Case study 1
1. Why is the BlackBerry controversy prominent in Asia, particularly in the Middle East, and not anywhere else in the world?
The blackberry controversy is prominent in Asia, particularly in the Middle East, and not anywhere else in the world because of the instability of the region, government corruption, and restricted freedoms. The governments in the Middle East are under threat and need all of the information on potential terrorist plots so they can get to protect their sovereignty. In order to protect the people, or to maintain a dictatorial grip on the power they wield, they suppressed freedoms for the populace. Also because of the different laws and attitudes towards privacy and human rights along with the differing degrees in the capabilities of governments to crack encryption; finally because of the domestic and regional political instability along with the occurrence of certain incidents that highlighted the security threats posed and the RIM’s secrecy.
2. Analyze the measures RIM can take to address security concerns while taking care of its business interests effectively.
I believe that blackberry needs to take a longer view that will eventually help the developing nations in the Middle East and Asia increase the freedom their citizens have. Until than they should strongly cater to those entities that will benefit the most from high security, Corporations and Governments. At this time, the blackberry Phones are not very popular anywhere in the world and their market share of mobile devices is decreased to the point that they hold less than 1% of the market in the United States. However, our top government officials still use BlackBerry phones because of the strong encryption keys. (Based on my personal experience at work). Strategically Blackberry need to use the NSA debacle as a selling point along with other personal information leaks to push new BlackBerry products into the market.
3. Discuss the strategic lessons arising from the BlackBerry
The blackberry controversy is prominent in Asia, particularly in the Middle East, and not anywhere else in the world because of the instability of the region, government corruption, and restricted freedoms. The governments in the Middle East are under threat and need all of the information on potential terrorist plots so they can get to protect their sovereignty. In order to protect the people, or to maintain a dictatorial grip on the power they wield, they suppressed freedoms for the populace. Also because of the different laws and attitudes towards privacy and human rights along with the differing degrees in the capabilities of governments to crack encryption; finally because of the domestic and regional political instability along with the occurrence of certain incidents that highlighted the security threats posed and the RIM’s secrecy.
2. Analyze the measures RIM can take to address security concerns while taking care of its business interests effectively.
I believe that blackberry needs to take a longer view that will eventually help the developing nations in the Middle East and Asia increase the freedom their citizens have. Until than they should strongly cater to those entities that will benefit the most from high security, Corporations and Governments. At this time, the blackberry Phones are not very popular anywhere in the world and their market share of mobile devices is decreased to the point that they hold less than 1% of the market in the United States. However, our top government officials still use BlackBerry phones because of the strong encryption keys. (Based on my personal experience at work). Strategically Blackberry need to use the NSA debacle as a selling point along with other personal information leaks to push new BlackBerry products into the market.
3. Discuss the strategic lessons arising from the BlackBerry