How to Recognize a Value Innovation for Your Blue Ocean Strategy

The objective of this note is to help students understand the criteria according to which they can identify value innovations, that is, products or services suitable for implementation of a Blue Ocean Strategy. Not every innovation will represent a value innovation. A company can introduce a new technology or be the first to enter a market with a new offering, but neither of these constitutes a value innovation. The sequence of diagnostic steps contained in this note can help students identify whether a particular offering represents a value innovation, using the example of McDonald's Restaurants.

This case note lists the sequence of heuristic steps that the students have to follow in order to determine whether a particular offering represents a value innovation, that is, products or services suitable for implementation of a Blue Ocean Strategy. It can be used both in MBA and Executive program teaching.