Blue Ocean Strategy Assignments: Strategy Canvas and the Four Actions Framework

Kim and Mauborgne's Blue Ocean Strategy argues that firms should stop competing in crowded "red oceans" and create uncontested market space instead. It is a popular assignment topic because it produces a visual output and a clear method. It is also a model with serious academic critics — and engaging with them is where the higher marks sit.

Building a Strategy Canvas Properly

The strategy canvas plots competing factors on the horizontal axis and the offering level on the vertical axis, with a value curve for each competitor.

The single most common error is choosing the wrong factors. They must be the attributes the industry currently competes on and invests in — not a generic list. For a budget airline the factors might be seat comfort, hub connectivity, meal service, lounge access, price, frequency and speed of check-in. Derive them from evidence: competitor marketing, analyst commentary, customer reviews.

The Four Actions Framework

The ERRC grid is where you turn observation into strategy:

• Eliminate — which factors the industry takes for granted should be removed entirely?
• Reduce — which should be cut well below industry standard?
• Raise — which should be lifted well above?
• Create — which factors has the industry never offered?

Eliminate and Reduce fund Raise and Create. State that trade-off in cash terms if you can — it is the mechanism that makes the model coherent, and most submissions skip it.

The Three Tests of a Good Value Curve

Kim and Mauborgne offer three criteria you should apply explicitly to your own proposal:

• Focus — the curve should not be high on everything. A flat, high curve means an expensive undifferentiated offer.
• Divergence — the curve should look visibly different from competitors'.
• Compelling tagline — if you cannot summarise the offer in one honest sentence, the strategy is unclear.

Engaging with the Criticism

This is what separates a strong submission. Well-documented critiques include:

• Selection bias. The case examples are chosen retrospectively from successes; failed blue ocean attempts are absent.
• Definitional slipperiness. "Uncontested market space" is difficult to identify prospectively — it is often only obvious once someone has succeeded.
• Sustainability. Blue oceans turn red. The model says relatively little about defending the position once imitators arrive.
• Overlap with existing theory. Critics argue it restates differentiation and market creation ideas already present in the strategy literature.

You are not required to reject the model — only to show you know its limits and can apply it with appropriate caution.

Structuring the Submission

1. Industry context and why the current space is crowded.
2. Strategy canvas of current competitors (figure, sourced).
3. ERRC grid with justification for each entry.
4. Proposed value curve overlaid on the original canvas.
5. Application of focus, divergence and tagline tests.
6. Critical evaluation of the model and the risks in your proposal.