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November 15, 2006                              Contact: Dr. Sarah Layton 407/ 342-6507 cell

News Release              

Dr. Sarah Layton Qualified in Blue Ocean Strategy  

            Dr. Sarah Layton , managing partner of the strategic management consulting firm Corporate Strategy Institute (www.corporatestrategy.com), has been qualified by the Blue Ocean Strategy Initiative Centre, London, in Blue Ocean Strategy concepts, tools and frameworks.  Blue Ocean Strategy: How to Create Uncontested Market Space and Make the Competition Irrelevant, written by W. Chan Kim and Rene Mauborgne was named the best business book of 2005 and has won many awards for its authors.  Dr. Layton was invited to participate in the qualification process by Kim and Mauborgne in February after reviewing their book in Consulting to Management Magazine.  Dr. Layton was then invited by the professors to meet with them in Fontainebleau , France , which she did in September.

            Many CEOs go through a planning process but find that the resulting document does not give them or their team a clear vision of their future direction.  Dr. Layton utilizes the Blue Ocean Strategy tools, concepts and frameworks to round out her strategy processes, based not on just preparing a document but on drawing a picture called a "strategy canvas." This approach consistently produces strategies that are easy to understand and communicate, that engage more people within an organization, and that unlock the creativity of participants.

            Blue Ocean Strategy enables the client to break away from the competition and focus on value innovation for the customer. Examples of companies that have successfully developed Blue Ocean Strategies are:  Callaway Golf, Cirque du Soleil, [yellow tail] wine and NetJet.

            Dr. Layton is celebrating her 20^th year in business and serves on the national board of her professional association, the Institute for Management Consultants – USA(IMC USA).  She serves as Trustee for Florida Southern College, The Junior Achievement Foundation and corporate boards. 

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