BlackBerry in International Markets: Balancing Business Interests and Host Nations' Security Concerns
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Case Code: BSTR391 Case Length: 14 Pages Period: 2007-2010 Pub Date: 2011 Teaching Note: Not Available |
Price: Rs.600 Organization: Research In Motion Industry: Consumer Electronics, Smartphones Countries: Global, India, Asia, Middle East Themes: International Business, International Management, Business Ethics |
Abstract Case Intro 1 Case Intro 2 Excerpts
"Terrorists and criminals have 'thousands of ways' to hide their communications... Eventually we'll get to a point to ban computers... There's always a discussion about things that develop technologically. But we have to live with it"
- Sheik Khaled bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, Bahrain.'s foreign minister, on BalckBerry Controversy, in 2010
BlackBerry in International Markets...
Research In Motion (RIM), a Canadian company, was the maker of the BlackBerry smatphone. Mike Lazaridis, founder and co-CEO of RIM, launched the first BlackBerry smartphone in 2002. Initially Blackberries were sold to business entities and government agencies in UK, US and Canada, but later in 2005 as the smartphone market took off all over the world, RIM decided to expand its overseas business. At that time RIM had no clue that its biggest selling point - strong encryption built into the design of the BlackBerry system that guaranteed customers privacy- would turn out be a major hurdle in its overseas expansion spree, especially in Asia and the Middle East. In 2010, Government of UAE imposed a ban on BlackBerry and created a furor in countries like India, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia among others.
Respective governments of these countries considered the phone to be a national security threat due to strong encryption of the BlackBerry system that guaranteed customers privacy. Analysts raised questions such as why RIM faced so much controversy in Asian countries, especially in the Middle East and not anywhere else in the world; what were the options available for RIM to avoid a ban in these countries; and would RIM be successful in addressing the security concerns of these nations and its business interests effectively. Some observers felt that the dilemma was hard to solve as demand of governments (for access to communications) and expectations of customers (privacy) were mutually exclusive...
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