Thailand Executives Yearn for the Open Sea

Business Leaders Pack the Radisson Hotel Bangkok Ballroom to Learn Blue Ocean Strategy

For Immediate Release

(Bangkok, Wednesday, 14 May, 2008) – Speaking to a packed house today, Dr. Zunaira Munir of the Blue Ocean Strategy Network cleverly prodded a group of respected Thailand executives to alter the way in which they view, plan and execute their strategic business operations. The six hour seminar, held at the Radisson Hotel, Bangkok, drew leaders from industries as diverse as Hospitality, Retail, and Business Solutions Providers, all looking for ways in which they can better compete in an increasingly global and more competitive environment.

Dr. Munir, an expert on innovative management strategies, lectured the eager audience of professionals that it was crucial to change the way in which they are viewing their competition. Her unique message was based on the increasingly popular, Blue Ocean Strategy, a technique in which a business stops competing in a market bloodied with shark-like competition (red ocean) and shifts their focus towards developing new, open markets (blue ocean).

“In the past, professionals tended to look at the other players in the industry and try to figure out how to compete against them. Blue Ocean Strategy is successful because it shifts the focus from a small pool of customers, to a larger, blue ocean market,” said Dr. Munir.

Many issues spoke directly to current ‘hot topics’ in the Thai business community. One particular area was competitive copying. Several audience members presented the same question in different forms during the Q&A session.

“I am in the real estate industry. We try to be blue and create unique products, but it is easy for others to copy us once we set the trend. How can Blue Ocean Strategy address this issue for us?” asked one real estate company executive.

Dr. Munir quickly pointed out that there are several benefits for this industry when using Blue Ocean Strategy. “There is a huge brand advantage in being recognized as a completely different and unique product,” she explained. “Quicken created a blue ocean for themselves many years ago and even today, if you ask about financial software, people think Quicken,” she continued.

The Blue Ocean Strategy seminar was a welcome event in Thailand, marking only the second time a Blue Ocean Strategy Network professional spoke in the country. As Mr. Amin Rais, Project Director of AIM Inlines, the organizer of the event pointed out, “Blue Ocean Strategy is a proven strategy being used by some of the largest organizations in the world. We felt that Thailand’s companies could benefit by learning directly from the people involved in the research and development of Blue Ocean Strategy.” Mr. Rais, whose company was the first to bring an INSEAD certified, Blue Ocean Strategy expert, added that, “in today’s competitive environment, it is important for companies to break loose of their old way of thinking. We really felt that these executives could gain great insight by listening to experts such as Dr. Munir and Dr. Ben Bensaou, the first Blue Ocean speaker we brought in.”

Dr. Munir further explained that Blue Ocean Strategy was scalable from the smallest companies on up to entire governments. It’s too early to tell whether the Thai government will adopt the strategy but, judging by the number of executives present at the Radisson and their solemn concentration during the lecture and exercises, it is obvious that quite a few businesses in Thailand are yearning for some open seas.

Notes to the editor

About AIM Inlines

AIM Inlines is a Bangkok-based company that helps corporations, associations and agencies improve their operational efficiency, staff performance and overall productivity without increasing their budget. We do this by bringing some of the world’s top trainers and expert’s right to your doorstep, providing you with their invaluable knowledge and insight.

AIM Inlines was established in 2001 and has served the needs of tens of thousands of customers throughout the world. AIM Inlines has established relationships with many of the worlds most notable and accomplished speakers and trainers and we are prepared to bring these people to you.

We also organize a range of cutting edge seminars on the latest business methodologies. These one and two day events are not only fun and exciting, they are highly educational, providing you and your team with the most up-to-date business knowledge from leading innovative thinkers.

www.aiminlines.co.th

About Dr. Zunaira Munir

Dr. Zunaira Munir is a Qualified Affiliate Member of the Global Blue Ocean Strategy Network Member. Working closely with Professors Kim and Mauborgne, she is an active part of the Blue Ocean Strategy research team.

Dr. Zunaira worked directly under the professors as a Visiting Researcher in 2006 at INSEAD Fontaineblue and has since then been engaged as an overseas research fellow working on various Blue Ocean Strategy research projects and other initiatives.

She was among the first batch of people completing the Blue Ocean Strategy qualification process administered by the Blue Ocean Strategy - Initiative Centre. She is the founder and managing partner of ‘Strategize Blue’, a Blue Ocean Strategy consulting and training firm based in San Diego, California.

Dr. Zunaira Munir has worked as Manager Business Development at Clary Business Machines in San Diego USA and played a major contribution in making the company one of the fastest growing companies in San Diego. Earlier she worked as a free-lance consultant and has experience in various industries ranging from automotive to office equipment to telecom and specialized in strategic alliances between US and Chinese companies.

As an educator, she has over 6 years of experience taking MBA and Masters in Computer Sciences courses at Iqra University and Greenwich University.

Dr. Zunaira Munir is a dynamic trainer and presenter and is extremely good at tailoring her presentation to her audience’s situation and giving them concrete ideas that can be translated into making competition irrelevant. As a researcher her work has been published in China Business Review, International Review of Business and research, the PDMA Research Forum and others.

She is frequently engaged as a keynote speaker on Blue Ocean Strategy in corporate and public events, and has been very successful in conducting Blue Ocean Strategy workshops in USA and Latin America. Some of her recent clients include; Deloitte and Touche (New York), Conexion Global (Colombia), American Advertising Federation ( Iowa), Walitel ( Santa Rosa), KeyPoint Credit Union ( Santa Clara), Haleeb Foods (Pakistan), Banco Colombia (Colombia) and EBM( Colombia).

"The biggest mistake anyone can make is to focus on the competitor.
You focus on the consumer and you will get it right."

Best Regards

Amin Rais
AIM Inlines Co., Ltd.
Mob: ++66-85-1313-835
Tel: ++66-2-2700-984-5
Fax: 00-66-2-2700-986
1121 Paholyothin Rd.
Samsen-Nai, Phayathai,
Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
aminrais@gmail.com 
amin@aiminlines.co.th 
www.aiminlines.co.th