life. We do have a mission to complete on this earth in this life. And to achieve this, we have been bestowed with resources such as time and money.

The four actions framework can be used to differentiate ourselves (or our business) from others yet at a lower cost. It asks four main questions - what to Eliminate, what to Reduce, what to Raise and what to Create (ERRC)? Let’s take an example how I might want to plan my expenses:

Eliminate - In recent years, I have developed a habit of eating out in expensive restaurants with others, that now I patronize these places even when eating alone! I don’t have to spend so much when eating by myself. I need to cut this expense completely!

Reduce - I need to reduce buying seemingly useful but actually unnecessary items such as books and magazines. I don’t have so much time to read all of them!

Raise - I should spend more on high-leverage expenses which give good returns in long term. For example, taking classes to educate myself in business, finance and technology can go a long way toward success in life.

Create - I may want to consider some investment instruments such as shares, which as a risk-averse person I never tried. Of course, getting educated first in these is essential to avoid losses.

I find it helpful to that many things in business and life can be applied through this ERRC model. Is there anything you want to get ERRC’d too? :-)

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Apr 28 2008

Blue Ocean Strategy By Spritzer & StemLife

Published by Ricky under Strategy

I have been benefited by a talk on blue ocean strategy held recently. It is one thing to read the book. But it’s another to listen to real life stories as two practitioners from Spritzer and StemLife shared how they apply blue ocean strategy in their respective companies.

While I should not divulge much details on their strategies, suffice to say that they are both market leaders in their own market space. They have strategies in place to create new markets and make their competitors irrelevant.

What I like about them is that they painstakingly and devotedly shared their knowledge and experience in strategizing for the benefits of the business community. Hopefully more and more Malaysian companies will discover our own blue ocean strategy and bring our country to new heights!

I heard they are not paid for their speeches. However, it is still good PR and CSR service for their companies as they educated us on the technical aspects of their products - mineral water of Spritzer and cord blood stem cells of StemLife. I have learned something new :-)

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Apr 19 2008

Fascinated By Blue Ocean Strategy

Published by Ricky under Events, Strategy

I admit to be a big fan of W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne, authors of the best-seller Blue Ocean Strategy. They teach an important strategy to develop a new market where there is no competitor, instead of competing with existing competitors head-to-head in the current market space.

Here are a few lessons that impact me most:

  • Value innovation - Offering differentiated values to customers yet at a lower cost.
  • Strategy canvas - A visual tool to assess the state of a firm and reorient it against competitors.
  • Four actions framework - Deciding what to eliminate, reduce, raise and create.
  • Attracting non-customers - Redefining the market by looking beyond existing customers to non-customers.

Here are two incoming events conducted by Lifelong Learning initiative by MCA (I’m not affiliated to MCA):

  1. Talk on blue ocean strategy on 24th April
  2. Reading session on blue ocean strategy and the success stories of Malaysian enterprises on 26th April

Would you like to join me? Drop an email to ricky@rickysoo.com.