Blackberry) Be Saved? Research in Motion (RIM

BM1807 Names ______Section ______Date______

ACTIVITY Can Research in Motion (BlackBerry) be Saved? Research in Motion (RIM) was founded in 1984 by Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis as a business focused on providing the backbone for the two-way pager market. In 1999, they released the first BlackBerry device with an embedded full QWERTY keyboard. The “BlackBerry” set the bar for the connected business person. The term “crack berry” was even coined for those business people who could not put down their BlackBerry. The company focused almost exclusively on the integrity of the network on which their phones operated. They provided security measures that made RIM the choice of data managers.

When developing a strategy, companies have to bring together all the elements in a manner that provides them with a unique position relative to their competitors. At the time of its release, most competitors provided cell phones that could make calls and little more. BlackBerry changed the nature and use of a portable device and provided a secure platform for IT managers wary of allowing remote devices to access their systems. BlackBerry sales peaked in 2008 about the same time that Apple released the iPhone. Despite that, the company still has tens of millions of users worldwide, a cash hoard over $2.7 billion or P135 billion and a reputation for being a best-in-class device for the business community. The company has made a number of missteps along the way, including a touchscreen BlackBerry that did not catch on, a tablet that lacked e-mail connectivity, and an approach to the market that made it clear that the company believed the backbone was of more value than the device used.

In 2013, the Indonesian government imposed sanctions against BlackBerry due to an outrage which left Indonesians without access to some messaging services from the Canadian smartphone maker. Indonesia imposed sanctions on BlackBerry in September 2009 as well, where the government imposed a two- month freeze on issuing licenses for new BlackBerry models. By late 2015, BlackBerry had seen a 46% drop in total revenues from a year earlier and had sold less than 800,000 handsets in the previous quarter. A year earlier in the same quarter, RIM had sold 2.4 million units.

Answer the following questions: (2 items x 10 points) 1. How can BlackBerry recover from massive losses using the concept of functional strategies? 2. How can the company resolve its issue with the Indonesian government based on the operations strategy for service-oriented firms?

Rubric for grading: CRITERIA PERFORMANCE INDICATORS POINTS Content Provided pieces of evidence, supporting details, and 8 factual scenarios Grammar Used correct grammar, punctuation, spelling, and 1 capitalization Organization of Expressed the points in clear and logical arrangement of 1 ideas ideas in the paragraph TOTAL 10

References: Bamford, C., Hoffman, A., Hunger, D., & Wheelen, T. (2018). Strategic management and business policy: Globalization, innovation and sustainability (15th ed.). United Kingdom: Pearson Education Limited. Miller, H. & Moestafa, B. (2013). Blackberry faces sanctions after indonesian messaging failure. Retrieved on May 23, 2019, from http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/BlackBerry+faces+sanctions+after+Indonesian+messaging+failure/8616255/story.html.

08 Activity 1 *Property of STI Page 1 of 1