Blue Ocean strategy

You may sing the blues when you're sad or see nothing but blue skies when happy, but a growing number of corporations and business analysts are looking at blue ocean -- for new ways to succeed -- and considering blue-skying as a way to introduce more creativity to their companies.

"Don't compete with rivals, make them irrelevant." So say W. Chan Kim and Renée Mauborgne, authors of the book, Blue Ocean Strategy, a paradigm-shifting look at building your business. "In today's overcrowded industries," they write, "competing head-on results in nothing but a bloody 'red...

For the better part of two decades, Microsoft (MSFT), Sony (SNE), and Nintendo have been in a relentless battle to develop video games with more realistic graphics, more sophisticated game play, and increased processing power. But in 2006, Kyoto-based Nintendo (NTDOY), which had fallen to third...