[lorax1284]

When Heins came on, his experience and track record seemed to be praise-worthy... there was fanfare, positivity and high expectations.

Now, not so much.

In a "the buck stops here" world, can the lack of success (not failure, because BB10 is great, the BB10 devices are great) in the US market be attributed DIRECTLY to Heins? Or will there continue to be those that say "well, the US market is tough" etc.

Hindsight is 20/20 but honestly, CEOs of huge corporations get huge salaries to perform, not to guess and err... they're supposed to know what to do, not learn on the job and when they fail, get canned with a golden parachute.

So, are we done giving Thorsten Heins the benefit of the doubt? For me, it was over with his callous attitude towards those of use who have stayed with him and were most loyal... I think of Voldemort, turning on Snape when (at the time) Voldy was appreciative of Snape's efforts on Voldy's behalf, but had outlived his usefulness... like PlayBook users: loyal advocates of the forthcoming BB10 platform, cast aside like yesterday's tampon when it became apparent that the full BB10 implementation was not feasible... the business accumen of THAT PERSON comes into question.... you don't s*it on your BEST CUSTOMERS in a time of crisis... you nurture that relationship at some cost, because you really need those people to support and carry the message forward.

So, is it time for Thorsten to go? Continuing the Harry Potter metaphor, he's just taken POSSESSION of the Elder Wand, he's not its true master... and we need to find the True Master who can move BB to where it SHOULD be. At this point, I'd place my bets on a 17 year old business-school prodigy if he had a really smart friend and an outside-the-box thinker as part of his team.

[mkelley65]

When Heins came on, his experience and track record seemed to be praise-worthy... there was fanfare, positivity and high expectations.

Now, not so much.

In a "the buck stops here" world, can the lack of success (not failure, because BB10 is great, the BB10 devices are great) in the US market be attributed DIRECTLY to Heins? Or will there continue to be those that say "well, the US market is tough" etc.

Hindsight is 20/20 but honestly, CEOs of huge corporations get huge salaries to perform, not to guess and err... they're supposed to know what to do, not learn on the job and when they fail, get canned with a golden parachute.

So, are we done giving Thorsten Heins the benefit of the doubt? For me, it was over with his callous attitude towards those of use who have stayed with him and were most loyal... I think of Voldemort, turning on Snape when (at the time) Voldy was appreciative of Snape's efforts on Voldy's behalf, but had outlived his usefulness... like PlayBook users: loyal advocates of the forthcoming BB10 platform, cast aside like yesterday's tampon when it became apparent that the full BB10 implementation was not feasible... the business accumen of THAT PERSON comes into question.... you don't s*it on your BEST CUSTOMERS in a time of crisis... you nurture that relationship at some cost, because you really need those people to support and carry the message forward.

So, is it time for Thorsten to go? Continuing the Harry Potter metaphor, he's just taken POSSESSION of the Elder Wand, he's not it's true master... and we need to find the True Master who can move BB to where it SHOULD be.

WTH is a Voldermort and a Snape? Defunct smart phone makers or something?

[RubberChicken76]

Maybe. I'm pretty sold on him as an chief operating officer. The unknown for me is the visionary part that's key for a CEO.

I do think there are some here with crazy expectations though. Not sure they could get someone better to be able to turn things around the way some people expect (ie. in six months, BlackBerry is profitable, growing, making inroads in the US and ramping their subscriber base with a clear path to #1).

He certainly was successful in keeping them alive and I think the analysts are right to respect him for that. But I also think a lot of the issues he now deals with are huge issues that have a history that long predates him.

Maybe there is some wonderful "Steve Jobs" clone out there who can step in and do a multi-year plan to turn them around. And maybe he can convince Heins to remain as his day-to-day chief operating officer.

[lorax1284]

WTH is a Voldermort and a Snape? Defunct smart phone makers or something?

Let me google that for you

[the_sleuth]

TH has destroy over $3 Bil shareholder value during his tenure. A buyout of BlackBerry is his only redemption to shareholders. I am sure Prem Watsa and Mike Lazaridis had a rosier scenario when Heins was promoted to CEO.

[lorax1284]

I am sure Prem Watsa and Mike Lazaridis had a rosier scenario when Heins was promoted to CEO.

In retrospect, was he the right guy for the job? If he wasn't in retrospect, is he still? If not him, then who? Do they have to go outside to find a star who really knows what the market wants? Someone from outside the smartphone business? someone from outside TECH?

[RubberChicken76]

In retrospect, was he the right guy for the job? If he wasn't in retrospect, is he still? If not him, then who? Do they have to go outside to find a star who really knows what the market wants? Someone from outside the smartphone business? someone from outside TECH?

And what does the instability do of bringing in yet another CEO do to the company, investors, the stock etc.

[avatsaev]

No leave this guy alone, he is doing a great job. Trust me.

[Bangkok Lawyer]

Mmh


KISS - Keep It Secure Stupid

[Bangkok Lawyer]

Yep

KISS - Keep It Secure Stupid

[lorax1284]

No leave this guy alone, he is doing a great job. Trust me.

[russworman]

I think things have gotten better under TH, but, the issue now is how long they have to execute the vision and how much money. I would wager that if he had more cash to work with we would be seeing a bigger presence and better results. We might even be further along with the mobile computing vision. With the right partner, joint venture, or buyers I think he can lead the company to great results...

Posted via CB10

[Pilchard]

No leave this guy alone, he is doing a great job. Trust me.

I think he was given a hospital pass and has made the best of it. Everyone was saying BB10 would never see the light of day and Blackberry would run out of cash. One also has to give him credit for taking the tough decisions: massive redundancies, delaying BB10 to polish the interfaces, killing the Playbook. He is not trying to win friends, but he seems to be making the right calls.

[BBThemes]

No leave this guy alone, he is doing a great job. Trust me.

I agree, he`s got the whole `manage the media message` part of the job sorted down to a T.


then again.....

[lorax1284]

One also has to give him credit for taking the tough decisions: massive redundancies, delaying BB10 to polish the interfaces, killing the Playbook. He is not trying to win friends, but he seems to be making the right calls.

I disagree about "killing" the PlayBook... no, you can't cram the square peg that is an OS that requires 2 Gig of ram to run smoothly into the round hole that is a 1 Gig device, but one of the biggest errors he has made in my opinion is spitting in his most loyal customers' eye(s). Exactly why he should go... he's damaged goods at this point.

[Pilchard]

I disagree about "killing" the PlayBook... no, you can't cram the square peg that is an OS that requires 2 Gig of ram to run smoothly into the round hole that is a 1 Gig device, but one of the biggest errors he has made in my opinion is spitting in his most loyal customers' eye(s). Exactly why he should go... he's damaged goods at this point.

I don't understand what you mean. Do you mean that he should have put BB10 on the Playbook even though it would have been an awful user experience, or did he spit in some other way?

[newcollector]

I disagree about "killing" the PlayBook... no, you can't cram the square peg that is an OS that requires 2 Gig of ram to run smoothly into the round hole that is a 1 Gig device, but one of the biggest errors he has made in my opinion is spitting in his most loyal customers' eye(s). Exactly why he should go... he's damaged goods at this point.

Since you have already made up your mind, why ask the question in post #1 in the first place. He did not spit on me, a loyal BlackBerry consumer and PlayBook owner. He made a tough decision that probably should have been clearly announced earlier. If BB10 ran slowly on the Dev Alpha device, then imagine how it would run on our PlayBook.

BlackBerry has been behind the proverbial eight ball for quite awhile. Turning around processes and procedures and cultures that have been in place at any institution for any length of time is never easy, and when it has to be done under the pressure of time and survival, it is even harder still. I think TH has done a good job of negotiating the difficult passage of transition. I do believe that if he has made an error, it is in how they have marketed the new BlackBerry phones, especially here in the US. The staggered execution of roll out plus the lack of strong marketing and carrier support resulted in less than optimum sales. And here Mr. Heins must also take some of the blame because he hired the head marketing guy.

Considering the situation BlackBerry is in, Mr. Heins has handled things pretty well. He was not dealt a pretty hand. It isn't over yet. Yes the committee has been formed, but no decisions have been made. A change of leadership at this point would make a less than positive situation appear worse. There is still some time left before the cash runs out. There are still changes to be made to bring transformation. Hopefully the release of the Z30 with effective marketing and point of sale emphasis will give BBRY some breathing room.

As for me, my uneducated opinion is this...stay the course but improve the execution.

[brucep1]

He hasn't screwed up enough publicly yet to get the boot. Remember the leash that the 2 before him had?

[tjseaman]

TH has destroy over $3 Bil shareholder value during his tenure. A buyout of BlackBerry is his only redemption to shareholders. I am sure Prem Watsa and Mike Lazaridis had a rosier scenario when Heins was promoted to CEO.

Yet Premier Watsa left the board and kept his shares, which also he has the most shares, and said he still believes and supports BlackBerry. He's a smart guy so I would guess he still has faith in TH.

Posted via Z10 and CB10 on Rogers

[BBThemes]

stay the course but improve the execution.

isn't that part of the problem though? the street and others have expressed concern about RIM`s ability to execute for many years, and now BlackBerry is still at the point of executing badly, or not as good as they should.

also worth consideration, execution is part of the remit of the Chief Operations Officer. that's the position Thorsten held prior to being CEO, so you could argue yes he was dealt a bad hand, but helped to shuffle the deck in the first place.

[BBThemes]

He hasn't screwed up enough publicly yet to get the boot. Remember the leash that the 2 before him had?

ya, but you`d imagine if you learn from mistakes you wouldn't let someone have that latitude again. big IF though I guess.

[newcollector]

isn't that part of the problem though? the street and others have expressed concern about RIM`s ability to execute for many years, and now BlackBerry is still at the point of executing badly, or not as good as they should.

also worth consideration, execution is part of the remit of the Chief Operations Officer. that's the position Thorsten held prior to being CEO, so you could argue yes he was dealt a bad hand, but helped to shuffle the deck in the first place.

Good points all. That may be why the Street was not too thrilled when he was made the CEO. I don't know, but do I hear the refrain, "Another One Bites The Dust" in the background?

[brucep1]

ya, but you`d imagine if you learn from mistakes you wouldn't let someone have that latitude again. big IF though I guess.

Learning from mistakes..that's cute.

[BBThemes]

Learning from mistakes..that's cute.

You've also gotta bear in mind some of that latitude was probably given to mike and Jim what with being the founders too, maybe 'new blood' to the ceo role won't get that latitude anyways.

Posted via CB10

[sentimentGX4]

It's too late.

Yep, I said it. It's too late to boot Heins. What difference would it make? To prove a point? Heins is unlikely to be in charge of BBRY after a sale or a break up, anyway.

Hindsight is 20/20 but honestly, CEOs of huge corporations get huge salaries to perform, not to guess and err... they're supposed to know what to do, not learn on the job and when they fail, get canned with a golden parachute.

How it works is that the CEO takes part of his salary in shares. As a matter of fact, Steve Jobs was only paid $1 a year! Hopefully, Heins was paid mostly in shares of BBRY.