This article briefly discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of Blackberry in a similar fashion as we did for our first assignment. As the fall of blackberry has been largely attributed to the release of their touchscreen Z10 handset, the article highlights how Blackberry should stop assimilating to other smart phones; staying away from all the fancy apps and touch screens. Instead, they should cherish their traits that set them apart from other smartphones, including the functional, physical key board that provides a much more functional alternative than the competitors. By limiting Blackberry’s target demographic to those in a corporate setting (as many emails are sent and received everyday, a physical key board is more functional), they could eliminate the distracting apps and differentiate from the competitors. Although this is a smaller demographic than they had targeted in the past, it is much easier to grow in a smaller market because there is often less competition, and operations are much simpler. Once they begin to establish themselves on a smaller scale, I believe it is possible in time for Blackberry’s popularity and strength to be reestablished.
Article: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/for-a-start-blackberry-needs-a-cultural-revolution/article14599159/

This is another article summarizing the rise and fall of Blackberry, it helps to provide insight on the SWOTs of the past and present: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/the-inside-story-of-why-blackberry-is-failing/article14563602/?page=all

Fracking is the process of using pressurized water, chemicals and sand to fracture shale rock. In doing so, trapped resources such as hydrocarbons are released. In 2012, fracking provided 2.1 million jobs and added $283 billion to the US GDP, yet fracking is constantly ridiculed for its negative environmental impacts. These entail contaminating ground water, releasing greenhouse gases and others. As there are many benefits and detriments that come with the fracking process, fracking has often been a focal point of many debate regarding ethics in business. With the world population growing, global energy consumption is also increasing. Therefore, more efficient, low-cost methods of energy production and extraction such as fracking, could play an invaluable role in the future of global energy production. However, if fracking becomes the most common method of hydrocarbon extraction, environmental devastation could result. Despite the incredible economic benefits of fracking, one must also consider the impacts it is having on other scarce resources such as fresh water, that will also be consumed at increasing rates as the global population increases. Although fracking companies have the objective to extract as much of their target hydrocarbon as possible in order to maximize profits, one must consider the long-term implication’s of their actions, aside from simple profit motives.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/economy/economy-lab/fracking-is-an-economic-boon-to-us-love-it-or-hate-it/article14146419/



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