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Nokia Company was established in Finland and was renowned for being the first company to generate a cellular network making it a global leader in mobile phones. Nokia established itself as a market leader in the production of mobile phones. Nokia has its presence in over 130 nations. Initially, the organization was divided into four business units including mobile telephone, multimedia, company services, and networks. However, when new market entrants such as Samsung and Apple posed stiff competition, the company was forced to implement change. The company merged its phone production with Microsoft to produce Windows-based operating system phones. In addition, the company also moved its operation to focus on telecommunication infrastructure.
Nokia was a market leader in mobile manufacturing and captured up to 30% of the global market share. Newmarket entrants such as Apple and Samsung, which introduced Android-based software and iOS, captured the customers needs creating the urgency for Nokia to implement change. These companies changed the traditional mobiles to smartphones and led the world towards globalization. As a result, Nokia experienced a drastic drop in sales from over 100 billion euros to only around 15 billion euros annually (Yi et al., 2017). The firm came up with a booster program that was referred to as the Nokia Booster Program which was implemented in 2008. The program aimed at consolidating both the firms strategic growth and its internet clientele. The company established this elaborate plan to keep up with the pressure of exploiting the global market. As a result, the management strategy focused on evaluating the ever-changing needs of consumers and the need for the organization to develop top-notch technology among its competitors. Nokia needed to establish a single point of interaction with both its international clientele and consumers. As a consequence, the company restructured its nine divisions into four integrated departments. Hence, all the production processes and manufacturing were made into three horizontal business units to speed up both innovation and production.
The business used a communication framework to transmit data from top management to employees through a range of senior personnel before the program. Such a system of communication was slow (Aspara et al., 2011). The business, therefore, needed a communication framework capable of keeping pace with the modern market. The Booster program has been established as a daunting program for Nokia on organizational change. In just one week, this program was implemented with 100 new employment. With the start of new jobs, the old Nokia staff have been saved, and other jobs have not changed. The only shift encountered by these workers was the reconfiguration of their teams. With a view to competent and quickly reconfiguring its human resources to address ever-changing client requirements and requests, this team reconfiguration is carried out.
The firm has been driven over two decades by Nokias mission statement, Connecting People, The firm is focused on connecting individuals via telephones and the Internet. Nokia attempts to link individuals and create an experience to satisfy their consumers requirements in ways that work for them. Some methods are by maintaining the expenses of information low and enabling individuals to communicate in a multitude of ways through social media. To Nokia, it also implies that we keep the data of their clients private. The firm is dedicated to protecting the privacy and integrity of information (Bugubayeva et al., 2017). Nokias vision is a world that can be attached to all. To guarantee that 5 billion individuals are linked at every stage and to guarantee 100 times more network traffic. Nokias working principles include enhancing technological peoples life, environmental safeguards, company with completeness, change taking place together, and in all they do, respecting individuals.
Nokia likely experienced various risks and challenges in the process of implementing organizational change. One of the dangers is resistance from the employees. The implementation of the change may lead to a review of the reporting process, the change of departments, and duties. If the employees oppose the decisions, it would be risky to implement the changes. It is crucial to explain how the change will be implemented to avoid fear among employees and mitigate the risk (Lamberg et al., 2019). Employees at all levels should clearly understand the details of the change, including the timelines and how each department will be affected. Another potential risk is the lack of leadership skills that would have enabled leaders in various departments to execute the changes. If the leaders are not efficient in managing change, it might fail. There is a need to train the leaders on the strategies of change and how to deal with the challenges of change to overcome the risks. The training can be carried out on the heads of every department and the top management. The disruption of the ongoing projects to pave the way for the changes is another possible risk. To mitigate the disruption, the company should choose an appropriate time that would be effective for change.
When the firm announced Lumias phone-based production of windows, thousands of workers protested because of their shock at the loss of their employment. They also argue that Nokias Lumia phone cannot customize various equipment. With that choice, the president, the Vice President, and the CTO have resigned. In addition to Nokia staff, the industry and clients also saw opposition to Microsoft and its products. They did not like it. Network providers also opposed the Windows Phone because they were concerned with the Windows Phone function Skype that could put their global calling company in danger. The investors were also resistant because the share price decreased dramatically by 10%. The changes should be made in a friendly and fair way for all concerned parties and stakeholders (William, 2016). In case of any layoffs, they should be communicated earlier, and proper compensation agreed upon. Other changes, such as reporting processes that may be changed, should be communicated effectively. Effective communication will be necessary to avoid any backlash and negative comments from the employees or the media. The employees should be made to understand that the changes are essential to building a competitive company. Further, the change process in Nokia should involve more research and development. The researchers should focus on the future of smartphones and the demands of the clients. When the researchers find out what the customers want now and in the future, they will use the information to inform the developers on what to create.
Nokia manages challenges through different approaches. It could have informed employees about the shift and clarified why and how it is crucial. The personnel could support their managers who inform them of the change and help them overcome their anxiety and fear. After the changes were implemented, resignations could have been regulated by providing incentives and advantages. If staff are not prepared to create changes, they must take the shift strongly and threaten to lose employment. Nokia should have used change management theories or models like the PROSCI model when handling change (Hussain et al., 2018). To give an example, they would have utilized the PROSCI methodology that consists of key stages that the company would have embraced. The model is widely acknowledged and accepted as its offers are well-organized procedures to focus on change management-related problems. If the PROSCI method had been applied successfully in the case of Nokia, it would have offered the company more strength and various makeover options. The PROSCI method is made up of three main phases that a project manager or a companys change manager would choose to focus their attention on. In particular, the approach offers the company with research-based evaluations and models that help in each stage as well as recommendations that prepare for change, manage change, reinforce growth, and assist the management team in decision-making for the company.
Ian Gee and Maximilian Kammerer started the booster program with a design team. The design team emphasized that it would be challenging for the firm to attain its goals with the existing old-fashioned communication framework. The business, therefore, needed a platform to assist all of its players in pursuing organizational goals. The company has conducted workshops in various towns worldwide. At least one hundred change leaders attended every workshop. Following the workshops, respondents returned to their organizations to employ them in procedures of change. The online community has become the focus of change management. The mixture of traditional communication processes and new relationships has given rise to a grown enthusiasm. The booster resulted in opening discussions of problems that affect the business between front-line employees, community members, and executives. The online community provided staff with data about future modifications that could help them initiate innovations.
In conclusion, it is crucial for organizations first to define why the change should take place. There are various individuals in an organization whose thinking and risk-taking differ. They have creative thoughts, and brainstorming sessions occur when ideas become inadequate. Thus, we can claim that organizational modifications are useful if they are correctly scheduled, managed, and implemented by the organization. Firms should always be prepared for whatsoever circumstances to implement proper procedures while giving ample time and training for the managers and all the employees while trying to retain all the skilled ones. The changes that are to be implemented at any company should focus on achieving a considerable market share and being friendly to the employees. One of the ways of making the approach friendly is to ensure the employees are informed of the changes that will be implemented.
References
Aspara, J., Lamberg, J., Laukia, A., & Tikkanen, H. (2011). Strategic management of business model transformation: Lessons from Nokia. Management Decision, 49(4), 622647. Web.
Bugubayeva, R. O., Sansyzbayevna, R. B., & Teczke, M. (2017). Approaches and models for change management. Jagiellonian Journal of Management, 3, 195208. Web.
Hussain, S. T., Lei, S., Akram, T., Haider, M. J., Hussain, S. H., & Ali, M. (2018). Kurt Lewins change model: A critical review of the role of leadership and employee involvement in organizational change. Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, 3(3), 123127. Web.
Lamberg, J.-A., Lubinait, S., Ojala, J., & Tikkanen, H. (2019). The curse of agility: The Nokia Corporation and the loss of market dominance in mobile phones, 20032013. Business History, 0(0), 147. Web.
William, M. (2016). Predictors of effective change management: A literature review. African Journal of Business Management, 10(23), 585593. Web.
Yi, Y., Gu, M., & Wei, Z. (2017). Bottom-up learning, strategic flexibility and strategic change. Journal of Organizational Change Management, 30(2), 161183. Web.
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