Failsafe Strategies: Profit and Grow from Risks That Others Avoid

Chapter 3. Identifying Multiple Capability Configurations

Deliver the Same Core Objective with Different Capabilities

It is not imperative that a new entrant copy the strategies of the dominant incumbent verbatim, but it is necessary to have an alternate configuration of core objectives that can deliver the same outcome to the customer.

Case 1: JetBlue

JetBlue commenced operations on February 11, 2000, with two planes out of John F. Kennedy Airport in New York City. Within one year of operation, JetBlue was voted #2 Domestic Airline in the 2001 Zagat survey and posted a profit of $38.5 million in less than two years of operation. Part of JetBlue's success so far can be credited to CEO David Neeleman's unconventional emphasis on using IT in an industry ...