Bringing Blue Ocean Strategy to FMCG Markets

An emerging concept in strategic management directed at finding new business and value propositions is the framework coined ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’ (BOS) by Kim and Mauborgne, from INSEAD, Fontainebleau. The authors developed the BOS-framework, which comprises of a set of tools, on the basis of ex post studies of over 150 cases from 30 industries. The results were most extensively covered in the book ‘Blue Ocean Strategy’, published in 2004. The success of their work may be illustrated by, for example, Deloitte, Procter & Gamble, and HP, who use this strategic management concept.This scientific paper is one of the first that tests the applicability of BOS in Fast-Moving-Consumer-Good Markets (FMCG). Our prime objective is to investigate whether the application of BOS enables the identification of an uncontested market, or not. The second objective concerns the adaptations required to make the BOS applicable to the FMCG Industry. The field of research is the European fruit and vegetables industry (EFVI), which is one the most competitive industries in Europe, lacking fundamental innovations. The complexity of bringing BOS to FMCG Markets required a two-stage research strategy; the first stage comprises of the combination of desk research with orientational case study research, followed by a second stage comprising of a large survey. In the first stage, six CEOs, chairmen and consultants, were interviewed to tailor the research to the insider perspective. In the second stage, a quantitative questionnaire was send to 299 fruit and vegetable companies, active in Europe. The realized response was 24 (response rate: 8%). Although not high, the response may be understood as sufficient, because the research was primarily intended to learn whether the BOS-framework is strong enough to identify uncontested market spaces even in very competitive industries

Finding uncontested markets for European Fruit and Vegetables through applying the Blue Ocean Strategy

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discover an uncontested market space in the European fruit and vegetables industry (EFVI), and thereby assess the ex-ante applicability of the Blue Ocean Strategy of Kim and Mauborgne. Design/methodology/approach – The search for an untapped market space made it necessary to first configure the logic of the Blue Ocean Strategy, which the authors coined the BOS-framework. Next, the application to the EFVI required a two-stage research strategy, namely desk research with six case studies, and a large survey. Findings – The findings confirm that the Blue Ocean Strategy-framework enables one to identify ex ante an untapped market space, characterized by the combination of sweeties' attributes with fresh fruit. The revolutionary untapped market space which the authors arrived at is “Youngfruit”, targeted at the new buyer group children and teenagers. Originality/value – The research provides important insights in future key success factors to set oneself apart from competitors and change the rules of the game in the very competitive EFVI. Furthermore, this paper is (one of) the first to assess empirically the qualities and limitations of the Blue Ocean Strategy

Approaches to reduce antibiotic resistance in the pork supply chain

Occasionally, use of antibiotics is necessary to treat diseased animals. Prudent use is however necessary, as antibiotic usage can evoke the selection and propagation of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Antibiotic resistance in pigs is primarily a occupational risk for those who are in contact with pigs.</p

The proceedings are available from IOS Press [1].

include metadata/ontologies, integration frameworks, data quality and evolution, and mobile interfaces. Topics for future work include evolution, expressiveness, maintenance, and dissemination of FIS. Overview The Engineering Federated Information Systems (EFIS) workshops bring together researchers in databases and software engineering to address issues in designing and building interoperation solutions for heterogeneous information systems. In July 2003, the fifth EFIS workshop was held in Coventry, United Kingdom, bringing together a diverse group of multidisciplinary and multinational researchers. The broad focus of the workshop was on metadata, ontologies, and standards for faciliting information exchange and interoperation. Several application domains were addressed, as well as specific architectures and related projects. Researchers from both academia and industry contributed. EFIS 2003 was held as part of Coventry University’s Data Horizons Week, which also included the twentieth Britis