Bell Canada Business Analysis

Bell Canada has been in the wireless business for many years serving customers across Canada as Bell Mobility. Bell Canada has been a leader in all of the industries it is involved in, and with wireless telephony it is no different. As time progressed,

other competitors entered the wireless business, and with that Bell Mobility lost a vast majority of its share. Once the leader in the wireless market, it now sits back and watches Rogers Wireless tear away at its subscriber base and major corporate clients (BM Product & Pricing, 2007-B). Sitting comfortably ahead of its CDMA counterpart Telus, Bell mobility needs to review and assess it most important resources and capabilities in order to focus on opportunities that may rise in the external environment (Grant, pg. 125). There has been an increasing emphasis on the role of resources and capabilities as the basis for strategy. This is due to unstable industry environments and that competitive advantage is the primary source of profitability (Grant, pg. 125). Bell Mobility, therefore, needs to exploit its key strengths, specifically its dealer channels (distribution), R& D departments, Engineering, and its Marketing and Sales teams, and ensure that the company’s strategy is focused around these resources (Grant, pg 147).

Analysis
In order for a company to be successful it must focus its strategy around its best resources and capabilities. Resources and capabilities should be appraised against two criteria: Importance to the industry, and the relative strength of these resources and capabilities compared to industry competitors (Grant, pg. 143). The next 3 pages hold a table and a figure, which summarizes Bell Mobility’s strengths and weaknesses, and how important these are to the overall strategy:

INSERT RESOURCE AND CAPABILITES CHARTS HERE

Combining importance and relative strength allows a company to highlight its key strengths and key weaknesses (Grant, pg. 147). The assessment for Bell Mobility shows that the company should focus its strategy around its dealer network, engineering, R&D and marketing & sales departments. The chart also illustrates that the organization’s key weaknesses are strategic management, product development, and its purchasing arrangements.

Conclusion
Now that Bell Mobility has assessed its key weaknesses and strengths, it can begin to build a strategy around its strengths, and develop an action plan to improve its weaknesses. In regards to product development and purchasing power, the problem lies in its CDMA technology. Despite being a better network, and offering quicker wireless broadband speeds than GSM, and GSM’s edge, devices are scarce, GSM is pretty much the world’s standard with all of western Europe being on GSM. Portugal and Ireland are the only countries with CDMA capable technology, although major carriers also use GSM (cdg.org, 2007). It is with strategic alliances with companies such as Samsung and Microsoft that Bell will continue to combat Rogers in regards to exclusive handhelds. Monthly delays for phones such as the LG Chocolate, Moto Razr, Moto Krazr, and various BlackBerry devices eroded activation growth in 2006 and 2007 (BM Product & Pricing, 2007-B), and thus, Bell needs to associate itself with a reputable company in order to meet customer demands and improve its activations while reducing its cost of acquisition on handhelds. In regards to its strategy, the company should continue to expand its dealer network through the branded Bell World stores and perhaps build an alliance with a major retailer such as Best Buy or Future Shop to combat Rogers alliance with Circuit City and Radio Shack. These changes along with continued support for Engineering and R&D will ensure continued success for Bell Mobility.

References
1. Anonymous (2007). Telus Pricing Strategy: Q2 Results. Telus Mobility Internal Document. September 2007.

2. Bell Mobiliy Product & Pricing (2007). 2008 Wireless Priorities. Bell Mobility Internal Document. August 31, 2007.

3. Bell Mobility Product & Pricing (2007). Competitive Landscape & Industry Analysis. Bell Mobility Internal Document. June 28, 2007.

4. CDG (2007). CDMA Development Group. www.cdg.org

5. Grant, Robert M., (2007). Contemporary Strategy Analysis: 6th edition. Blackwell Publishing. Malden MA.