SEB724: Engineering Leadership - Blackberry's Challenges and Solutions

This report provides an analysis of the leadership challenges faced by Blackberry, formerly known as Research in Motion (RIM). It examines the internal factors such as dual leadership and communication issues, and external factors including market competition from Google's Android and Apple's iPhone, patent lawsuits, and economic conditions. The report details the impact of leadership changes on the organization, including financial costs and employee training. It also explores Blackberry's strategic plans for rebuilding its business, including new product launches and partnerships, as well as the associated risks and challenges of organizational integration, such as conservatism and complacency. The report concludes with a discussion of risk assessment, resistance assessment, and recommendations for effective leadership and change management within the company, with references to scholarly articles that support the findings.

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

 The change in leadership of the Blackberry from the
company insider to the position of CEO led the company
to a drastic change which costs the company a lot.
 There had been change in the management resource
costs which accounted for $5,000.
 The training cost so the employees also had faced a
breakdown.
 There were communication costs of $2000 which
affected the sales of the products (3).
 The travel costs , time as well as the change in the
management material costs were the impacts of the
costs of the leadership change.
Breakdown of the cost of
change leadership.

 The funds that the organization enjoyed were
coming from the sales of the products and the
wireless communication systems, the public
investments as well as the innovative promotional
events of the company.
 BlackBerry had been strugglinhg to rebuild its core
business because the estimated revenue growth
for BlackBerry’s 2020 financial year is between 23
and 27 percent (4).
 BlackBerry’s revenue had been 18,423 million US
dollars in the year 2012, but in 2019, it has been
904 million US dollars.
Where will these funds come
from?

 After the change has been introduced, the
Blackberry has decided to change its name
back to the original name of the Research in
motion.
 The base icon would be combined with the
existing icons so that it can create more
complex narratives.
 It had decided to launch new innovative
products keeping in mind the demands of
the customers.
Guidelines for working after the
change has been introduced.

 The RIM can be transformed into a dominant player with the help of new
technology and company’s new business model. This can help the
consumers and the enterprises all throughout the world to manage their
mobile email traffic, with greater security and efficiency. (4).
 There was association of partners within the organization, in order to do
best in the unique design, world-class safety and enterprise mobility
management.
 They planned onto listening to their customer’s demand sand what
features do they want the RIM to incorporate in the wireless phones.
 The strategic plan includes new leaders for enterprise, and strategic
marketing.
 The first priority had been to focus on the core business drivers , with the
movement to new operating structures which include the enterprise
services and Devices business.
 There have been streamlining of the device business models, along with
the partnership with Foxconn to produce smartphones in the rapid
growing markets.
A detailed plan for organizational integration
after the change has been introduced

 The interrelated problems that the company
would be facing are conservatism and
complacency.
 The company still strives to keep its old
customers and maintain loyalty and in this
process even after the change, there has
been loss in the attraction of customers.
 Blackberry though that it had more time
and room for the mistakes that it had done
earlier than it actually did.
Risk of failure of the organization after
the change has been introduced.

(1)Reid, A. J. (2018). A brief history of the smartphone. In The
Smartphone Paradox (pp. 35-66). Palgrave Macmillan,
Cham.
(2)Wilden, R., Gudergan, S. P., Nielsen, B. B., & Lings, I.
(2013). Dynamic capabilities and performance: strategy,
structure and environment. Long Range Planning, 46(1-2),
72-96.
(3)Youssef, M. H., & Haj Youssef, M. (2013). Strategic tensions
within the smartphones industry: the case of
BlackBerry. VISTAS: Education, Economy and Community, 3,
125-141.
(4)Schwandt, S. T., Dehmoubed, F., Infanti, J. C., Lepp, J. R.
W., & Los, O. (2014). U.S. Patent No. 8,649,820.
Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Reference

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