Previously in Janelle’s post, she brought up several potential downsides of Blackberry launching its BBM application to the android and iOS market such as:

1. loss in points of difference –> people lose incentives to buy Blackberry devices

2. technical issues —> problems keeping up with efficiency and technology.

Full blogpost here: https://blogs.ubc.ca/janellesy/2013/10/21/bbm-no-longer-exclusive-to-blackberry/#more-134

However, I believe that Blackberry opening BBM to the other smart phone systems is one of the last few things they could do to decrease their financial loss. Having non-Blackberry users using BBM doesn’t remove Blackberry’s point of difference, since there are many other messaging application substitutes such as line or WhatsApp. People don’t buy Blackberrys because of the exclusive BBM but because of the phone specifications as well as the signature Blackberry keyboard. (perhaps a more accurate point of difference?) The launching of this BBM application increases the presence of Blackberry and may in fact attract customers.

Technical issues are unfortunate but faced by almost every single company. Every problem can serve as a guide for the future. They can learn from every problem and improve on a better future.

I believe launching BBM was a good decision by the company to attempt to resurrect its’ financial status.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24621932

http://smartwhenshouting.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/7951-disney-disney-characters.jpg (picture source)

Last week, Disney has announced that it will be closing down its Vancouver Pixar branch after having been open for three years, and focusing more on its branch in Emeryville, California. Roughly 100 employees will be losing their jobs. This is definitely a great loss to Vancouver as Pixar is one of the world’s biggest animation companies.

Although it is unclear why Pixar is shutting down in Vancouver, it is official that it will stop operations. From the operations and management standpoint, it might be more cost efficient to close down the Vancouver store because of possible operating costs. It might also be part of their business strategy to completely focus on the California branch.

The Jobs minister, Shirley Bond, said that Pixar’s leave might “reflect the entire industry” as other animation companies may leave after Pixar. That being said, not all cities are suitable for all industries so although Vancouver is the setting for many movies, it might not be the best place for an animation studio.

http://www.vancouversun.com/entertainment/movie-guide/Disney+closes+doors+Vancouver+Pixar+branch+after+just+three+years/9016066/story.html

Wells Fargo recently accused some of its workers of forging bank accounts to meet sales quota. Roughly 30 employees were fired recently for taking shortcuts to meet goals. One employee admits to forging signatures and creating new accounts under some clients’ name without them knowing.

I believe it is completely unethical for these employees to forge these accounts because by forging accounts, because they are essentially going against the values of the bank. Banks are built on credit and trust, and thus, they were fired.

However, with the immense pressure to meet sales goals at the company, I understand their reasoning for forging accounts. An employee stated that managers forced them to stay late and call friends and family if they weren’t able to meet the quota during the day. This heavy emphasis on meeting the sales goal can easily distort the employee’s value about the company.

I think the best approach to this problem is for the managers to understand that some goals are unrealistic and that there are many competitor banks out there. Operations and marketing can also think of better incentives for people to open an account at Wells Fargo so employees wouldnt have to forge to meet sales goals.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-1004-wells-fargo-firings-20131004,0,3550404.story

Samsung announced in the third quarter that it will be operating at a roughly 9 billion dollar profit. This year’s sales have also increased since last year. However, its shares have declined due to the slowing of smartphone sales. While Samsung faces success, HTC lost 100 million$ in the third quarter, more than analysts expected.

With the launch of the S4 earlier this year and the note3 just last month, Samsung has been really innovative and constantly coming up with new phones and technology to keep itself in the smartphone industry. It is giving apple a good run for consumers in the market since people instantly upgrade once Samsung releases a new phone. The samsung note series also has points of difference that set them apart from other phones. It has a roughly 5 inch screen and an S pen, essentially making it similar to a tablet.

If HTC wants to have a competitive edge in the smartphone market, they need to have a feature that is more unique to them (point of difference). Previously, HTC acquired beats audio and HTC phones all have the beats audio system incorporated, but that didnt provide as big of an incentive for buyers. While its recent phone, the HTC One, has been selling well and rated as one of the best smartphones, it wasn’t enough to prevent HTC’s loss.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/10/04/technology/samsung-htc/index.html?hpt=hp_t3

King.com, the company that created Candy Crush, announced that it will be going public and filing for an IPO last week. This sparked debate about whether the companies’ innovation plan will be lucrative in the long run.

Some have said that because King.com is solely depending on the success of its only game Candy Crush, its shares will most likely go into slumps when the popularity of the game comes to an end, just like the company of Farmville and Crocs. Those two companies focused on their one most successful product and failed to innovate and adapt to change in people’s interests. In contrast, Nike have always designed and produced new products as the older designs lost popularity, putting them at one of the most successful athletic company.

I agree with the analysts that if King.com only relies on Candy Crush, it will most likely have only short term success in the stock market. Although Candy Crush currently has millions of players on facebook, all games have life cycles. Having been a person who was once addicted to the game, I can say that people will get bored of it and move on to play something else. In order to adjust to this change, King.com should be more innovative and come up with new games that can replace Candy Crush in order to prevent failing stocks.

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-10-01/candy-crush-ipo-needs-a-better-innovation-plan