Strategic Analysis with Reference to BlackBerry/Apple

Strategic Analysis 1
STRATEGIC ANALYSIS WITH REFERENCE TO BLACKBERRY/APPLE
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Strategic Analysis 2
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
SWOT Analysis.........................................................................................................................3
PESTEL Analysis.......................................................................................................................6
TR Technology Cycle................................................................................................................7
Porter’s Five Forces...................................................................................................................8
Three Phases of Innovative Model...........................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................10
List of References....................................................................................................................12

Strategic Analysis 3
Introduction
When BlackBerry was launched 20 years ago, it had positive impact on the phone market,
and through carrier partnerships, the brand was stamped on the global cellular phone market.
The Research in Motion (RIM), the Blackberry manufacturing company, was the first cellular
phone company to develop a smartphone. However, the introduction of iPhone in the market
disrupted the market and reduced the market share from “21 million BlackBerry users in
2007 to only 9 million three years later” (American Genius, 2018). In 2014, the market share
further declined to 1 percent from 20 percent, which was reflected in the fall of RIM stock
between 2010 and 2012 by 90 percent (American Genius Report 2018). As Blackberry bled
in the stock market, Apple Inc., and Google Inc. performed exceptionally well (Irish
Examiner 2013).
The Globe and Mail (2018) traces the downfall of Blackberry when iPhone was still making
its first entry into the market: customers made a request to RIM to adopt features similar to
those on iPhones, like diverse application, highly sensitive touchscreen, and fast browser.
However, driven with “we know better” mind-set, the company ignored their concerns
alluding that the aforementioned features would result to high data costs. In 2016, the phone
company stopped manufacturing hardware phone accessories and relegated the task to the
external development partners. The shifting away from the developing smartphones to
services and Software Company was strategy to rebound the company to financial stability.
According to the American Genius (2018), more than 60 million automotive have adopted the
Blackberry software. The company is also on holding talks with prominent car manufacturing
companies like Ford and other third party companies to integrate the system into the car
assembly.

Strategic Analysis 4
However, the decline in the stock market and the total revenue has been persistent. The
company has since resorted to cutting down its work force by 40 percent to sustain its
operation (The Globe and Mail, 2018). This paper provides an overview on different
strategies that a firm can adopt to gain its competitive edge over the rivals and underscore its
financial sustainability as well as maintaining efficiency in reference to Blackberry situation.
The guiding principle in this study is that strategic planning is the gateway to the effectual
strategic management. According to Gurel (2017), strategic management enables the
organization to proactively— and not reactively— evaluate and implement its decisions in
accordance to the organizational visions. Central to the discussion is strategic analysis
framework like SWOT, PESTEL, TR Technology Cycle, Porter’s Five Forces, and the 3
Phases of Innovative Model.
SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis refers designing a competing strategy by assessing the company’s ‘strengths,
opportunities, weaknesses, and threats. When an organization conducts external analysis, it
can identify potential threats as well as opportunities in a highly competitive environment
like phone manufacturing industry (Gürel, 2017, p.994). The external analysis also enables
the strategic management team to conceptualize market evolution, and the effects of this
evolution to the existential threats and opportunities that the organization is facing. On the
other hand, internal analysis enables the organization to address the strengths and weaknesses
by understanding what capabilities and resources are likely to improve the organization’s
efficacy to underscore competitive advantage. Therefore, the SWOT analysis can help the
RIM Company to choose a sound strategy. However, Chu (2017, p.5) contends that a strategy
is meaningless if an organization fails to implement the strategy.