Can Nokia Overcome Another Awful Threat

By Kate Willow


Lecturers in business schools often choose particular companies to discuss with their students. They like to choose examples of companies that have faced extreme challenges and have survived undaunted by difficulties. Nokia is one such company.

In the commercial world some companies survive through changes in fashion and technology and others do not. The world of business is littered with tales of companies and industries that have flourished for a while and then gone under. The newspaper industry is a case in point. Firms that were household names are now faced with competition from paperless and more efficient news sources.

The motor industry grew quickly and became a symbol of economic strength in countries like America and England. Then there was competition from the East; then the issue of carbon emissions and the unsuitability of fossil fuels. Suddenly, what was a secure industry has become insecure.

The story of a paper mill and a rubber boot company that merged to become a multinational vendor of mobile phones with branches in one hundred and twenty countries and nearly 125 000 employees is sufficient to make the eyes of any business school professor glitter. It has all the characteristics that demonstrate the drama of success and narrow escapes in the business jungle.

The drama of sport is as entertaining now as it was for the Romans, thousands of years ago. Though so much has changed the struggle to compete has not. Does may graze placidly whilst rams fight, but they watch out of the corners of their eyes to see who wins. Th ultimate prize awaits those who can face threats and triumph. So it is in business.

Frederick Idestam started a paper mill in 1867, taking advantage of Finlands natural water and timber resources. He was joined by Leo Mechelin and this demonstrated the value of cooperation. They made their firm into a public company by using the capital raising advantages of the share market and later diversified into rubber boots when the demand for these products ensured lucrative profits. In the early twentieth century Mechelin foresaw a bright future for the electronics industry and persisted in starting a division that was not at first profitable.

During the turbulent twentieth century the company faced many challenges and was at times on the verge of bankruptcy. However, the Industrial Revolution was turning and the electronics industry provided a steady stream of opportunities for innovation. In the 1980s the mobile phone started a new and powerful cycle in technological evolution and the Nokia company was at the forefront with its products becoming a global brand.

Smart phones and electronic tablets have become the fashionable things to have because they combine the power of the mobile phone with that of the Internet. In this arena there is strong global competition. Research and development is moving very fast. The company is again faced with the challenge to adapt, or die. It has ridden the waves of change from paper and rubber to electronic products. Now the challenge is to merge or collaborate with another company that can help Nokia compete for customers in the market for very smart gadgets that condense most electronic advances of recent times into an artificial brain that can be held in the palm of a hand, like an amazing factotum.




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