Introduction

Abstract

It is a well-known fact that innovation is important for companies. It has been proven in economic theory and business science that innovation both fuels and is necessary for long-term growth and value generation.1 Sustained innovation serves as a differentiation strategy to sustain performance in competitive markets where innovative solutions are copied too easily and frequently.2 The conventional approach to innovation is that it builds a defensible position within an existing industry.3 A new strategic logic to innovation developed by Kim and Mauborgne is to focus on making the competition irrelevant by creating a leap in value for buyers and the company.4 Such practice opens up new and uncontested market spaces. By creating so-called value innovation, a company executes its strategy in a new way, resulting in an uncontested ‘blue ocean’, which breaks away from the competition.