W. Chan Kim & Renée Mauborgne

Inventors of the ground-breaking “blue ocean strategy”, paving the way for organizations to break out of fixed market boundaries and create a whole new space.  

RANKED THINKERS

Ranked #5 in 2023.

Previously featured:

#3 (2021), #1 (2019), #4 (2017), #3 (2015), #2 (2013), #2 (2011), #5 (2009), #6 (2007), #15 (2005), and #31 (2003). 

AWARD RECIPIENTS

Recipients of the Thinkers50 2011 Strategy Award for “the business book of the decade” Blue Ocean Strategy.

SHORTLISTED

Shortlisted for the 2023 Thinkers50 Innovation Award. 

Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2015 Breakthrough Idea Award.

Shortlisted for the Thinkers50 2013 Global Solutions Award.

Ideas

Kim and Mauborgne’s ground-breaking research on blue ocean strategy changed business lexicon and pioneered a way to create and capture new, uncontested market space through the concept they termed “value innovation.” They coined the terms “red ocean” – the known, competitive market within industry boundaries – and “blue ocean” – the unknown and uncontested market space, where demand is created, spawning new opportunities and growth. Kim and Mauborgne also developed the concept of “nondisruptive creation”, challenging the notion that innovation must be disruptive.

 

Bio

Professors of Strategy at INSEAD, both Kim and Mauborgne are also co-directors of the INSEAD Blue Ocean Strategy Institute in Fontainebleau, France. They are the recipient of numerous academic and management awards. In 2023, Kim and Mauborgne were recognized as two of the four leading thinkers in Harvard Business Review’s 100-year history for the far-reaching global impact of their body of research and ideas. Their book Blue Ocean Strategy was featured on the Thinkers50 Management Classics Booklist in 2022.

Content

Beyond Disruption: Innovate and Achieve Growth without Displacing Industries, Companies, or Jobs (HBR Press, 2023); Nondisruptive Creation: Rethinking Innovation and Growth (Sloan Management Review, Spring 2019); Blue Ocean Shift: Beyond Competing – Proven Steps to Inspire Confidence and Seize New Growth (Hachette, 2017); Red Ocean Traps (Harvard Business Review, March 2015); Blue Ocean Strategy (HBR Press, 2005, Expanded Edition, 2015); How Strategy Shapes Structure (Harvard Business Review, September 2009).

NATIONALITY: South Korean and American

Media picks

Verdict

“Creators of the big strategy concept of the 21stcentury.”

Stuart Crainer & Des Dearlove, Thinkers50

Subscribe to our newsletter to keep up to date with the latest and greatest ideas in business, management, and thought leadership.

*mandatory field

Thinkers50 will use the information you provide on this form to be in touch with you and to provide news, updates, and marketing. Please confirm that you agree to have us contact you by clicking below:


You can change your mind at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link in the footer of any email you receive from us, or by contacting us at . We will treat your information with respect. For more information about our privacy practices please visit our website. By clicking below, you agree that we may process your information in accordance with these terms.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.

Thinkers50 Awards Gala 2023

Join us in celebration of the best in business and management thinking.