BlackBerry: Understanding Economic and Political Performance - Assignment Example

BlackBerry: Understanding Economic and Political Performance Introduction BlackBerry is a Canadian brand. The mother company is known as Research in Motion. It is a series of smart phones and other smart mobile devices. BlackBerry has a global presence and it in fact boasts a market share of at least three percent among all other smart phones and devices. The very first BlackBerry device was introduced sometime in 1999 and it has gradually grown to be a force to reckon with. Microeconomic analysis This will cover issues and the behavior mechanism of resource allocation. Since resources are always limited unlike the unlimited wants, it is important for one to make a choice (Rodrik, 2008). The sale of BlackBerry determinants focuses on the price mechanism of demand and supply. The demand influence emanates from issues such as the user compatibility, the originality of data and the ability to prompt anyone in the case of loss or emergency. On the supply side, there is the involvement of the supply chain management. This is a situation encompassing the planning of activities of procurement and related logistics related to the management activities. The main concentration of supply chain of the BlackBerry involves the suppliers, intermediaries and the final consumer of the product (McGuigan, Moyer & Harri, 2010). A lot of management efforts work in the whole chain of supply. They include the customer relationship, supplier relationship, customer service, ordering department and the manufacturers. A lot of integration and coordination gets involved in the entire process of supply. The formulae used gears towards the maximization of the profits since this is the main reason why the company engages in the business. The presence of this product line ensures a steady demand of the product all year round. The company is also intending to increase the product in the near future to ensure that the demand level is in line with the current technological demands (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). A lot of research reveals that the BlackBerry manufacturers concentrates a lot on various platforms that provide tome sensitive data including the email, messenger internet and also the organizer applications. This requires an addition to the product line to be in line with the current demand (Stair & Reynolds, 2011). Market Segment and Marketing Strategies BlackBerry marketing structure focuses on the operational level strategy. The most viable strategy employment is the vertical and the horizontal segmentation. In the vertical segment, the idea is industrial specific. The horizontal aspect cuts across the boundaries of the industry. The cutting of the industrial boundaries involves the use of a technology application. This will energize a particular business segment (Currie, 2011). It will target so many large industries thereby utilizing a horizontal market strategy. Many software products fall in the product line of the BlackBerry. BlackBerry focuses on the market through the vertical segmentation approach. A vertical approach is where specific industries identify marketing efforts directed towards it. Horizontal segmentation will most be useful when similar customers adopt a particular benefit and use. This means that customers share similar uses of a particular product. In the case of vertical segmentation, the customers must exhibit a difference in the needs of products and technology in terms of the industry items. Continued Profitability of BlackBerry Some important criteria ought to be followed persistently to ensure that the profitability of the company extends beyond the normal profit. This achievement depends upon evaluating the attractiveness depicted by various segments to narrow the choice of concentration. Size of the sales volume, growth of the segments, competition level and capabilities to attain the demands of a segment must be observed. The size will be the best indication of the estimated demand that is present in a particular area. This will help to determine the volume of purchase and produce to cater for the available demand. Growth is a good estimate of the future profitability. The attraction is high incase there is a high a growth rate. The increase in growth is an indication that the firm will capitalize on the customer’s demands. Growth is also an indication that the firm has still the potential to capture a big market share of the new entrants into the market. Competition level is another point of focus to determine the future profitability. This is because of the ability of the firm to determine the kind of strategy supposed to apply to enter into a particular market segment. If the competition is very stiff, there poses to be a problem in the future profitability of the firm. BlackBerry Elasticity Concepts The elasticity will measure the percentage of change of one product variable in respect to a percentage change to the other. The issue at hand will involve the elasticity of various parameters such as demand, supply, income, substitution and the factors of production.BlackBerry created a monopoly ad enjoyed it for almost a decade before other companies started making phones with BlackBerry kind of features. The resultant competition was both positive and negative. It was positive in the sense that it encouraged innovation as that was the only way to remain on the cutting edge. However, the disadvantage is that the price wars with rival companies resulted in a tumble in profits. A good example is the Nokia product company. There is a lot of interdependence since the firm is offering goods offered y the competitors. 0n the supply side, BlackBerry is in a highly contestable market. The company engages in a challengeable world in the sense that various products exist as major competitors. Iphone and other consumer products provide the greatest challenge. This brings in the issue of credit crunch creating the possible implosion of the entire economy. The elasticity of either the demand or supply will communicate many things. Resource Allocation and Usage BlackBerry is characterized by the presence of an automated system that records employee’s data. These employees can access their database anywhere without the necessity of getting back to the office for recording. BlackBerry therefore proofs to be efficiently utilizing the available resources. Macro Economic Analysis Economic Growth The BlackBerry Company achieves a lot of economic growth as far as the overall development is concerned. The area of concern includes the increase in the employment levels. Variety of products offered by the company ensures that the employment level is very high. A lot of intermediaries and supplies involve themselves in the distribution of various products to various market segments. This issue resolves the high level of unemployment not only for the manufacturing countries but also to the targeted areas. Other economic benefits brought about by the company include restructuring of the entire enterprise. This achievement requires a lot of financial intervention that will increase the Gross Domestic Product of a country. The government is also in a position to realize a lot of revenue due to the taxes collected from this kind of business undertaking. The greatest challenge economic benefit is the amount of funds involved being quite significant. This makes the company to be unable to meet all its need of the overall diversification. This is a resource constraint issue. Unemployment BlackBerry is a two in one technology. The use of emails cybercafés is about to face extinction. This is because people can send emails while on the way by use of the BlackBerry phones. This implies that the demand of computers will fall abruptly as more and more people acquire smart phones and other smart devices that can achieve everything that a computer can and even more. People will cease to access cybercafés and the demand for personal computers and laptops is expected to drop over time. It can thus be concluded that the BlackBerry devices will go a long way in creating employment and at the same time posing a threat of unemployment. The Balance of Payments Many products of the BlackBerry find their way in the international market. New versions boost research in terms of profits earned. The shares of the products exhibit a good price trading. The company headquarter is based in Ontario, Canada. The best sale is gained from the BlackBerry slim and the BlackBerry curve models. Most of the external sales to the outside countries generate a lot of revenue for the company. This increased export sale ensures that no balance of payment problems persist in the market. The balance of payment ends up being very favorable. This is because profits are realized compared to the expenses made by the company. If the company imports so much compared to the exports, there is the possibility of balance of payments problems. Presence of such a situation indicates a bad economic situation that is not favorable. An indication of a deficit balance of payment will also indicate a problem associated with economic growth (Hooke, 2010) Business Cycle Business cycles present various economic fluctuations in the economic activity of a company. The greatest significant of the BlackBerry business cycles is the trend analysis. Various growth trend exists which shows a lot of production cycles. The kind of trend exhibited by the BlackBerry products is an expansive one since almost all season of the year is characterized by a high demand of the products. The period of boom is also possible due to the presence of a high demand all year round. Problems occur where there is stiff competition created by other rival products. At this situation, the BlackBerry products may experience an adverse effect and possibly of a decline. The company ensures its product is coupled with a high demand due to the nature of pricing strategies adopted (Stair and Reynolds, 2011) References Currie, D.M. 2011. Country Analysis: Understanding Economic and Political Performance. United Kingdom: Gower Publishing, Ltd Hooke, J.C., 2010. Security Analysis and Business Valuation on Wall Street: a Comprehensive Guide to Today’s Valuation Methods. Washington D.C: John Wiley and Sons McGuigan, J.R., Moyer, R.C. and Harri, F.H. 2010. Managerial Economic. London: Cengage Learning Rodrik, D. 2008. One Economics, Many Recipes: Globalizatio, Institutions, and Economic Growth. New York: Princeton University Press Stair, R. and Reynolds, G., 2011. Fundamentals of Information Systems. London: Cengage Learning Read More