Blue ocean strategy: a preliminary literature review and research questions arising

Abstract

This paper presents a preliminary literature review of previous and current research in the field of strategy. Its purpose is to identify a research theme and related issues in the existing literature for further research. The preliminary literature review concentrates on management papers in international refereed journals using the literature databases of Emerald, ProQuest Direct, Sciencedirect and Wiley Interscience. The articles are selected based on the keywords “Strategy” or “Strategic Management” or where the articles’ title includes one of these compound terms and later the articles are chosen based on the selected research theme, namely “Blue Ocean Strategy”. From this preliminary literature review, blue ocean strategy is identified as one of the recent research themes that worth further studies. Further review of the current literature on blue ocean strategy reveals a series of related issues that establish the basis for the research agenda and identifies the main research question as well as sub-questions for further research. The paper proposes the research objectives based on the research questions and provides a direction and the justification for future research.