BlackBerry is facing a lawsuit due to the misleading information it has disclosed to shareholders about its financial position. Recently it has reported a loss of 965 million operating losses and a decision to lay off 4,500 employees.
The shining moment of BlackBerry has definitely become a history. And the fact that it is eclipsed by Apple and Google is irrefutable. However, regardless of its failure of technological innovation, it could have be honest and more accurate about its statements for investors. Instead of “making a series of materially false and misleading statements and omissions related to the Company’s business and operations,” BlackBerry should have informed investors about its financial decline.
Why would BlackBerry conceal the truth? One reason might be that managers in BlackBerry were under big pressure from expectations of shareholders. But this doesn’t justify their dishonesty. Lies in business are dangerous enough to ruin a company. And although this is not the case for BlackBerry since it is already in decline, being honest could have saved it the money used in settling the lawsuit.
Avoiding pressure by lying can only make problems last longer. Those managers in BlackBerry should have known that truth is better than lie.
Reference:
- Reuters, Thomson. “BlackBerry Hit with Shareholder Lawsuit.” CBCnews. CBC/Radio Canada, 05 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
- Hesseldahl, Arik. “BlackBerry’s Busy Weekend of Shareholder Lawsuits and Buyout Chatter.” AllThingsD. AllThingsD, 06 Oct. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
- Gustin, Sam. “Business & Money.” Business Money The Fatal Mistake That Doomed BlackBerry Comments. Time, 24 Sept. 2013. Web. 06 Oct. 2013.
In the blog, “Truth Is Better Than Lie” by Huijia Yang, the writer mentioned BlackBerry giving out false financial statements to shareholders that led to a lawsuit. Based on the blog, it was recently reported that the company has a loss of 965 million dollars in operating costs and has made the decision to lay off 4,500 employees. Remember the time when you saw every businessman typing away on a BlackBerry everywhere? Well those days sure are over! With the increasingly competitive market of smartphones with strong competitions such as Apple and Samsung, it has gone down hill.
In addition to that, the company has decided to lie to their shareholders about its financial statements to avoid them from finding out that the company was failing. The writer stated that she believes this was wrong since it would have saved a lot of trouble if the company were honest in the first place. Personally I agree with the writer and believe that this goes back to the issue of business ethics. Not only could the company have saved the lawsuit money, they could’ve also saved it’s reputation and integrity among customers. Making a wise long-term decision is always the better way to go!