This case focuses on Skype in the voice-over-IP (VoIP) industry. Its offering created such exceptional utility for users around the world that Skype has become a verb - to "skype" someone means to call someone using the Skype application. Yet despite explosive growth in demand, the company was not profitable in four out of the five years prior to its acquisition by Microsoft in 2011. The case allows participants to deepen their understanding of Blue Ocean Strategy by applying first-hand the concepts and tools of the Blue Ocean strategy sequence.

The case describes a series of blue ocean strategic moves made by Salesforce.com in the CRM application market. In particular, the case addresses the concern of business executives over the applicability of blue ocean strategy in the B2B area. B2B managers often find that they are locked into providing products of certain types and specifications to their immediate customers. But in fact, value innovation can take place on the three platforms of a business offering, i.e., product, service and delivery. Salesforce.com's strategic moves provide an exemplary demonstration of how a company can effectively create and renew its blue ocean in the B2B field by value innovating its single business on the product, service and delivery platforms alternately. The case is accompanied by a comprehensive teaching note that analyzes and explains the key strategic moves of Salesforce.com using major BOS frameworks and tools. The case comes with a teaching note and a lecture slide pack. The lectures slides can be downloaded from https://www.blueoceanstrategy.com/teaching-materials/salesforce-com/ The case and teaching note are also available in Chinese.