The Economics of the European Patent System - Coursework Example

Topic: Work XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 1) Discuss how the changing technological environment present threats and opportunities to RIM products. Technology plays an important role in the performance of RIM because all of its products are technology oriented. The firm has been able to record success in the recent years as a result of its high technology products. This means that technology has a direct effect on the performance of the business. The company is involved in the design and manufacturing wireless solutions for the communication market (Matthews, 2007, p. 88). This makes it more dependent on the use of technology. It is clear that the changing technological environment has brought a number of threats and opportunities for the companies in various ways. Threats 1. Competition Competition has been the main effect of the changing technological environment. The company has had to compete with a number of companies with Apple Inc. offering the greatest competition among the competing companies for the supply of wireless solutions. The increasing competition has been recognized in form of the introduction of new products. Companies have been able to do research and come up with new products that are able to meet the changing needs of consumers hence rendering RIM’s products irrelevant (Christensen and Raynor, 2003, p. 28). Companies have been able to produce differentiated products unlike RIM hence attracting a good number of customers. For instance, Blackberry phones are no longer differentiated resulting in IM to lose its clients to competing service providers. This is evident from the feedback recorded from the high end market for mobile phones. The major effect of the changing technology has been the introduction of differentiated products that have rendered those of RIM unattractive. One of the major characteristics of human wants is that they are always changing. Companies have invested a lot of capital in research and development in efforts aimed at understanding the needs of the market. Technology has played an important role in the efforts by companies to identify market needs (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 123). There are new technologies of doing research that have resulted in organizations collecting accurate information on market needs hence producing products that match the needs. RIM has been unable to embrace new technologies in the design and supply of its wireless solutions for the mobile market hence resulting in the loss of market share. Some of the new products that have been introduced as a result of changing technologies include iPhone and android. Research studies indicate that 74 percent of the companies using mobile email have shifted and adopted new platforms including iPhone and Android. This is a new phenomenon and analysts have predicted that more companies are likely to adopt new platforms that embrace new technology. This will increase pressure on the performance of RIM as the companies are making efforts to snatch a significant market share of BlackBerry (Christensen and Raynor, 2003, p. 23). 2. Security of information Security of information is an important aspect of any wireless solution on mobile phones. The changing technology has resulted in the exposure of user information to unwanted parties. RIM products have been the most affected and analysts have tagged the products as the most insecure especially the BlackBerry mobile phones. Advancing technologies enabled RIM to install OS 6 in some of its BlackBerry phones. This resulted in the exposure of user’s information to hackers. According to the company IT department, the use of S 6 in the mobile phone allowed hackers to have access to the device user data through the phone’s browser. This was especially risky if the phone user was using the BlackBerry browser and visiting sites that were designed in a malicious manner (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 116). Technology affected the information security of RIM products in the sense that the new developments exposed users to more risks compared to older version of technology used in the BlackBerry phones. Users of BlackBerry installed with OS 6 were vulnerable because the operating system was not adequately secure because it allowed hackers have access to data stored in media cards and built in media storage. The result is that the company has been forced to disable JavaScript on several of its BlackBerry phone. Some of the devices that have had JavaScript disabled include the Torch 9800 and the Curve 9300 (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 111). The company has provided an alternative option in case disabling JavaScript fails to address the problem of vulnerability. The company has announced that it will be forced to disable the BlackBerry Browser on the devices together with the devices until there is zero tolerance to the problem of information insecurity. Generally, technological advancement in the field of technology has resulted in the company adopting the use of new gadgets that have compromised the security of information when using its devices. The other side of technological advancement has resulted in increasing the chances of hackers having access to the BlackBerry information system. This has been made possible because hackers are able to design malicious sites from where they can have access to information of unsuspecting users (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 187). The company has been forced to go back to the drawing board once again and come up with lasting solutions to the problem. The company has lost a significant number of users because of the problem of information security. Opportunities 1. Improved security technology As noted earlier on, RIM is facing the problem of its gadgets being vulnerable to hacking attacks as a result of the adoption of new technology. However, there is still hope for the company because technological advancement presents the opportunity for the company to adopt new security technology. In a conference that was held in Stockholm, Assa Abloy AB announce that it was making plans of collaborating with RIM to provide high security technology for the upcoming BlackBerry models (Matthews, 2007, p. 112). Assa Abloy AB is the leading locking company in the world and was planning to provide RIM with key card technology in its mobile phone models to be produced in the coming years. Assa Abloy AB released a press statement indicating the technology will be known as Near Field Communication and will be incorporated in smartphones hence replacing regular access cards (). Some of the BlackBerry models that will use the technology include the BlackBerry Bold 9900/9930 and BlackBerry Curve 9350/9360. The two mobile phone models are expected to be launched in the yearly periods of 2012 hence ushering a new era of secure phone use. Research studies indicate that the new technology will enable users to swipe their phones in cases where buildings will have door card readers so as to have access to the building. The new technology has also improved security for users because they are able to combine their phones with a PIN number (Lennon, 2007, p. 188). Given the increasing number of threats, RIM has been faced with the challenge of ensuring the security of its gadgets. The changing nature of technology has provided RIM an opportunity of developing NFC technology for other uses such as making time reports and payments. Users of BlackBerry models will be able to make payments and prepare time reports. 2. Introducing new designs for its mobile market The changing technology presents an opportunity for RIM to introduce new designs for its BlackBerry mobile phone models. Currently, mobile phones with touch screens and less buttons are on an increasing demand in the market (Lennon, 2007, p. 200). RIM has the opportunity to embrace the new opportunity and introduce models with touch screens instead of the common models with viewty keyboards. This has the chance of boosting sales for the company and attracting new customers. The changing technology has resulted in consumers changing their needs relating to the use of mobile phones. Most of the users are geared using mobile phones that are simple and effective to use. As noted earlier on, most of the users are demanding more of touch screen mobile phones than the existing ones that have large number of buttons. Rival and competing companies such as Apple are gaining a market share in the market for mobile phones because of their ability to offer new designs of their products in a timely fashion. RIM has the opportunity of creating a competitive advantage by introducing new and competitive designs of their BlackBerry models. RIM is among the strongest mobile brands in the world (Guellec, 2007, p. 120). However, the company has in the recent past lost some of its loyal customers for the simple reason that the company has been unable to introduce new mobile models that complement the needs of the users. However, the solution to the challenge lies in the ability of RIM to introduce new product designs using the existing high technologies. 2) Discuss the impact of the current economic global crisis upon the operations of RIM, given that it appears to have smaller financial resources than its main competitors. The telecommunication industry has a direct connection with the global economy. The connection between the telecommunication industry and the global economy arises from the fact that telecommunication plays an important role in driving the growth of the global economy and has been a major beneficiary to the growth (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 167). Research studies have indicated that telecommunication has been able to expand twice more than the underlying economy. Some of the key elements of telecommunication that have promoted sustainable development include use of mobile phone, internet access among other elements of electronic. The current global financial crisis has resulted in bad performance for a number of companies spanning all the industries. Car manufacturing companies have recorded slumping sales with an increasing number of banks going bankrupt. Analysts record that the financial crisis is similar to the 1929 crushing of the Wall Street. The collapse of the financial market has taken telecommunication companies by surprise despite the fact that the crisis has been developing since the year 2009 (Smith, 2001, p. 22). The following are the impacts of the current economic global crisis upon the operations of RIM: 1. High cost of market penetration The current economic global crisis has resulted in high costs of operations for mobile solution companies. Since RIM has a small financial base, the company has unable to expand its operation and penetrate in to new markets because of the increasing cost of operations. Analysis on the market for mobile phone solutions indicate that most of the market players in the mobile phone industry have been forced to scale down their operations as a result of the increasing cost of doing business (Sweeny, 2009, p. 100). The compounding factor to the problem is that RIM has a smaller financial resource compared to its main competitors such as Apple Inc. For instance, at one point in time this year Apple was the most valuable company in the world and is currently holding the second position in the rankings. Nokia is also one of the main competitors to RIM and has one of the largest financial resources given the fact that the mobile manufacturer is the market leader in the phone market (Zeidler, 2009, p. 77). The huge financial resources of the competing businesses gives them a competitive advantage because they are able o consolidate their already occupied market through heavy investing in comprehensive marketing activities whereas RIM is struggling to make an entry into already occupied markets. 2. Loss of clients In recent times, RIM has almost entirely focused its products on the business community. This has resulted in adverse developments for the company because the current economic global crisis has resulted in high levels of unemployment resulting in the company losing its potential customers especially the bankers (Sweeny, 2009, p. 78). Most of the bankers use Black Berry phones and the fact that a significant number of banks have collapsed during the current economic recession proves the fact that RIM is losing a significant number of its customers as a result of unemployment. The company’s concentration on the business market has the implication that there is an urgent need for the company to shift its production and concentrate on the general market for mobile use. This requires a huge amount of financial outlay in order for the company to make a successful shift to a new line of product concentration. However, the ability of the company to shift its production line is limited to the fact that the company has a small financial resource. Competing businesses are able to adapt to the changing market environment in a very short possible time because they have adequate financial resources to shift their lines of production (Smith, 2001, p. 11). 3) With reference to the EU market only, explain how contemporary cultural and social changes might future development of RIM. Research studies have shown that there is a close relationship between technology and social changes. The European has been fascinated by the innovations in the field of technology and countries have been devoted to making sure that there is some progress in the field of technology. The internet has had a powerful influence in the cultural and social systems of the countries within the European Union (Schneiderman, 2002, p. 16). The European Union is among the regional blocks that are supporting the use of the internet because of the belief that the use of technology has resulted in the transformation of education as universal. People have been able to have access to educational materials in a perfect and instant fashion. The EU has also embraced the use of the internet in engaging in democratic activities where people are able to go online and conduct debates on national issues. The culture of using technology has an effect of creating an opportunity for RIM in the sense that the company may consider introducing new applications that meet the growing needs of the EU market. The company may design mobile applications that will allow students have video classes using the BlackBerry phones instead of using their personal computers (Matthews, 2007, p. 17). The company may also design mobile applications that connect citizens through the internet and allow them engage in debating activities. Despite the EU appreciating the use of the internet in various activities such as education, growing criticism that the internet is considered a threat to culture, society and morality may result in the RIM engage in manufacturing phones that have restricted access to certain sites. The issue of pornography has been prevalent among countries belonging to the European Union and this has seen the regional block drafting legislations aimed at addressing the issue. The other issue that is greatly emphasized is security of information (Lennon, 2007, p. 18). The EU has a culture where emphasis is placed on the privacy of users of information. However, RIM is currently facing the challenge of securing its gadgets given their recent vulnerability to hacking. RIM is forced to ensure that there is security of information when unveiling future models of its Black Berry mobile phones. The firm may also consider improving its internet access applications so as to limit access to pornographic sites by children. The changes will be in line with the changing social and cultural needs of the EU hence enhancing its competitive advantage (Guellec, 2007, p. 22). References Guellec, D, 2007, The economics of the European patent system: IP policy for innovation and competition, London: Oxford University Press. Lennon, M, 2007, Drafting Technology Patent License Agreements, Chicago: Aspen Publishers Online. Matthews, J, 2007, Research in motion: Patterns of large-scale migration in dragonflies and birds, New York: ProQuest. Schneiderman, R, 2002, The mobile technology question and answer book: a survival guide for business managers, New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. Smith, M, 2001, Transnational urbanism: locating globalization, New York: Wiley-Blackwell. Sweeny, A, 2009, BlackBerry planet: the story of Research in Motion and the little device that took the world by storm, New York: John Wiley and Sons. Zeidler, C, 2009, Mobile Support in Customer Loyalty Management, New York: Gabler Verlag. Read More