Blackberry: A Case Study on the Need for Organizational Change

ENGINEERING LEADERSHIP

 Blackberry mobile communication device was first
invented by Research in Motion (RIM), in 1984, in
Waterloo, Ontario (1).
 BlackBerry at the present is trying to rebuild itself
again.
 The Blackberry’s share declined to 5 percent due to the
market acquisition of Google’s Android and Apple’s
iPhone.
 BlackBerry had to publish an ‘open letter’ in nine
different countries, which was nothing more than a paid
advertisement, as it tried to reassure consumers that
BlackBerry was still a reliable brand, in the year 2013.
Present Scenario of
BlackBerry

 The company BlackBerry needs a change because it is
losing the market hold due to the new launched and better
products of Google’s android and Apple’s iPhone. The
customers are losing interest in the company due to the
lack of innovation and research in their products.
 RIM dual leadership approach and the control of resources
are the major internal factors that have affected the
organization.
 Difficulty in effective communication with its co-CEO
strategy led to the problems in the marketing
communication strategy of Blackberry (2).
 Ineffective leadership and the different of opinions of the
two CEOs of the RIM led to the resignation of the marketing
and developer relations staff.
Internal factors forcing change
in the organization

 External factors that affect Blackberry’s growing
market status include prevailing economic
conditions, legislation and technological aspects.
 RIM had been engaged in lawsuit involving patent
violation and class actions.
 Since Blackberry products have low cost substitutes
there could be adverse economic conditions(2).
 Reduced growth in entity sales in 2009 and 2010
during the impacts of the global economic crisis.
 The brand performance is also affected with the
advancement in the technology, since the product
lifestyle of Blackberry decreases.
External factors forcing change
in the organisation