Is RIM Potty?
By David Manners on July 27, 2011 2:32 PM
Those whom the Gods would destroy they first make mad, said Euripides, though the authorship is disputed, and it could have been said by a wireless industry analyst observing that RIM is following Nokia into doolally-land.
In 2006 Nokia did the Caligula/horse thing when it appointed its company lawyer as CEO. The following year he dismissed the newly-arrived iPhone as a fad. Signs were emerging that the company was going barmy.
Now RIM reveals that it has not only got a COO but it also has a 'COO for products'.
In fact the 'COO for products' is taking over from the COO who is laying down his mantle, along with 2,000 other RIM-ers who are getting the heave-** in the wake of missed profit forecasts and a share price which has fallen 50% this year.
Having multiple C-class execs tells you something about a company. It suggests that more energy is going into jockeying for internal status symbols than into meeting the company's external challenges.
Once unreality has set in, it's not long before the CEO's favourite steed becomes a vp and the spectre of lunacy stalks the halls.
http://www.electronicsweekly.com/blogs/david-manners-semiconductor-blog/2011/07/is-rim-potty.html