APPLIED GROWTH STRATEGY

Background

Developed at INSEAD by Professors W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, Blue Ocean Strategy (™) is considered to be one of the top worldwide strategic management methodologies. This evolutionary approach to management and growth has been studied, documented and successfully applied in hundreds of cases over the last three decades. 

As these principles are founded on change innovation, any divergence from the norm is bound to have ripple effects throughout an organization seeking new market growth using BOS strategy. Leadership teams who are committed to the implementation of BOS principles as part of their growth strategy must be be cognizant from the onset that some degree of resistance at any level is to be expected.

Challenge

Leading the consultancy for BOS interests in Canada, we sourced, project managed and led complex management strategy projects for clients ranging from F500 to local companies in major verticals including pharmaceuticals, financial services, technology, energy and resources. One such case involved a technology firm that serviced large OEMs in the oil and gas sector with advanced monitoring equipment that was integrated into drilling rigs.

The company was at the height of its success when leadership realized that unless they found new market opportunity, its core products would become obsolete within a decade due to advances in rigging technology.

The notion of venturing outside of a highly successful market while the company was flush with funds, in anticipation of future obsolescence, was a difficult notion for most employees to absorb.          

Strategy

Our challenge was to channel initial fear and discomfort into positive enthusiasm and a strong desire to be a driving force in the company’s future success. 

To achieve this we formed a core change management and business strategy team with the participation of team members from across all functional areas of the company. Multi-departmental collaboration was critical to solicit buy-in from the team throughout the discovery and evolution of the project. 

Through each phase of the project, the team’s hypotheses were tested and vetted with research. Any proposed strategy that ensued was firmly supported with proprietary data and competitive intelligence. Using data based logic to arrive at potential solutions dispelled the subjectivity and bias that could have sabotaged the successful creation of a collective growth strategy road map.        

Outcome

In collaboration with a cross-functional team, a new market opportunity in an untapped industry was identified that could be serviced with minimal reengineering of the firm’s existing technology. 

With minimal retooling, the company launched a new line of business to generate revenue and boost profit in a brand new industry. This approach successfully mitigated the future risk of technology obsolescence, securing the company’s ongoing revenue growth. It also provided the engineering, software and hardware teams with a sufficient runway to adapt the company’s current technology to emerging advancements in the O&G infrastructure business.