Gabor is an internationally recognized expert on Blue Ocean Strategy and
Value Innovation; the highly acclaimed, new approach to creative strategy
formation and implementation.
Gabor is also the chief architect and original host of the Blue Ocean
Executive Experience series, which is the premier forum of learning for
executives on Blue Ocean Strategy. He is actively involved in
strategy-formation with a wide range of international clients ranging from
Fortune 500 firms to successful start-ups.
In addition to a BA degree in psychology from Amherst College Gabor holds an
MBA from INSEAD in France,
An engaging and dynamic presenter, Gabor is a frequent lecturer and advisor
to numerous companies on the topic of innovation and strategies that lead to
uncontested market space. In his engagements Gabor draws on his close
association with the two strategic gurus who founded Value Innovation and
authored Blue Ocean Strategy (INSEAD professors W. Chan Kim and Renee
Mauborgne) as well as on his wealth of practical and diverse business
experience.
Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make
the Competition Irrelevant (Value Innovation).
Keynote presentations (60-75 min.)
Provide an entertaining, stimulating overview of Blue Ocean Strategy and
Value Innovation, using a combination of colorful examples, provocative
anecdotes, questions and stories. The presentation topics include a
justification for the existence of continuous Blue Oceans, the need for a new
strategic mindset in today's business environment, the commonalities in all
Blue Ocean companies, the Value Innovation Methodology (Value Curves, Six Path
and Four Actions Frameworks, Tiers of Non-Customers, Strategic Canvas), results
of BOS in action, and what it takes to become a BOS company.
Half-day engagements consist of 90 min. presentation (same as above but a
bit more detail) plus a 90 min. interactive exercise, in which participants are
broken into small teams and get to experience the application of BOS to a fun,
meaningful scenario. At the end of the exercise groups present their results,
followed by an overall wrap-up.
2-day workshop, which naturally follow either of the previous two, allow a
company to apply BOS directly to its own strategic position. This is an
intensive session, typically attended by the top management team of a company
or business unit. It's goal is to come up with the BOS blueprint for the
company.
Blue Ocean Strategy
1-day Top Executive Workshop
Why all the fuss surrounding Blue Ocean Strategy? What makes it such a
powerful concept? How can it enable your business to breakaway from cutthroat
(red ocean) competition and create uncontested (blue ocean) market space?
The first part of this accelerated session is an interactive presentation
that uncovers the core essence of Blue Ocean Strategy. Through a series of
revealing examples, the intuitive principles and visual mapping tools of Blue
Ocean Strategy are demonstrated. Participants absorb the framework to begin
mapping their own strategy canvases and the inspiration to seek out blue ocean
market spaces.
For the hands-on segments that follow, participants are broken into small
teams and get to experience the application of BOS to their own strategic
issues (specific topics determined in advance with client, based on responses
to preliminary questions). Each team will go through the BOS visual mapping
process to examine current strategic positioning vis-à-vis the most relevant
competitors and then apply its ideation tools to uncover and express ideas that
simultaneously target high differentiation AND lower costs. It is this dual
pursuit (which we call 'Value Innovation') that allows companies to discover
uncontested market space.
In between team discussions/exercises, participants reassemble to review and
critique each others' results. During the entire session, the Blue Ocean
Strategy facilitator takes on the role of an objective outsider, who
continuously provokes and challenges participants to step out of their habitual
ways of thinking. His role is critical in getting participants to distill the
complicated strategic landscape into its most simple, core elements. The
facilitator will push participants to lock in on such questions as:
- What are the six most important competition criteria of your business
today and how can you challenge them?
- How can you become market driving (creating demand) rather than market
driven (responding to demand)?
- Can you identify sources of new value to customers, where you actually
takeaway or eliminate dimensions of your current offering?
- To what extent are you currently in the blue ocean, or in the red
ocean?
Expected outcome of the workshop:
- Portfolio of strategic ideas and directives generated - easily
comparable via the visual mapping of strategy canvases
- Convergence of ideas into common strategic intent ? via the selection of
the most compelling strategy canvas
- Strong foundation for participants on the concept and application of Blue
Ocean Strategy, for continued use in aligning and guiding strategy formation
within the company
