Palm Inc - from handhelds to smart phones
From Handhelds to smart phones. The pioneers of Palm Inc. Palm had been the leader in the market of hand-held computers with high market share and profitability as well as a brand name recognition level to which many other firms could only dream. Palm's brand has faded substantially and as of April 2010, the company was acquired by HP for $ 1.2B. Below , I have listed Palm Inc's list of errors that the organization made over its life cycle and necessary reccomndations.
Error 1 : Palm Inc. did not establish a great enough sense of urgency. Since Palm Inc.'s conception, no formal business strategy was designed and implemented. Based on the “Ecology Theory” Palm Inc. entered the market as a r-Specialist and eventually transited as a K-generalist, by aproaching different product markets. However, Palm Inc. failed to be successful as a k-generalist due to operating with outdated skills and competencies.
The company has failed to examine the market and competitive realities for potential crises and untapped opportunities. Palm's efforts stopped at the PDA product, while the competition has managed to find ways of implementing the PDA's features into cell phones market.
Error 2. Palm did not create a powerful enough guiding coalition. Based upon the “Institutional Theory” firms that do survive - they become legitimate in the eyes of the shareholders. Chances of survival increase by adopting the rules and codes of conduct found in the institutional environment.
Despite having started as the industry leader, Palm's development over the years did not look as rosy. Palm failed to get the shareholders, board of directors, senior management and even a customer representatives together to help them develop a shared assessment of their company problems and opportunities, and create a minimum level of trust and communication.
Error 3. Lack of vision.
Palm had no clear vision – of what was the picture of the future that the company wanted to achieve (
Error 1 : Palm Inc. did not establish a great enough sense of urgency. Since Palm Inc.'s conception, no formal business strategy was designed and implemented. Based on the “Ecology Theory” Palm Inc. entered the market as a r-Specialist and eventually transited as a K-generalist, by aproaching different product markets. However, Palm Inc. failed to be successful as a k-generalist due to operating with outdated skills and competencies.
The company has failed to examine the market and competitive realities for potential crises and untapped opportunities. Palm's efforts stopped at the PDA product, while the competition has managed to find ways of implementing the PDA's features into cell phones market.
Error 2. Palm did not create a powerful enough guiding coalition. Based upon the “Institutional Theory” firms that do survive - they become legitimate in the eyes of the shareholders. Chances of survival increase by adopting the rules and codes of conduct found in the institutional environment.
Despite having started as the industry leader, Palm's development over the years did not look as rosy. Palm failed to get the shareholders, board of directors, senior management and even a customer representatives together to help them develop a shared assessment of their company problems and opportunities, and create a minimum level of trust and communication.
Error 3. Lack of vision.
Palm had no clear vision – of what was the picture of the future that the company wanted to achieve (