Generic Strategies, Outpacing and Blue Ocean - Discussing the Validity of Three Strategic Management Theories Using Case Studies from Airlines and Grocery Retail

This article discusses the validity of three famous approaches of strategic management – Porter’s Generic Strategies, the Outpacing Concept and Blue Ocean Strategies – by using cases from two industries: airlines and grocery retail. The discussion shows that all three concepts make important contributions to the explanation of the success and failure of existing strategies, but none of the concepts fully describes the reality. While generic and Blue Ocean strategies neglect dynamics, the outpacing approach is still too much imprisoned by the categories of Porter. As a conclusion, first ideas towards a more dynamic theory of market evolution are drawn which include aspects of Blue Ocean and Outpacing and recall a more philosophical approach.