Monthly Archives: September 2014

On September 24, Blackberry launched a new smartphone device called the Passport in an attempt to rebuild the company that lost its market share by failing to adapt. In Sean Silcoff’s article, “Passport to success? Blackberry pins revival hopes on new device”, it is mentioned that BlackBerry accounted for merely 0.5 per cent of the 301 million smartphones sold globally in the second quarter of 2014, a humbling fall from 13 per cent in 2011. These statistics clearly indicate a company which has lost its edge in the global markets but the Passport may just turn things around.

In the book, Positioning: The Battle for your Mind, Al Ries and Jack Trout state that “When there is a clear market leader in the mind of the consumer, it can be nearly impossible to displace the leader”. Blackberry has lost its general customer audience and is therefore focusing on a segmented group of customers: business professionals.  The smartphone, a squared-shaped device with a QWERTY keyboard and long battery life  is the right mix for the targeted segmented group. However, the Passport is only about $50 cheaper than the leading iOS and Android devices,which may not be so effective in making original users to switch-back to Blackberry.

If Blackberry is to enjoy the market share it possessed three years ago, it must not only reduce the price of the product,  but must also continually come out with new and more innovative devices to keep pace with the ever changing electronic market.

Citations:-

1. Sean Silcoff  (September 25, 2014) “Passport to success? Blackberry pins revival hopes on new device” The Globe and Mail.

<http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/passport-sales-bode-well-for-blackberry-analyst-says/article20838923/>

Businesses around the world operate in ways that benefit themselves i.e., the business conducts its operation such that they earn profit. Operating with a primary objective on profit alone may drive businesses to ignore established laws and find a workaround the legal framework. Such is the case in the article “A Deadly Grind”, wherein women and children are employed to work in mines under harmful conditions. The business is well aware that this practice is illegal as well as unethical. Yet they choose to continue with their operations for higher profits.

“This is the ‘artisanal mining’ sector – a bureaucratic euphemism for the job of scavenging, digging and clawing a living from the harsh earth with bare hands and crude tools.” No such euphemism makes the conditions these children work-in less deplorable. Only a total revamp in the business’ practices with an ethical approach can improve the situation. In the words of Milton Freidman “There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use it resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game.” Businesses can therefore work towards their goal of profit but must ensure that they conform to ethical norms while doing so.

Citations
(1) York G. A deadly grind. The Globe and Mail 2012 Aug 18.
(2) Zimmerli, W, Holzinger, M, & Richter, K (eds) 2007, Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance, Springer, Berlin/Heidelberg, DEU. Available from: ProQuest ebrary. [10 September 2014].