Have you ever wondered what they look like the playing out of different disruptive and competitive business strategies - blue ocean, red ocean, crossing the chasm, differentiated, low cost and stuck in the middle etc.? This presentation suggests a way of visualizing the geometry of these behaviors.

1. Visualizing the Dynamics
of
Disruptive Business Strategies
by
Vietanh Nguyen

2. “I’m interested in re-architecting society. Business is just one tool for
achieving this goal. It’s definitely the best tool we’ve found for unleashing the
power of disruptive technology at mass scale… It certainly works better than
government.”
-- Sean Parker

3. Introduction
A construct in the dynamical systems theory known as the cusp
catastrophe can be used to describe the dynamics of disruptive
business strategies.

4. The Cusp
The cusp consists of two parts:
• a behavior surface, and
• a control plane
The folds in the behavior surface are projected down onto a
bifurcation set in the control plane which consists of two lines
joining in a cusp.

5. The Cusp

6. The Cusp
As the two parameters of the control plane are varied, a control point
traces out a path called the control trajectory. At the same time, a
behavior point moves along a trajectory in the behavior
surface, directly above the control trajectory. Smooth variations in the
control parameters almost always result in smooth variation in the
behavior variable. The only exceptions occur when the control
trajectory crosses the bifurcation set. If the bifurcation set is crossed
from the inside to the outside, a disruptive change or a sudden jump in
the behavior trajectory will occur.

7. The Cusp

9. First there is an ocean
Then there is no ocean
Then there is.

10. Blue Oceans and Red Oceans

11. Alternate Configuration of Blue Ocean

12. Alternate Configuration of Blue Ocean

13. Crossing the Chasm

14. Crossing the Chasm
“Then comes a period during which the rest of the world watches to see if
anything can be made of this; that is the chasm. If in fact something does
come out of it – if a value proposition is discovered that can predictably be
delivered to a targetable set of customers at a reasonable price – then a new
mainstream market forms, typically with a rapidity that allows its initial
leaders to become very, very successful.”
-- Geoffrey Moore

15. Differentiated, Low Cost and Stuck in the Middle

16. Differentiated, Low Cost and Stuck in the Middle
• Any point in the bifurcation set, especially those in the
middle, exhibits a behavior tendency “to flip back and forth
over time among the generic strategies” of the stuck in the
middle.
• The stuck in the middle is further signified by the appearance
of a cusp-shaped pocket of compromise behavior midway
between the two extreme behaviors of differentiated and low
cost represented by the upper and lower surfaces of the cusp.

17. Aspiration Map
• In the context of disruptive business strategies, the control
plane of the cusp can be approximated by what is known as
the aspiration map. The bifurcation set in the plane would
correspond to a place on the map appropriately called the
disruptive innovation model.
• Reference of the aspiration map:
http://www.slideshare.net/RodKing/meta-tools-for-business-model-
project-management-dr-rod-king

18. Shifts in Customer Delight and
Thermodynamic Phase Transitions
• Same equation describes both cusp catastrophe and phase
transitions in thermodynamics.
• The phase transition from gas to liquid may serve as a
metaphor for the shift in customer delight from a state of
being scattered (gas) or distraction to a state of being
concentrated (liquid) or devotion.

19. Conclusion
Using the cusp catastrophe of the dynamical systems
theory, disruptive business strategies can be modeled and
visualized for insights and potentially for predictions.

20. References
• Jones, Dixon D. (1975), The Application of Catastrophe Theory to
Ecological Systems
• Kim, W Chan and Mauborgne, Renee (2005), Blue Ocean Strategy
• Moore, Geoffrey (1991), Crossing the Chasm
• Porter, Michael (1980), Competitive Strategy
• Scheffer, Marten (2009), Critical Transitions in Nature and Society
• Thom, Rene (1975), Structural Stability and Morphogenesis
• Zeeman, Christopher (1977), Catastrophe Theory: Selected Papers
1972-1977