112 Quotes by W. Chan Kim

Value innovation, not technology innovation, is what opens up commercially compelling new markets.

there is no such thing as a riskless strategy Strategy will always involve both opportunity and risk,

Effective blue ocean strategy should be about risk minimization and not risk taking

Most blue oceans are created from within, not beyond, red oceans of existing industries

Partnering, however, provides a way for companies to secure needed capabilities fast and effectively while dropping their cost structure. It allows a company to leverage other companies’ expertise and economies of scale. Partnering includes closing gaps in capabilities through making small acquisitions when doing so is faster and cheaper, providing access to needed expertise that has already been mastered.

Strategy is heavily influenced by its roots in military strategy. The very language of strategy is deeply imbued with military references— chief executive “officers” in “headquarters,” “troops” on the “front lines.” Described this way, strategy is all about red ocean competition. It is about confronting an opponent and driving him off a battlefield of limited territory.

Today, one hardly talks about strategy without using the language of competition.

Never use the competition as a benchmark

strategy perforce becomes a zero-sum game where one company’s gain is another company’s loss