k.

bcolg

names

index

acknowledgement

Introduction
Black berry is a product of research and motion (RIM) company. -+ is a company whose headquarters is based in waterloo ontario Canada. RIM deals in many business lines. One of its businesses is of blackberry mobiles. It launched blackberry smartphones in the year 1999. It has its offices in America, Asiapacific, and Europe. The BlackBerry family includes best-in-class smartphones and software offerings, as well as the BlackBerry PlayBook, the worlds first professional-grade tablet. Setting the bar for mobile access to email, applications and more, the BlackBerry family of products also allows virtual real-time communication, so you can stay in touch with the people and information that matter most. The BlackBerry product line includes the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet, the award-winning BlackBerry smartphone, software for businesses and accessories. BlackBerry products and services are used by millions of customers around the world to stay connected to the people and content that matter most throughout their day. The BlackBerry is also known as a RIM device. The device is equipped with the RIM software implementation of proprietary wireless-oriented protocols; furthermore, the device is supported by the RIM BlackBerry Message Center. The BlackBerry (RIM) device shares similarities to the PDA devices; however, the BlackBerry (RIM) device is always-on, and participating in some form of wireless push technology. As a result of this the BlackBerry (RIM) does not require some form of desktop synchronization like the PDA does. This unique component of the BlackBerry (RIM) device adds a different dimension to the process of forensic examination, and in essence this portability can be the examiners greatest ally.

Background
Living in a global world, we are mainly ruled by gadgets of all kinds. Starting from a street sweeper all the way up to the CEO of a multinational corporation, we all are beguiled by the charm and charisma that technology brings to our lives. This reality has turned luxuries into necessities. Still man is not satisfied with this technological awareness, always driven by the desire for more convenience, speed, and efficiency to make life easier. To satisfy this desire we bring to you a new Blackberry, with conferencing capabilities and GPS features. The young executives of today and the senior officers at work find it extremely frustrating not to be able to contact multiple business partners simultaneously and with limited fanfare and complications. Our new product solves this problem by allowing users to engage in a conference call by selecting a distribution group, contact group, or by multi-selecting users in the Contact List. Users engaged in a one-to-one call can invite other participants to join the conversation thereby creating a multi-party conference. Features Operating System of the BlackBerry The current version of the BlackBerry OS has numerous capabilities and features. These features include; over the air activation, ability to synchronize contracts and appointments with Microsoft Outlook, a password keeper program to store sensitive information and the ability to customize your blackberry display data. BlackBerry Operation and Security The BlackBerry (RIM) device has an integrated wireless modem; this allows the device to communicate over the BellSouth Intelligent Wireless Network. The BlackBerry (RIM) device uses the BlackBerry Serial Protocol. This protocol is used to backup, restore and synchronize the data that is communicated between the BlackBerry (RIM) handheld unit and the desktop software. This protocol comprises simple packets and single byte return codes. The device uses a strong encryption scheme that safeguards confidentiality, and authenticity of data. It keeps data encrypted while in transit between the enterprise server and the device itself.

Wireless Security The BlackBerry (RIM) has a couple of transport encryption options. These options are the Triple Des (Data Encryption Standard) or AES (Advanced Encryption Standard. Those who want to implement the most secure method will elect to encrypt with the AES algorithm. The Blackberry has another feature that is referred to as the Password Keeper, this feature offers the capability of securely storing password entries on the devices, these could consist of banking passwords, PINs, etc. This critical and important information is protected by AES encryption. Security for Stored Data There are several capabilities available on the BlackBerry device when it comes to securing the data that is stored there. The first option we will discuss is the capability to make password authentication mandatory through the customizable IT policies on the BlackBerry Enterprise Server. An additional method of protection from unauthorized parties is the Fact that there is no staging of data between the server and BlackBerry device where data is decrypted. Forensic Examination of a BlackBerry Since the BlackBerry (RIM) is all always-on, push messaging device information can be pushed to it at anytime. It is important to note that this information that is pushed does have the potential or overwriting any data that possibly was previously deleted. The problem is compounded by the fact that without warning there are a multitude of applications that may receive information, and make the attempts by the forensic investigator to recover information and an unaltered file system much more difficult. The first step in preserving the information is to eliminate the ability of the device to receive this data push. If possible you could turn the radio off, or a better solution is to take the device to an area where the signal cannot be received, this possibly can be achieved by putting the device inside of" a filing cabinet drawer, but your mileage will vary here. One might think, "I'll just turn it of." This would be a serious mistake! The BlackBerry (RIM) device is not really "off" unless power is removed for an extended period, or the unit is placed in storage mode; furthermore, once the unit is powered back on any items that were in the queue waiting to be pushed to the device could possibly be pushed before you could stop them. As mentioned previously, and we will reiterate it here, it is quite possible that a change to state such as a power off of-the BlackBerry could result in a program being run on the unit that will allow the device to accept remote commands via email.

Acquisition of Information Considerations The considerations for the BlackBerry (RIM) device are similar in some ways to the PDA devices, but there are some differences, so let's take a look at the considerations you have to make when acquiring evidence from the Blackberry (RIM) device. Device is in the "off" State If the unit is off at the time of acquisition, the investigator needs to take the unit to a shielded location before attempting to switch the unit on. If a shielded location is not readily available, you might have success using a safe or other room that can block the signal well enough to prevent the data push. One thing to consider is having a unit available that you can use to walk the network and area to test the coverage, and look for weak coverage areas to use. Device is in the "on" State If the device you are examining is in the "on" state then as outlined and detailed above, you need to take the device to a secure location and disable or turnoff the radio before beginning the examination. Password Protected One thing that has to be considered when it comes to password protection is the fact that the password itself is not stored on the device, the only thing that is stored on the device is a hashing of the plain text password. This storage is similar to the storage used by the majority of operating systems out there. Evidence Collection To collect evidence from the Blackberry we have to violate the traditional forensic methods by requiring the investigator to record logs kept on the unit that will be wiped after an image is taken. There are several different log files that we want to collect evidence from; Radio Status, this log lets us enumerate the state of the devices radio functions; Roam and Radio, thus log has a buffer of up to 16 entries usually, records information concerning the tower, channel etc, and will not survive a reset; Transmit/Receive, records gateway information, and type and size of data transmitted; Profile String, this contains the negotiation with the last utilized radio tower. Once the log information is extracted and enumerated then the image will be taken. If you do not require or need the log information then the image can be acquired immediately.

Unit Control Functions The logs are reviewed by using the unit control functions; there are several functions we will discuss. The first function is the Mobitex2 Radio Status, this provides information on the Radio Status, Roam and Radio Transmit or Receive and Profile String. The second control function is the Device Status; it provides information on memory allocation, port status, file system allocation and CPU WatchPuppy. The third control function is the Battery Status, and as the name implies it provides information on battery type, load, status and temperature. The last control function we will discuss is the Free Mem, this provides information on memory allocation, Common Port File System, WatchPuppy, OTA status, Halt and Reset. Imaging and Profiling When you are conducting a forensic examination of a BlackBerry (RIM) device we need to conduct imaging and profiling. This is accomplished by extracting the logs from a developed image; acquiring an image of a bit-by-bit backup using the BlackBerry (RIM) software development kit (SDK). The SDK is available from www.blackberry.com and is essential for the forensic examiner when investigating a BlackBerry (RIM) device. The SDK utility dumps the contents of the Flash RAM into a file. Once the Flash RAM is dumped it can be examined and reviewed using traditional methods with your favorite hex editor or other tool. In addition to reviewing the evidence with traditional methods, you can use the Simulator from the SDK to match the network and model of the investigated unit. Attacking The BlackBerry We have several tools and methods available that allow us to attack the BlackBerry, The first tool is the BlackBerry Attack Toolkit, and this toolkit along with the BBProxy software can be used to exploit website vulnerabilities. The second tool is the Attack Vector, this tool links and tricks users by downloading malicious software to the Blackberry. The last method we will discuss is the method of hijacks, or as it is sometimes referred to blackjacks. As the name implies this allows someone to hijack a legal user's BlackBerry (RIM) and replace them on the network with potentially harmful devices. Securing the BlackBerry (RIM)

We have several things we can do to secure the information on the BlackBerry (RIM) device. The first thing we can do is clean the BlackBerry (RIM) device memory, and we can protect stored messages on the messaging server. You can encrypt the application password as well as the storage of if it on the BlackBerry (RIM) device; furthermore, you can protect storage of user data on a locked BlackBerry device by limiting the password authentication attempts. It is possible to set a maximum of 10 attempts to gain access to the device. Additionally, you can use AES technology to secure the storage of the password keeper and password entries on the BlackBerry device. Information Hiding in the BlackBerry (RIM) When it comes to hiding information in the BlackBerry (RIM) device we have several places we can hide information. You can create hidden databases; you can hide information in partition gaps. Data can be hidden in the gap between the Operating System/Application and file partitions. BlackBerry (RIM) Signing Authority Tool This tool helps the developers protect their data and intellectual property. It enables the developers to handle access to their sensitive Application Program Interfaces (APIs). The tool provides this protection by using public and private signature keys. It does this by using asymmetric cryptography to validate the authenticity of the request; furthermore, the signing tool allows developers to exchange API information in a secure manner and environment.

Products 1. Blackberry curve 5800 series 2. BB Porsche design P9981 smartphone 3. BB bold 9900/9930 4. BB Bold 9790 5. BB torch 9850/9860 6. BB torch 9810 7. BB curve 9370

8. BB curve 9360 9. BB bold 9780 10. BB style 9670 11. BB pearl 3G 9100 12. BB storm2tm 9550 SWOT

(FOR EG)
(Build up)
(Reduce)

Strength
Strong Brand Strong and Marketable product Product innovation Socially aware Strategic location Adaptability Technology innovation

Weakness
Advertisement Dissatisfied franchisees High employee turnover rate Adult Sandwiches Customer service

(Grab)

(Avoid)

Opportunities
Expansion Better cost control Introduce healthy food Offer more varieties

Threats
Competition Public Health crises Current world economic standing

Berry OS: Strengths and Weaknesses

Once upon a time, choosing an enterprise class business phone was simple: just get a BlackBerry. Throughout early decades of the 21st century, the BlackBerry was synonymous withbusiness connectivity. Its strong support for email, messaging, global roaming and mobile document editing made it the best in class among the other fledgling smartphone platforms. But today, the up and comers have arrivedand BlackBerry faces stiff competition from the likes of the iPhone, theWindows Phone 7 and Android smartphones. In spite of the heavy representation that the Apple and Google-backed mobile operating systems receive in the consumer sector, BlackBerry remains the top choice for certain business users. That being said, being the oldest doesnt always equal being the bestand the BlackBerry lags behind in some areas that may matter to you. When Research In Motion Ltd. brought the BlackBerry to the market, much of the way business used to be done is now anything but the same old, same old. Also, with its acceptance into business came its acceptance into the general population, but with that came the growth of many competitors looking to take some of the market share from the company. The objective of this paper is to do a strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats analysis for this product, based on openPrior to 2002 the BlackBerry was simply a two-way pager with a thumb keyboard attached to it. With the introduction of the 5000 and 6000 series BlackBerry, the abilities began to expand with the introduction of Java and the ability to transmit email. With the 7000 series came the integration of a full color screen, making web browsing a more enhanced experience. Followed by the introduction of the 7100 series, this is where the company began to market to the general consumer rather than just the business professional. Then, with the 8000 series, the market for the general consumer was cemented with the addition of features such as Wi-Fi capabilities, built in cameras, and memory expansion options. With today's 9000 series phones RIM has expanded the Blackberries capabilities with the addition of full HTML support for web pages, the ability to receive RSS feeds, and many enhanced online social networking capabilities (Vercillo, n.d.). With this history of innovation behind it, a SWOT analysis of this product may help us to see what the future holds in store.ly available information, to see where the product stands today, and where it may look to move tomorrow.

BlackBerry Strengths Research in Motion excels in hardware and user interface design. And just like the iOS smartphoneoperating system is exclusive to Apple hardware, the

BlackBerry OS is exclusive to phones created by Research in Motion. This means much better stability, consistency and reliability across all aspects of the phone. Specifically, BlackBerry phones tend to have better battery lifeincluding talk time and standby timeand are durable enough to stand up repeated rough deposits into airport security baskets or briefcases. BlackBerrys are also renowned for their superior physical keyboards, that, with a bit of practice, allow road warriors to pound out emails, memos and other text-based communication at lightning speed. As a company thats built its name on business class features, Research in Motion also stands head and shoulders above the rest in terms of security. In fact, BlackBerrys email servers are so secure that many governments have banned the phones in country, since it bars them from spying on their own citizens. Bottom-line: Email, calendar management, messaging, durability, battery life and security are the areas where BlackBerry stands out. Given that these are the precise features that many business users are looking for, the BlackBerry remains a favorite among professionals and corporate users.

BlackBerry Weaknesses Android and iPhone smartphones are the platform du jour, which means that the latest fads are going to hit these phones first. This has the biggest impact on the app selection. Like Apple and Android, BlackBerry has its own dedicated app store, called BlackBerry App World. While the selection of free and paid apps is extensive, chances that when you hear about that newfangled app thats trending like crazy, itll be for iPhone or Androidwith the BlackBerry version coming soon. The plus side of this is that most of the trendy apps dont tend to be particularly business oriented. For example, Instagram, Words with Friends and Angry Birds all debuted on the iPhone and slowly trickled to the Android (no Instagram on Android as of the time of this article). But social networking through artsy snapshots and beating strangers in Scrabble have little business applicationso youre not missing much. The more significant drawback of a BlackBerry is that in order to tap the full potential of the BlackBerry mobile platform, youll have to have BlackBerry

enterprise software installed back at the office. If your company has invested in the technical infrastructure to support their employees BlackBerry phones, this is all well and good. But if you are a small business user or an individual considering a BlackBerry, know that yours wont be nearly as powerful as that of an employee who received his as a company phone from a Fortune 500 companyat least not without a little bit of investment of time and money.

opportunities
One of the biggest opportunities for RIM and the BlackBerry line is the BlackBerry Partners Fund, which is being used to help create downloadable applications for the BlackBerry from independent companies (Gardner, 2008). Apples iPhone has really dominated this market, and the BlackBerry has been slow to adopt this model for creating applications, but with both an already commanding presence in the US market and the addition of useful applications the BlackBerry would be well positioned to gain even more market share. Also, based on some of the examples given earlier in this paper, the BlackBerry could certainly benefit from upgraded web capabilities, and overall multimedia capabilities.

threats
With nearly every electronics manufacture from LG, to Nokia, to Samsung coming out with their own smartphones, the threats to RIMs BlackBerry are many fold. This is especially true with the already mentioned weakness in its web interface. In the global market, the BlackBerry's market share rose by nearly five percent, at the same time Nokia's market share fell from 51.4% to 38.9%, showing that with the shear number of offerings available in this market, even when you have a near dominating hold on the market it can quickly fall away. With the BlackBerry's often late arrival to new technologies, such as the use of touchscreens, HSDPA, and the availability of add-on applications, to help maintain and expand their market share, the engineers and designers at RIM need to begin catching the technology curve and getting in front of it to help create more market share for their offerings.

SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats, and the framework is potentially the most used decision tool following its development at Harvard Business School in the 1950s (Panagiotou, 2003). Strengths and Weaknesses are attributes that are internal to a firm, and Opportunities and Threats relate to conditions external to a firm. However, the complexity of strategy has increased from the 1950's and SWOT remains a relatively simple tool. Still, it remains useful tool in that it balances internal and external determinants of firm performance (Black & Boal, 1994), and it organizes information needed to make decisions. Good decisions require data and information on different alternatives with some basis for comparison. If you do not have adequate information, the results of your analysis will be less reliable than what is needed to make good decisions. However, there are diminishing returns to information and managers know that complete information is never available. A rule developed by Colin Powell is to delay decisions until you have 60 percent of the information (McNeilly, 1996, p. 73) - waiting longer enables others to preempt what you want to do. As a result, managers make business decisions with incomplete information and modify them as they are implemented. There is a role for common sense, gut feel, and experience. However, these 'intangibles' should be guided by formal tools that can help avoid decision biases. The SWOT framework offers a good starting point. While often used as a static tool, SWOT can enable planning to change a firm's internal and external conditions. Used this way SWOT analysis not only helps evaluate firms but it can suggest strategies to achieve firm goals. SWOT can also be applied by people to make career and other life decisions. Below, the principles associated with each aspect of the SWOT framework are presented with sample questions to consider. This handout will help you:

Analyze companies (their performance and outlook). Evaluate business plans.

Recommend courses of action Strengths Every organization has internal strengths and often they are obvious. For example, Microsoft's dominant market share of personal computer operating systems allows it to bundle other products, such as its web browser. In other situations, strengths will be less clear or a matter of perspective. It is important to note that companies facing challenges also have strengths. Whether these strengths are adequate is an issue for analysis. For example, a small company may have the ability to move fast, but may lack other resources to fully take advantage of their speed. Answers to the following questions help identify a firm's strength.

What does the company do you do better than anyone else? What are the major sources of a company's revenue and profit? What unique or lower-cost resources does the company own? Is the firm's marketing and advertising effective? Is the morale of the employees high and are those employees skilled? Does the company harness information technology effectively? Does the company manage its inventories efficiently? Has the company demonstrated the ability to adapt and change? Weaknesses It is important to note that even competent companies have weaknesses, and they will be more significant if a firm does not recognize them. One example would be a strong culture that discounts external ideas. Weaknesses may also result from others using a firm's strengths against it (e.g., a company has 99% market share, but it is susceptible to disruptive technology). Acknowledging weaknesses is not an admission of failure, but an acceptance that we cannot be all things in all

situations. Note: A better appreciation of where we need help from others (by more people) would make the world a better place. Answers to the following questions help identify a firm's weakness.

What factors drive lost sales? Does the company have adequate reserves to withstand sudden economic downturns? Is the company able to attract, develop, and retain talent? What are the biggest expenditures/costs for the company? Is the company able to raise money when it needs to? Has the company been able to bring new ideas and products to the market place? Do employees have faith in management? Are the corporate governance standards high enough? Opportunities All organizations have some external opportunities that they can pursue. These could range from diversification to outsourcing non-core operations to a supplier. However, firms will have more opportunities than they can reasonable pursue. Identifying hidden opportunities that meet the needs and capabilities of a firm is the mark of an astute analyst. Answers to the following questions help identify opportunities for a firm.

What are the interesting trends in a firm's industry? Are there new technologies that the company can use to innovate or lower costs? Are there opportunities to extend brands into related areas? Are there inexpensive acquisition opportunities? Can the company use the Internet as a marketing channel to lower costs? Can the company expand internationally, or move up or down the value chain? Is there an opportunity to demand better prices from suppliers?

Are there opportunities to cooperate (alliances) with other firms for mutual benefit? Can the company get cash flows that are more predictable by establishing better relations with customers? Threats No organization is immune to external threats. The environment a firm faces is always changing. However, the severity of the threats a firm faces will often be unique to their industry. Answers to the following questions help identify opportunities for a firm.

What changes in the industry or by competitors should a company worry about? What is the level of regulation in the industry, and is it changing? Is there trade union activity that could have an adverse effect? Do the products of the company have enough brand equity to withstand price competition? Are international competitors eating away market share? Is the company considered a good employer relative to its competitors? Is the industry experiencing technological changes? Is company sales volume falling? Why? Is the company falling behind competitor technology? Alternatives Identifying attributes of a firm and its environment is just the beginning of a SWOT analysis. The SWOT profile analyzes a firm's internal and external environment to identify strengths that can be matched with opportunities, while avoiding threats and addressing weaknesses (Panagiotou, 2003). Firms are often less aware of areas that they need to improve or the implications of how they can exploit their strengths through pursuing opportunities or responding to threats.

Building strategies that account for a firm's SWOT profile can be aided by creating alternatives to match internal and external characteristics:

S-O strategy-Match a firm's strengths to a market opportunity (symmetric) W-O strategy-Invest in overcoming a weakness to pursue an opportunity (asymmetric) S-T strategy-Apply a firm's strengths to reduce its vulnerability to a threat (offensive) W-T strategy-Take action to prevent a firm's weakness from making it vulnerable to a threat (defensive) Once you identify strategies, you can move on to implementation.

Micro Environment analysis

The micro-environment consists of stakeholder groups that a firm has regular dealings with. These are closely related to the firm. The way these relationships develop can affect the costs, quality and overall success of a business. They are controllable in nature. Issues in the micro-environment include: (COSMIC) 1. Customers customers are obviously the key to sales. Managers must monitor customer needs and try to anticipate how these will develop so that they can meet these requirements effectively now and in the future. To help understand their customers firms are increasingly trying to gather information on them through mechanisms such as loyalty cards. By gathering data on shopping patterns and matching this to data on the individual shoppers firms can build up detailed pictures of their buyers and then offer them appropriate deals. Many firms are also trying to develop relationships with customers to help ensure they come back time and time again. Loyalty cards, frequent flyer programmes and frequent shopper incentives are all aimed at rewarding customers who buy a firm's product regularly. Newsletters, email lists and recommendations to online shoppers of what else they might be interested in are all ways of trying to build a relationship with customers. Of course, potential buyers usually have many choices and so may be able to use their bargaining power in relation to firms. The growth of the internet has enabled

customers to search quickly for alternatives and compare deals more easily; this puts pressure on firms to provide better value for money or they will lose their customers. 2. Organization: It is the base where the company operates. Organization is a framework in which a company and its employees operate. 3. Suppliers: can they provide high quality products at a good price? Can they do this reliably in the volumes required? Have they got the flexibility to respond to a firm's demands? What is the bargaining power of these suppliers? How dependent is the firm on them? Does their approach to their staff and resources fit with your ethics? Firms must decide on issues such as who to use to supply them, on the responsibility it takes for these suppliers and on the terms and conditions it adopts. Some firms take quite an aggressive attitude towards their suppliers by trying to push down the prices and delay payments. Others view the relationship more as a partnership in which they are working together with suppliers and that by helping each other both can benefit. The importance of suppliers can be seen if things go wrong. In 2000 Ford's image was damaged when tyres on its Explorer vehicles started exploding. These tyres were produced by Bridgestone and the supplier ended up re-calling over 6.5 million tyres. In 2007 Sony batteries in several Dell laptops caught fire which caused a terrible public relations issue for the computer manufacturer and led to over 4 million laptop batteries being recalled. 4. Marketing Intermediaries: often getting products to the end customers can be a major issue for firms. Imagine you sell shampoo - what you need to sell this is to get it on the shelves in the leading chemists and supermarkets but this means moving someone else's products off the shelves! So the challenge is to get stores to stock your products; this may be achieved by good negotiating skills and offering appropriate incentives. The distributors used will determine the final price of the product and how it is presented to the end customer. When selling via retailers, for example, the retailer has control over where the products are displayed, how they are priced and how much they are promoted in-store. You can also gain a competitive advantage by using changing distribution channels. Banks, insurance companies, holiday firms, hotels and many others businesses have seen the opportunities created by the internet. Direct Line insurance, Dell computers and Amazon have reduced costs by

selling direct. Some firms such as Betterware and Avon have used alternative distribution channels to their competitors by selling door to door; Ann Summers' products have sold well via parties. 5. Indusrty: Industry is the main unit of the firm considered with other company. 6. Competition: the success and behaviour of any business will depend on the degree of competition in its market. In some markets one firm is dominant. This is called a monopoly. Technically in the UK a monopoly exists when a firm has a market share of over 25%. If you are in a monopoly position this may allow you to exploit the consumer with relatively high prices (assuming your position is protected in some way) and you may be able to offer an inferior service if customers have no other choices. In other markets a few firms dominate; this type of market structure is called an oligopoly. In oligopolistic markets there is a high degree of interdependence and so firms will think carefully how their rivals might react to any actions they take. This can lead to an emphasis on non price competition; a price change is relatively easy to imitate and so firms may rely more on methods such as branding or product development. Oligopolies exist in many markets in the UK such as insurance, banking, car manufacturing, supermarkets. In more competitive markets where there are many firms providing similar products customers have more choice; this may put downward pressure on prices and means that excellent customer service is essential.

Macro environment analysis(PESTLE) (

frame PESTLE properly you will have to create one for Blackberry company frame political and environmental)
PESTEL analysis of the macro-environment

There are many factors in the macro-environment that will effect the decisions of the managers of any organisation. Tax changes, new laws, trade barriers, demographic change and government policy changes are all examples of macro change. To help analyse these factors managers can categorise them using the PESTEL model. This classification distinguishes between:

Political factors. These refer to government policy such as the degree of intervention in the economy. What goods and services does a government want to provide? To what extent does it believe in subsidising firms? What are its priorities in terms of business support? Political decisions can impact on many vital areas for business such as the education of the workforce, the health of the nation and the quality of the infrastructure of the economy such as the road and rail system. Economic factors. These include interest rates, taxation changes, economic growth, inflation and exchange rates. As you will see throughout the "Foundations of Economics" book economic change can have a major impact on a firm's behaviour. For example: - higher interest rates may deter investment because it costs more to borrow - a strong currency may make exporting more difficult because it may raise the price in terms of foreign currency - inflation may provoke higher wage demands from employees and raise costs - higher national income growth may boost demand for a firm's products

Social factors. Changes in social trends can impact on the demand for a firm's products and the availability and willingness of individuals to work. In the UK, for example, the population has been ageing. This has increased the costs for firms who are committed to pension payments for their employees because their staff are living longer. It also means some firms such as Asda have started to recruit older employees to tap into this growing labour pool. The ageing population also has impact on demand: for example, demand for sheltered accommodation and medicines has increased whereas demand for toys is falling. Technological factors: new technologies create new products and new processes. MP3 players, computer games, online gambling and high definition TVs are all new markets created by technological advances. Online shopping, bar coding and computer aided design are all improvements to the way we do business as a result of better technology. Technology can reduce costs, improve quality and lead to

innovation. These developments can benefit consumers as well as the organisations providing the products.

Environmental factors: environmental factors include the weather and climate change. Changes in temperature can impact on many industries including farming, tourism and insurance. With major climate changes occurring due to global warming and with greater environmental awareness this external factor is becoming a significant issue for firms to consider. The growing desire to protect the environment is having an impact on many industries such as the travel and transportation industries (for example, more taxes being placed on air travel and the success of hybrid cars) and the general move towards more environmentally friendly products and processes is affecting demand patterns and creating business opportunities. Legal factors: these are related to the legal environment in which firms operate. In recent years in the UK there have been many significant legal changes that have affected firms' behaviour. The introduction of age discrimination and disability discrimination legislation, an increase in the minimum wage and greater requirements for firms to recycle are examples of relatively recent laws that affect an organisation's actions. Legal changes can affect a firm's costs (e.g. if new systems and procedures have to be developed) and demand (e.g. if the law affects the likelihood of customers buying the good or using the service).

Economic factors: This is one factor which will affect IT industry most. As India has been one of the best performers in the world economy in recent years , but rapidly rising inflation and thec o m p l e x i t i e s o f running the worlds biggest democracy are pro v i n g c h a l l e n g i n g . Indias economy has been one of the stars of global economicsin recent years, growing 9.2% in2007 and 9.6% in 2006. Growth had been supported by markets reforms, huge inflows of FDI,r i s i n g f o r e i g n e x c h a n g e r e s e r v e s , b o t h a n I T a n d r e a l e s t a t e b o o m , a n d a f l o u r i s h i n g c a p i t a l market.Like most of the world, however, India is facing testing economic times in 2008. The ReserveBank of India had set an inflation target of 4%, but by the middle of the year it was running at11%, the highest level seen for a decade. The rising costs of oil, food and the resources

neededfor Indias construction boom are all playing a part. Indias Economy has grown by more than9% for three years running, and has seen a decade of 7%+ growth. So India is good market placefor our product Technological factor: The technology has a major impact on the business. It affects the business prospects, cuts downthe profits and forces the management to change the course of the business operations. Anycha nge in technology changes the work cultures, the methods and the systems. It affects thespeed of the operations and gives a boost to the productivity of the production systems. It makesyour product useless if technology goes outdated. There are so rapid ad vancement in computer technology in recent time, which poses strong challenges for our product. We have to competewith rapid technology change. The transfer of technology is essential for attaining a high level of industrial capability and competitiveness. Multinational corporations are playing an increasingly

important role in technology transfer because they in v e s t a b r o a d t o e x p a n d p r o d u c t i o n , marketing and research activities. There is also a growing consciousness amongst governmentsof the need to increase technology transfer to the developing countries to help stabilize their economic and social conditions. Social factors and Legal factors : Social factors are generally encouraging in case of laptop industry. Trend is in favour of this inindustry.Various legal formalities regarding entry in the market create some problems. But they are not soserious.

BCG matrix (put this in ppt)

(PUT THIS IN PPT)

For laptops PLC:

As laptops are highly technology sensitive, so demand for t h e m w i l l b e c o n t i n u o u s l y t h e i r . Therefore Laptops in India are currently enjoying a stage between growth and maturity. Laptopswith advanced technology are coming with passage of time, so they will not reach maturity stageso early. As from graph, its clear that laptops are somewhere between growth and maturity stage.So there are a lot of scope still left for our product. Growth Phase: Here we will look to maximise our m a r k e t s h a r e . S t r a t e g i e s i n c l u d e s o f f e r i n g p r o d u c t exte nsions, things such as servicing and warranties. We will be looking

to price our product toenable it penetrate the market. Extensive distribution will be needed and we will need to be building awareness and interest in our product within the mass market. Sales promotion will beless here than in the introduction phase as we will be taking advantage of the heavy consumer demand . d). Sale cyclicity and seasonality: Sale cyclicity for laptop is average. It indicates category is attractive for investmenT

e). Seasonality: Laptop market is not generally affected by seasonal variation. It is quite stable having demandthroughout the year, which again indicates the category is attractive for investment. However there is increase in sale during some festivals time due to discount etc. being provided by saler.Overall market is stable. f). Profits: Profits in IT industry are generally good. When you come with new technology, you can comew i t h m a r k e t i n g s k i m m i n g s t r a t e g y e a s i l y t o e a r n m o r e p r o f i t . O n l y n e g a t i v e s i d e h e r e i s obsolescence of technology rapidly. Overall category is attractive.

Suggestion:
Blackberry is a product of RIM Company. It has worked out well in the market. The product is secured from thefts in the market. But there are also some drawbacks of the products. As it is always said each coin has two sides, like that only blackberry handsets have both pros and cons. Below are some suggestions for blackberry phones: 1. Awareness must be provided to users about the apps of blackberry. 2. The apps must be provided to the user while he is purchasing the mobile. 3. Battery life of the handset must be improved.

Conclusion:
BlackBerry is an advanced platform with many security features for users and application developers. When compared against the other mobile platforms, BlackBerry is the clear leader in on-device security and manageability. Applications are easily isolated from each other, and users or administrators are able to control how applications interact. The strong device security may be the reason why so much of the security communitys efforts have been focused on BES, because well-written applications should stand up well even against determined attackers. The majority of BlackBerry users are completely unaware Of the possibility to download apps to a BlackBerry. They will say that the existence of apps is the main reason they would move to iPhone or Android, and they will look pretty sceptical when you tell them that there are thousands of apps available for the BlackBerry mobilephones. Over the past dozen years, there are few products or services in the BlackBerry business ecosystem that we havent sold or at least tried selling. One outstanding question is whether BlackBerry's planned application store will rise to the level of the Apple App Store, which is a major attraction for some iPhone users. The variety and quality of new BlackBerry Storm applications will help determine whether the phone eventually appeals more to users interested in entertainment. For now, the phone is still best suited for business people, not users who want to play with a wide range of applications. For users who can accept the challenges of typing with SurePress and some slight delays with the transition from portrait to landscape view and vice versa, the Storm is appealing as a BlackBerry PDA with a sleek design that approaches the iPhone's aesthetic appeal and functionality. However the company RIM is going through bad times. Recently it has launched porschedesign P9981 smartphone which costs 1.5 lacks. Overall the blackberry company products are working out good iin the market.