Strategy is formulated in order to fulfill a proposed vision. The vision distinguished a company from its competitors in a way that the former builds up its own competitive advantage. The strategy comprises the overall activities that are relevant in company. The success of the strategies depends on the proposal of a unique and enlightened vision along with the activities that are required to achieve the vision. It is observed in many cases in corporate world that if strategies are focused more on activities then the vision is lost. However, if the focus is given only on the vision then the operational parts are neglected which results problem across the board i.e. quality, personnel, poor productivity etc. The essential feature of strategy formulation is to cope up with the competition that is prevailing in the changing world. The strategic plans have helped the companies to combat with their rivals and reign in the market for long term
The report highlights the strategic evolution in Resaerch in Motion (RIM) by elaborates three strategic schools of thought. Ten strategic schools of thought were explained by Henry Mintzberg, Bruce Ahlstrand and Joseph Lampel (2005) that explained the strategic actions that should be taken by the companies in order to achieve competitive advantage. Among which three are chosen to highlight the strategic performance of RIM. RIM is a successful company in wireless communication industry. The company by employing successful strategies has made a significant place in the society. The report describes the financial performance of the company along with the impact of current strategy on its future performance. RIM has experienced exponential growth which is followed by downfall. Thus, the report also encapsulates the requirement of company to re-invent in the unstable times and fight against their competitors for sustaining in the industry.
The wireless communication industry is characterized by rapid changes in technology, emerging competitive environment and evolving industry standards. It provides the consumers with various choices and thus the product life cycle of the company is reduced to a great extent (RIM, 2014). The trend and the uncertainties that prevail in this industry have daunted the companies to formulate strong strategies which will help them to make their position stable. In order to achieve success in the competitive and uncertain market companies are bound to take unique decisions to ascertain a competitive position in the industry. Imitation is quite common in this industry and thus the companies should be careful enough to structure their products in such a way that it cannot be imitated. RIM being a part of this competitive industry have excelled globally by its wireless innovation. It has brought revolution in the mobile industry with the introduction of Blackberry wireless solution in 1999 (RIM, 2014).
Research in Motion (RIM) is referred as the industry leader for its wireless innovation globally. It brought revolution in the mobile industry with introduction of BlackBerry wireless solution in 1999. It is the first provider for secure, complete, integrated wireless email solution to the mobile professionals. Since then the company is trying to transform the outlook of the mobile industry and have helped the professional to move out of the office and enjoy the opportunity to remain connected with the mails. It is the world’s largest supplier of mobile phone as more and more customers have changed their preferences for the features phones to the smart phones. The company has continued to strengthen its market position by leveraging their core competencies.
The beginning of 21st century had been a boon for the company when it witnessed dramatic growth in revenues from $85 million in 2000 to $6 billion in 2008 (RIM, 2014b; RIM,2014c). These days were quite prosperous for the company since it brought in huge cash as well as for the investor since they received higher dividends during their investment period. However, the time did not remain for long. The company started to encounter challenges for promoting the Blackberry range. The major problems were due to the technical mishaps, adaptation of the new market condition and delay in the introduction of the new product.
In spite of knowing these problems with Blackberry phones the 77 million customers continued to purchase blackberry products and services. The company thus maintained strong balance sheet account with liquidity amounting to $ 2.1billion as on March 2012 (RIM, 2014d). The main strength of the devices lies in the industry leading security that is offered by the company. Other applications such as push-based email connectivity, hardware and software integration has helped the company to become the leader in the market. The services provided by them also appeals to the enterprise market. The company based on their main strength and identifying the demand of tablet in t eh market introduced Blackberry Playbook in 2011 (Weinberg, 2011). The device was built on a unique platform of operating system known as QNX. The operating system helps in performing multi tasks, possess high processing speed which enables the users to experience the intuitive touch screen.
There are 10 schools of thought that were proposed by Mintzberg and his colleagues. Among them three important schools are employed to explain the strategic evolution in RIM.
The positioning school described few key strategies which takes important place in the economic marketplace. The school of thought focuses on content of the strategies which opened new avenues for substantial investigation. The scholars have encapsulated the important premises of the positioning schools of thoughts that are explained below:
1) Strategies are basically generic in nature and are identifiable in the market place since it holds a considerable position.
