popular award

The Evolution of the Circus Industry (A)

Published 15 Apr 2002
Reference 4999
Topic Strategy
Industry Entertainment
Region Global
Length 5 page(s)
popular
Prizes & Awards

This case is amongst the top 50 most popular cases in the 50 years history of The Case Centre – 1973-2023

2022 The Case Centre Best-selling Classic Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2021 The Case Centre Best-selling Classic Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2020 The Case Centre Best-selling Classic Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2019 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2017 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2016 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2015 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2014 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2013 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2012 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2011 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2010 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2009 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

Overall Winner of the 2009 Case Centre Awards

2008 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2007 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2006 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

Winner of the Case Centre Awards and Competitions 2006 in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

2005 The Case Centre Best-selling Case in the Category 'Strategy and General Management'

Summary

This is the first of a two-case series. The first Case (A) discusses the evolution of the circus industry up until the emergence of Cirque du Soleil. This case provides a detailed discussion on the structure of the circus industry to make possible a rich analysis of how its industry attractiveness has changed over time and the challenges the industry now confronts. The case reveals that the industry had become a red ocean with limited profit and growth potential. To achieve this, students are asked to address the following questions: 1) How would they assess the attractiveness of the circus industry in the early 1980s? What would you conclude from your industry analysis? 2) What were the factors the traditional circuses competed on? What made these factors more or less relevant over time? The second case (B), shows how one company, Cirque du Soleil reconstructed the industry to create a blue ocean. It is an excellent and important complement to the first case. A video called 'The Evolution of the Circus Industry' is available for free faculty download at www.blueoceanstrategy.com.

Teaching objectives

The case series is designed to serve a variety of purposes in the value innovation and creating new market space teaching module of an MBA strategy course or executive education programme. The case series can be equally used individually in a standalone module on value innovation or as part of a sequence of three to four sessions. In both instances, the instructor can best use it to cover the following topics: (1) value innovation logic (as compared to industry and competitive analysis); (2) the concept of value curve; and (3) the six paths analysis for creating new market space. A teaching note is available to accompany this cases series. A video clip free for instructor download is available at www.blueoceanstrategy.com.

Keywords
  • Circus and live entertainment industry
  • Value innovation
  • Strategy
  • Blue Ocean Strategy
  • Creating new market space
  • Redefining industry boundaries
  • Competition. AR2002
  • RD0302