Management Journal - May 2008

The competition between the Reds and the Blues are always the most classic of battles, whether it is:

the SMALL matter of the Merseyside derby of the Red Kops (Liverpool) and the Blue Toffees (Everton),

the cold war in the recent past of the Socialist Red and the Capitalist Blue,

or even now closer to home (and heart) the heated battle of the Air Asia’s Red and the Malaysian Airlines’ Blue.

Try this: “Now Everyone Can Fly” on “Everyday Low Fares”!!! Who is complaining? Just how fierce is this war on open air? Google “Air Asia” and you will get a sponsored link by Malaysian Airlines promoting its RM0 air fares listed before everything else on Air Asia.

These battles are not as extreme in making only one choice between the Black and the White; but such competitions are so intense that it is becoming romantic to a certain extent. The adrenaline pumping Moscow showdown recently just illustrated that there is really nothing to choose between the United’s Red and the Chelsea’s Blue [although I am still elated with United crowning as the Champion of Europe after 9 years (was watching the equally exciting Final then in a B&B at Canberra with two total strangers from Watford and Copenhagen) and befittingly so on the 50th years anniversary of the Munich Disaster]. I’m sure the Official Low Cost Airlines of the Red would like to draw some lucks here; although I’m confident that they shall prevail eventually (plus the fact that I’m traditionally more inclined to the RED).

On strategic management, the battle of the Red and Blue was introduced most notably by this book called “Blue Ocean Strategy” by comparing the differences in the Red Ocean where the competition is bloody (thus the red) and the Blue Ocean where market is niche and competition is irrelevant (thus no blood shed to preserve the blue water). For many years now, entrepreneurs are inspired to create their own Blue Ocean and the quest continues.

Questions:

Can there really be a Blue Ocean? I’m sure when the Red Ocean was less bloody, it was blue too. There is also a question of tone in whether it is just a light Blue or a darker Blue (sounds familiar in the Malaysian Politic?); is the light Blue a starting point of a darker Red if the barrier of entry is low?

Even if there is really a Blue Ocean, is it sustainable? Having set up all the barriers, would one become complacent in an environment of no competition? Very likely, considering human nature, isn’t it? Complacency is due to comfort and lack of motivation. Therefore unless the entrepreneur has the discipline and constantly reinventing himself, a Blue Ocean is never sustainable and it will be irrelevant sooner rather than later.

Can the Red Ocean reinventing itself to be Blue again? In fact, it is a natural progression with everyone else leaving the Red Ocean, the Red in the Red Ocean would be less Red with shades of light Blue appearing. This is why the current global food shortage is creating a windfall for the farmers that stay on (or move too slowly) in the used to be Red Ocean; while everyone else in the past decades have gone on with the new found wealth in the so called Blue of industrialization and moving up the value chain with lands being cultivated for growing of bio-fuel commodity and concrete jungle instead of feeding the mouths of the hunger. Surely the “Blue Ocean” is now going back for food cultivation. Back to basic!

The Ocean is after all a repeating cycle of up and down with the Blue represents the better quality of the upstream and the Red represents the mass quantity of the downstream.

Here is one of my favorite Jewish stories to share in this regard:

... There was a frog jumping into a pail of cold water comfortably swimming away not knowing that there is a fire under that pail slowly boiling up the water (Blue Ocean). The frog continued to swim in appreciation of the slowly increasing temperature and playing with the increasing number of water bubbles. As the water was boiling up eventually at last, the frog "sleep" away in exhaustion and happiness, not knowing what really happened... (Complacency)

Just imagine if you are the same frog (or another frog).... and what happen if the water was already boiling (Red Ocean) when you jump in (or you are jumping into the same boiling water of the earlier “sleeping” frog), you could have jumped out and live for another day

As for my management mantra, I’m going Green (I guess you can tell, if you know CA). Green shall be the fresh alternative to Red or Blue. Green is sustainable. Green has a bigger agenda for the bigger things to come. Green shall assume a positioning that is true to oneself, first and foremost, before expanding to the others. You shall love yourself before you can love others.

Otherwise, I’m longing for the Green of the Boston Celtics to be the World Champion of NBA this season. It was Larry Bird that first inspired me on Basketball! Long live the Green Bird!