Blackberry Strategy Leadership Plan - 1375 Words

Blackberry Strategy Leadership Plan (Case Study Sample) Content: Blackberry Company Analysis Institutional Affiliation Student’s Name Date Blackberry Company Analysis Introduction This paper analyzes Blackberry Company by describing its strategy, financial standing, industry trends and its general impact on the business, competition, and the detailed strategy for addressing the organizational challenges, proposed changes in the management plan and the alternative leadership approach. Organization overview Blackberry, a product of Research in Motion (RIM) Company, is a corporation that deals with production of mobile phones. RIM Company was founded in 1984 by two students who majored in engineering - Mike Lazaridis, and Douglas Fregin. The company did not make its headline after foundation until late when the founders made a breakthrough in technology by finding a way workers could receive emails, while being away from the office. They called the service Blackberry, and it became the base for wireless telephone devices that came up later. Blackberry started with a device that was known as an interactive pager back in 1996 and in 1990, when the Blackberry 850 was released. As it continued developing, Blackberry became the most useful device with RIM becoming the most valuable technology company. It enjoyed the monopoly and was the preferred gadget among respected senior executives, presidents and celebrities. The advent of competition in the form of Android and iPhone spelled a new era for Blackberry. Technology kept changing too rapidly, and consumer preferences also changed with that margin. Blackberry were caught on the wrong side of changes and ever since the company has struggled with dwindling sales, plummeting share prices, and market obscurity among other issues (Galliers this is the speed that Blackberry has to catch up with. Samsung’s launch of S8 and Iphone’s upcoming launch of IPhone 7 is expected to cause a buzz in the technology industry. Competitions from Asia, like one plus, are also entering the market with impeccable products. Others include HTC and Sony who are already marketing aggressively to capture the remaining market share that is yet not taken by the big players. The industry is witnessing high demand for wearable devices, commonly known as ‘gears’. This trend is shifting its attention to compatible devices that the smartphone can integrate with. These include smart watches and sunglasses, among others. Technology continues to advance, and the changes continue to take place. Consumers place a high value on user friendliness and consolidation, and if those are coupled with device security, then it will become a best seller (Roets, Bevan-Dye, & Viljoen, 2014). Constraint includes saturation of the smartphone with affordable and quality mobile phones from China. The mobile technology is fast cycle market with rapid changes and new products’ innovations. There is the existing need to keep pace with the technolo gical advancements in order to maintain a competitive advantage over competition. Technology becomes outdated, and some can be replaced quickly enough even before their cost is recovered (Grover & Saeed, 2003). Blackberry’s Competitive Landscape As far as competition is concerned, the mobile market is predominantly a two-horse race with Apple and Samsung, commanding 109% of profits. Regarding operating profits from feature phones, Samsung amassed 56%, while Apple managed to get 53% with the competitors like Blackberry, all losing out except Sony, which broke even. While Apple and iPhone are enjoying a bigger chunk of the industry, that figure could be lowered when China’s giants like Lenovo, ZTE, Huawei and Coolpad. According to IDC, Apple goes neck to neck with Samsung and closed the gap in the last quarter of 2014. Regarding the shipment, Apple takes the second position, while Samsung leads. While Samsung leads regarding purchases, Apple is the most profitable, buoy ed by its new models and the anticipation brought by the pre-launch of iPhone 7 is set to soar the high profits. Apple’s dominance is credited with its high-end products that have not been infiltrated by low-end devices that enjoy lower production costs. Samsung is the undisputed leader in market shares, while Apple is second with its high-end positioning. Low-end Chinese phones like Xiaomi, Huawei, and ZTE, are providing cheap and reliable phones that mean other players like Blackberry have no place to compete in the market (Cecere, Corrocher, & Battaglia, 2015). Samsung has streamlined its operation and product portfolio to counter infiltration by low end and midrange phones. Apple growth can be attributed to its push into the Chinese market and other countries, as well as increase appetite for a large screen. Addressing Organizational Challenges In order to address the organizational challenge, first the company needs to learn how to adapt to change. One significant aspec t of change would be to embrace Android and integrate it with the Blackberry system. Another possible solution would be to lay off staff to provide a lean, efficient workforce that aligns to revamp the strategy that is competent enough to take a r...