Managing Explosive Growth Within the Case Study

This would allow RIM to find individuals from other countries and also to take a more global approach to training and staff development. Hire the "best and the brightest" to rapidly reenergize the organization and product line.

Grow existing lines and existing customers -- Instead of trying to grow rapidly, RIM could target its current user base and simply solidify their needs by using market research to contact them and find ways to improve and maintain market share while retaining talent in the current geographical model. This model would be more conservative about hiring and wages, and would of course allow for some expansion, but keeping most of the R&D in Waterloo, Canada. This would also retain more control over the design and marketing of the product for those in the organization who prefer to manage each instance and aspect of the organization from a Central --( field mentality.

Aggressively target Global Market -- This approach would be two pronged: 1) Move some of the work on the product away from Canada and establish core research centers around the globe and, 2) increase the overall skillset and employee depth by establishing not just customer service, but actual design and management centers globally. This would follow such competitors as Symbian, Nokia, and Motorola, who found that wages were so low in many Asian locations that they could afford far more employees with high levels of talent and innovation (Research in Motion, 2008).

Recommendation - Three factors come into play when recommending the appropriate direction for RIM's issue: 1) Fiscal issues, 2) Market Share Protection, 3) Competition and cannibalization within the industry.Fiscally, the company projected a substantial Net income, so there are funds available for expansion; market share protection is vital within an industry that is changing rapidly; competition is intense -- if RIM does not innovate, it will fall by the wayside.

Therefore, based on the above factors, it seems reasonable that the company would take a more global approach while still retaining a sense of who they are and how they got to the current level of success. Rather than relocating facilities, even R&D in Europe and the United States, for instance, where costs are dramatically higher; consider China, Indonesia, and Singapore, even some of the less volatile areas in the Middle East. This would attract a more global talent base, while at the same time, allowing RIM to move more rapidly into the global marketing and distribution sector without sacrificing its current customer base. Additionally, establishing core satellite bases globally would allow more innovation to occur -- particularly with the way technology allows subgroups to communicate and interact. RIM might also realize greater savings in the Asian market with better margins on manufacturing and shipping; certainly the Asian markets are heavily flooded with Apple and HTC products, it would not hurt to have marketing, sales and distribution offices aggressively pushing at increased sales.

REFERENCES

Research in Motion: Managing Explosive Growth. (2008). Ivey Management Services. Cited in:

Patel, N. (January 22, 2010). Motorola Asks ITC to Ban Blackberry Imports. Endgaget.

Cited in: http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/22/motorola-asks-itc-to-ban-blackberry-imports/

Sweeney, a. (2009). Blackberry Planet: The Story of Research in Motion and the Little Device….....