Blue Ocean Strategy

If the current slowdown has taught us anything, it is the importance of interpreting weak signals, to invest in new opportunities, in ideas for tomorrow.

When I read Blue Ocean Strategy in 2006, I realised that the thought of finding these uncontested markets fit very well into what I had already planned for my company. Till date, this has remained my most influential book.

A “red ocean” refers to a saturated market where there is fierce competition among companies offering similar services; a “blue ocean” is new markets untouched by competition. The aim of this strategy is to create a new market space, making the competition irrelevant.

When we decided to chase integrated services by outsourcing in 2005, we had few believers. We surprised people with our big deal announcements, but the market soon followed us. We created new engines of growth, business lines and pricing models; shifted from being volume-driven to value-driven; ventured into new geographies; identified SAP as a potential market and growth engine to catapult us into global leadership.

(As told to Elizabeth Flock)

Vineet Nayar, CEO, HCL Technologies