Usa in the 60s - Rim Swot Analysis

Question 5

RIM SWOT Analysis

RIM is a well established company that has been very successful for a number of years. The company's strengths built over the years have helped it to stay on top and continuously develop high quality products that have a very high demand on the market.

Those strengths are:

* Effective R&D program with strong innovative ideas

* Loyal customers that include U.S government and large financial institutions.

* First-mover advantage of "push" e-mail architecture.

* Diverse distribution channels

* Strong JV with various service providers

* Products that attract the attention of both consumers and business professionals.

* Source code is one of their few technical assets which is highly protected and is a key role in the success of the company.

* Competent work force and management

* Cultural, fashion identity

* Company culture has contributed towards a lower turnover rate compared to larger companies, and more happy employees.

* CO-OP program with the University of Waterloo.

There are also certain difficulties that the company had to deal due to the company's recent expansion.

Those weaknesses are:

* Running out of space to expand R&D department.

* Remaining centered in Waterloo is what made them able to have the type of company culture that they do.

* Current culture may not necessarily be maintained if there is an expansion outside of Waterloo, and they no longer have full control.

* Limited amount of physical space at RIM's Waterloo campus.

* RIM has no "cash cow" projects to backup "star" projects

The company has also certain opportunities that it could take advantage of in the future and those are:

* R&D talent is getting increasingly sparse, so if RIM has a group of tenanted people in the future their value is going to increase.

* Economic situation: many smaller firms and technology start ups are struggling financially.

* The telecommunication industry is growing explosively which is an opportunity for RIM to establish in this industry.

* Partnerships with other vendors.

* Customers' satisfaction.

Year 2008 (left) versus year 2011 (right)

* 4G technology

As any significant player in the market RIM is facing several threats that it should consider in order to maintain company's success and profitability:

Those threats are:

* New powerful entrant - Google with its Android

* Explosive growth and increased competition on the R&D team to develop new solutions in the global smartphone market place

* In 2007 Symbian's operating system designed for mobile devices held an estimated 65% worldwide share of the converged devices, shipping 77.3 smartphones in 2007, while RIM Blackberry OS at 11%

* Competition for employees is very competitive in the global software development industry.

* Key competitors have already expanded globally.

* Source code loss, software piracy, product imitations are more common in developing countries where IP protection laws (or enforcement) lagged the United States or Canada.

The SWOT analysis reveals that the company has been a global leader in wireless innovation. It revolutionized the mobile industry with the introduction of the BlackBerry solution in 1999. The company is operating in a competitive industry against some very big names however its R&D team is able to identify and take advantage of the upcoming opportunities and it is appealing to the consumer. The company should put more effort into creating and promoting other products that could be "stars" in its BCG matrix, it should expand its market, as well as keep an eye on the innovative products from the competitions.

Question 6

RIM's policy is to maintain its G&D spending as a consistent percentage of total sales. As the sales increase the company is striving for broader R&D programs which require larger amount of professionals. R&D is seen as a proxy for new product or service development and is used as a key indicator of future revenue potential. Therefore the company believes the amount of investments into R&D should be constantly