Nokia Cultures

Nokia Cultural Changes Brenda Boakye Westwood College May 13, 2013

Nokia began 150 years ago in Finland. Before they for were known as a telecommunications company, they were known for a lot more. Nokia was founded by Fredrick Idestam and began as a paper mill. Nokianvirtra River was the location of the second paper mill plant which opened in 1871 and later the name of the company. Nokia has made everything from galoshes to tires. In 1898 Eduardo Polon founder Finnish Rubber Works which made galoshes becoming a bona fide classic design. “In 1912 Arvid Wickstrom founded Finnish Cable Works setting the foundation of Nokia technological business for what we know them as now” (nokia.com, March 25, 2013). Although “the three companies Nokia Ab, Finnish Rubber Works and Finnish Cable Works had worked jointly since 1922, in 1967 the three companies officially merged in 1967 forming Nokia Corporation” (nokia.com, March 25, 2013)
By this time Nokia Corporation was known for five companies, rubber, cable forestry electronics and power generation. “In 1962 Nokia made its first electronic device in-house, a pulse analyzer for use in nuclear power plants “(nokia.com, March 25, 2013). Nokia began making radio telephones for the army and emergency services. They are also known for making one of the first car phones which resembled telephones that were made for the army. Nokia was the thirds largest TV manufacturer in Europe by the late 1980’s and began being known for telecommunication globally.
Today Nokia employs over 160,000 globally and production locations globally. They have production plants located in India, China, and Hungary to name a few. Although they are thought to just manufacture mobile phones and accessories, Nokia makes laptops, GPS products, home and office products such as desks and wireless pens.
The mission statement of a company “summarizes “why” an organization exists” (Kinicki, 2013), Nokia’s mission statement is “Connecting People”. This mission statement describes the direction that Nokia is moving in. Nokia’s mission statement is simple and to the point, this confirms the company’s existence to the consumer which is to connect people through the use of telecommunications. Also, the company is committed to building and designing great mobile products to satisfy the needs of consumers. For example, the wireless charger is an innovative way Nokia is connecting people. They are also living up to their mission statement of connecting people by allowing consumers to submit their innovative ideas which may help the company grow.
This mission statement “Connecting People” also reflects the different programs that are offered to their employees worldwide. “In July 2011, Nokia was recognized as the best place to work in Central America and the Caribbean for its great culture and work environment” (Nokia, 2013). Nokia employees over 100 nationalities globally and women make up 41% of their workforce. Nokia also “achieved 100 % rating in the Human Rights Campaign’s (HRC) 2013 Corporate Index” (Nokia, 2013) and has been listed by the HRC as one of the best places to work in 2013. Nokia has accomplished these awards by offering diversity at their facilities globally.
Nokia also offers employment programs to students and graduates. For students, they offer internship and training programs that will help them in their chosen field of study. Students working for Nokia have a benefit that connects them with other interns around the world to share ideas and experiences. This is good because it helps students begin networking for the future. They also offer students flexibility through their internship programs. With the flexibility and training programs they have for students or graduates wanting to launch careers with them, it is no wonder why in 2011 Nokia was awarded “Universum’s Top 50 Most Attractive Employers for Students 2011” (Nokia, 2013). “Universum is the global leader in employer branding” (Employer-Branding---Universum, 2013). They are committed into connecting employees with consumer through training and allowing the employees to take advantage of the openness the company offers. They offer rewards to employees for being innovative at work and achieving certain goals.
Nokia culture has changed under the new CEO. Nokia had been known for decades as the lead producer of mobile phones and innovator of mobile technology. Nokia found themselves rethinking their culture when I Phones and Android system phones became more popular. To remain as a leading producer of mobile phones the new CEO made changes that will help. Steps that have been taken to change the culture of the organization under the new CEO Stephan Elope were to produce a mobile phone that would be able to compete with the IPhone and Android systems phones. Another change that has been made was the time it takes to get a product from production to the hands of the consumer. Nokia has also changed their relationship with phone carriers. Other changes that have been made to ensure success with the company is with the management.
The organization goals are apparent in these changes. Nokia wanted to produce a phone that would be competitive with the I Phone and Android system phones. In order to do so they partnered with Microsoft (the former employer of CEO) to produce the Lumia series phones. The Lumia series phones are phones powered by Microsoft Windows. This allowed Nokia to offer a smartphone choice for consumers. Nokia also wanted to build better relationship with the carrier of their product (AT&T). To ensure a better relationship Nokia exclusively contracted AT&T for their Lumia phones increasing their sales. To stay in the league as the world top producer of great mobile products, Nokia partnered with Microsoft office. Through the partnerships with Nokia and Microsoft they were able to develop a smart-phone that could compete with the other smart-phones that were on the market. They develop the Nokia Lumia series phones which have Microsoft Windows 8 programs. Although the have many talented programmers and spend on their team, Nokia is always looking for new inventions and have develop. The changes have caused stress within the organization. When a new CEO is put into place a company, stress does follow. The cultural changes can cause stress to employees as the new CEO evaluates the company’s earning, there could be some employees losing their job due to downsizing or position no longer needed. This can cause plenty of stress within an organization. Bring out new product can also cause stress, because you are not sure how the consumer would react to the product, and if it will make a profit.
Since Nokia sales their product globally politics does play an important part of their operations. If the government makes variation to their laws this could affect exporting and importing of product. This can also affect where they are able to do business and open production plants. The internal politics probably in the past has kept Nokia from being innovative. The internal politics are trying to get a mobile phone out that was compatible to the market.

The culture changes that Nokia has made have affected the company in many ways. With the decision to speed production time on new product has boosted Nokia sales. The partnership with Microsoft to produce a Window platform phone has allowed for Nokia to compete with Apple’s IPhone and Android System phones. With Nokia offering Lumia Series phones at different price points they are able to enter to various target markets.
The changes to close factories and lay-off employees have saved the company money. With saving cost on employees on the production line, Nokia was able to spend more money on development and marketing.
Nokia CEO wanted to build better relationships with the phone carriers. For example, AT&T has exclusive rights to sell the first set of Lumia phone. This allowed Nokia to reestablish them in the mobile phone industry. Since AT&T is one of the biggest mobile carriers in the world this connection has made Nokia phone more accessible to more people. After researching Nokia Corporations I learned that a company that began as a paper mill company has evolved to a well-known telecommunications company. I began to ask myself is this a company that I would work for? The answer to that question is yes. Yes I would like to work for Nokia as an Employee Relations Manager (ERM).
An Employee Relations Manager’s duties are to “Facilitates a positive work environment for the employees, by deploying various employee engagement initiatives and partners with business for delivery of results” (Nokia, 2013). As an ERM my focus would be to develop a process that would impact the delivery of Nokia’s customer satisfaction internally and externally. I will also focus on employee communications and maximizing the performance of

each team member. Having a better understanding of the work environment and of employees from learning through my Organizational Theory and Behavioral class will assist. For example learning about the Maslow’s Need Hierarchy which “explain the entire spectrum of human behavior” ( (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013) and the “five basic needs physiological, safety, love, esteem and self-actualization” (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2013). Knowing the need hierarchy will help with motivating employees by understanding what feel important to employees and the consumers. Nokia does offer great benefits for employees and has a “Thrive in a culture of creativity and openness” (Nokia, 2013). Which in details means that’s everyone’s ideas are important to the company. There is room from growth within the company, their work environment was founded on “openness, collaboration and honesty” (Nokia, 2013), remember at the beginning the manufacturing of galoshes. Nokia does seem to be a great place to work.

Works Cited
About Us: Nokia Corporation. (2013, ). Retrieved March 25, 2013, from nokia.com: http://www.nokia.com
Cheng, R. (2013, April 24). CNET News. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from cnet.com: news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57559620-94/nokia-on-the-edge-inside-an-icons-fight-for-survival
Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2013). Organizational Behavior. In R. Kreitner, & A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior (p. 207). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
Nokia. (2013, May 13). Career Section. Retrieved May 13, 2013, from Nokia: http://nokia.taleo.net/careersection/10120/jobdetail.ftl

Cited: About Us: Nokia Corporation. (2013, ). Retrieved March 25, 2013, from nokia.com: http://www.nokia.com Cheng, R. (2013, April 24). CNET News. Retrieved April 24, 2013, from cnet.com: news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57559620-94/nokia-on-the-edge-inside-an-icons-fight-for-survival Kreitner, R., & Kinicki, A. (2013). Organizational Behavior. In R. Kreitner, & A. Kinicki, Organizational Behavior (p. 207). New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin. Nokia. (2013, May 13). Career Section. Retrieved May 13, 2013, from Nokia: http://nokia.taleo.net/careersection/10120/jobdetail.ftl