Blackberry Case Study

INTRODUCTION

It was claimed that “Innovation knows no boundaries or borders” at Blackberry Limited, formerly known as Research In Motion (RIM). The company was founded in 1984 in Waterloo, Ontario, by a 23 years old Michael Lazaridis and Douglas Fregin. Douglas has been described as right hand and childhood friend of Mike Lazaridis. The two met in grade school and stayed friends right through high-school graduation. Lazaridis has been studying electrical engineering and had dropped out of the University of waterloo.

General Motors offered the company its first contract. By receiving more and more contracts, the company reached annual sales of $1 million and 12 employees by 1990. By 1992 Lazaridis realized that he was better at engineering

Mr.Fregin studied electrical engineering at the university of Windsor. He was instrumental in evaluating several materials and fabrication technologies of the first circuit boards that were used in early versions of its wireless technology. He served as a director in Blackberry until he retired in 2007.

CENTRALIZATION OF BLACKBERRY LIMITED COMPANY:

What is centralization?

Centralization is said to be a process where the concentration of decision making is in a few hands. In a centralization concern, authority is retained by top management for taking major decisions and framing policies concerning the whole concern. Rest of the authority may be entrusted to the middle level and lower level of management.

The top level of management for the Blackberry Limited Company is responsible for monitoring and supervising other management levels of the company. The top management levels make major decisions concerning policies and also allow the lower management levels to make their own decision concerning day to day affairs.

Implications of centralization:

1. It is easier to maintain secrecy. The latest rumours are only known to the top management

As stated above Blackberry Company is one of them and the reason is that the Top Managers could not make appropriate decisions and also did not share such an important fact to anyone that Blackberry is in trouble.

CHAIN OF COMMAND FOR BLACBERRY COMPANY LIMITED

What is Chain of command?

It is the order in which authority and power in an organization is wielded and delegated from top management to every employee at every level of the organization. Instructions flow downwards along the chain of command and accountability flows upward.

Positive aspects of Chain Of Command:

1. Each employee has one boss thus alleviating the problem of multiple masters and conflicting direction in chain of command.

2. Employees are not confused about whom to go for resources, assistances and feedback.

3. Responsibility and accountability are clearly assigned and each manager has oversight responsibility for a group of employees performing a function.

For Blackberry Company, it has been hard to adjust the chain of commands. When Blackberry was developing and expanding, it faced many challenges worldwide as the Apple launched the iPhone and also the Android became a global sensation for many mobile