While much murmur as of recent is about Blackberry’s failures and RIM’s downfall, Kristina B’s blog catches an interesting idea about the opportunities that result in such event. In her post, she includes the tag “SWOTOpportunity”, as the article links well to the swot analysis topic discussed in class. She explains that Motorola’s decision to expansion in to Waterloo Ontario
Thanks to Blackberry, Waterloo, Ontario has grown in to a “technology hub”
couldn’t have come at a better time as Blackberry announced to lay off more than 4500 employees. She explains that as a result, the influx of unemployed, skilled engineers will head on over to Motorola, “whose goal in expanding to Waterloo was to absorb the area’s wealth of talent”.
Like Kristina, I agree that Motorola is to be commended for planning ahead and recognizing the opportunity to fill in Blackberry’s shoes in the technology hub that is Waterloo. Motorola Canada’s engineering director Derek Phillips states that “Part of the reason we want to be in K-W is that it’s a never-ending source of talent[.]”, including that of graduating University of Waterloo students. I believe that the expansion in to region is mutually beneficial for both Motorola and the region. As much as Motorola benefits from the expansion, the company also maintains the growth of the “technology hub” and hopefully keep talent in the area.