Nokia company has been able to retain its global presence in the worldwide market since the 1990s. The company has been able to gain its competitive edge over the years in the production of mobile phones and in the establishment of a mobile operating system called the Symbian Operating System. However, in the late 2000s, the company was faced with a big challenge that affected its processes. The top managers involved in the company’s leadership refused to adjust the company with the rapidly changing mobile phone market. Among the main concerns of the managers at Nokia, the company was to maintain the power of the bureaucracy in the company. The organization was able to determine that there was a problem that has arisen due to its complex bureaucratic structure that slowed the decision-making process by the organization. The organization has 300 vice presidents who were involved in the decision-making process of the company. Besides, most of the parts used in the making of the mobile devices were outdated as they could not be used for the new technology. Nokia products, for instance, the resistive touch screen, an inefficient platform and also accompanied by the use of buttons like olden cell phones. Besides, other companies, for example, Apple were able to make new establishments in the market that involved the introduction of new devices that had a large touch screen that offered better use compared to the phones produced by Nokia company then. Besides, Google company also introduced a new operating system Android currently being used by smartphone companies. In comparing Nokia and other companies in the market, Nokia was way so outdated as it had not been involved in the current trends in the market.

Among the main competitors of Nokia are Samsung and Apple companies that have been in the mobile phone market for some time too. The increased competition and new inventions in the mobile phone industry caused the changes made in the Nokia company to catch up with the upcoming game and also focus on its leadership style in promoting timely decision making. The company director considered replacing the acting CEO with Stephen Elop. The CEO, Stephen, led the organization in the development of competitive smartphones that were in line with the new technology and invention in the market. The organization adopted the use of an Autocratic leadership system under Stephen’s leadership. Stephen made independent decisions to work with the Microsoft company and choose to remove some of the workers from the organization in reducing the operational cost incurred by the company in its processes. In the paper, the company’s changes are discussed alongside the elements of change in organizations.

Need for change in Nokia company

Change from a functional structure to a centralized structure

Nokia company needed the implementation of the centralized bureaucratic structure as opposed to the current operational structure that was being used by the organization. Way back in the 1990s, the Nokia company had been overwhelmed with pride as it was the largest private employer in Finland. The company management structure was complicated, which caused the organization many challenges in its production of mobile phones. The company had 300 vice presidents all over the globe who were involved in the decision-making process by the company. With the complex organizational structure, the organization had a couple of challenges; for instance, slowed decision-making process that also slowed the company activates and development according to the rapidly changing technology in the mobile phone market. For example, in 2000, Samsung introduced a touch screen device that provided stiff competition for the Nokia company, which was still outdated in terms of mobile phone technology (Ciesielska, 2018). Meanwhile, Nokia’s company had been able to develop new models of their mobile phones that could rapidly penetrate the market, but the departmental managers refused to launch the latest models. Nokia would have maintained its market presence if the decision-making process was fastened. Way back, the company used to arrive at their decision after a long time that was not reliable in a rapidly changing mobile market.

Open software operations

Since 2000, Nokia’s company was involved in mobile phone development based on the Symbian operating system. The operating system did not allow users capabilities that were needed in the touch screen experience in phones. The operating system was limited and could not be used in required processes in touchscreen devices, for instance, random boot and memory shortage problem as well made it hard for the operating system to handle touch screen devices. The company was involved in the development of smartphone devices that were defective compared to the competitors, for instance, Samsung and Apple. The team was focused on making tablets and smartphones to ensure that the company competes with other products from other companies. Besides, the company introduces a new development in its software, Ot in 2008, that aimed at developing devices that could work on different platforms (Hayes, 2018). The old operating system was later changed to MeeGo to ensure the development of new smartphones based on customer reactions and interactions.

Challenges in the management of change

Among the challenges encountered was communication in the organization. Stephen’s leadership had difficulties in conversation as he was not clear about the change he wanted to establish. He employed the use of autocratic leadership in a company that was used to a functional structure in the organizational processes. The CEO, Stephen, was focused on centralizing the operations in the organization to make decisions quickly and with a reduced duration of time (Koronis, E., & Ponis, S., 2018). The Employees of MeeGo were resistant to the drastic changes involving Microsoft technology in the development of mobile phones as they had been used to perfect their operating system. Nokia planned to outsource the technological expertise to other companies that included Microsoft. This was done to introduce new technologies to the organization that would be used to develop better smartphones to compete with the competitors. The employees were reluctant to work within the Microsoft environment, with some of the employees refusing to work with the new technology.

Overcoming challenges in the organization

Stephen signed a strategic partnership with Microsoft that ensured the development of smartphones that would incorporate the Windows mobile platform. This move was made to halt the production of the Symbian operating system phones. The next strategy in overcoming the challenges involved changing the organizational structure. The organizational structure was replaced by the introduction of a bureaucratic structure and a flatter structure. The autocratic leadership ensured that the CEO was responsible for all the significant decisions made by the organization. Among the main choices, he made for the company involved dissolving MeeGo.

Recommendations for Nokia company

Nokia company has been able to ensure the production of improved mobile phone devices. Nokia company should also consider the implementation of an eight-step model used in the change brought to an organization. The eight-step change model would allow the employees of Nokia to understand and adopt the changes made in the organization entirely. Elop’s plan to partner with Microsoft proves useful to the organization. However, this happened unexpectedly to the members of the organization due to the fast adoption of a new strategy and practice in business. Kotter’s steps involve eight main steps.

Creating urgency

Elop’s introduction of a new change of practice in business was abrupt among the employees involved in the development of phones in the company. The company should have ensured the creation of a sense of urgency about the completion of tasks that were to be completed. The acting CEO needed to hire a team that would take the employees through the changes to be brought in the organization. For instance, due to the desire from customers who were loyal to the Nokia company, Elop should have allowed the implementation of the previous smartphone models as it had been suggested by the operational managers. Besides, in the development of better devices, the CEO should have partnered with more companies in the development of better smartphones.

The building of a guiding team

The next step in ensuring the sustainable development of mobile phones would be getting the right people in bringing the change into reality. Getting the right team is essential in ensuring that ends meet. The MeeGo team was hesitant to start working under the Microsoft team. This made the group feel uncomfortable as they were not developing their product. The CEO did not also consider the opinions made by his employees. In solving this challenge, the leader of the organization should have made efforts to connect with the team members by learning what was their primary motivation and also in the development of better smartphones (Magalhães, 2018).

I am setting the right vision.

The next step involves setting a vision for the company that explains why the organization needs to change. Nokia company heeded to establish a clear idea as to why there were changes in the development of smartphones. Setting the vision would allow the employees in the organization to have set goals in their areas of work, which would help the organization develop better smartphones. Besides, the setting of a vision is essential in building an organizational culture that is strong where the employees in the organization are also involved in the decisions making done by the organization.

Engaging the organization

This step involves the communication of the vision of the company by the introduction of products used in the change done by the organization. Communicating the idea is essential to the organization’s members as it allows all the team members to work as a team towards a common goal. Nokia company was able to develop smartphones with the aid of Microsoft company. However, the company did not include its employees in the development of new smartphones. Engaging the employees in an organization is essential in promoting teamwork and ensuring that all the team members work as a team.

Empowering the organization

The next step would involve sending managers on a short term course where they are trained. In efforts to empower the Nokia organization, managers were faced with a hard time as they were not given enough time to learn and integrate the new technology into the old platform. This was among the main factors that caused the resistance by the operational managers who felt left out in the change brought to the organization. An organization needs to consider empowering employees in maintaining the sustainability of an organization.

Creating short term wins

The building of new smartphones is a large scale organizational change that needs the company involved to set the momentum for its employees. The Nokia Company should have ensured setting the energy for employees by providing feedbacks to departmental managers on the validity of the company’s vision and the strategies to be undertaken in making the vision a reality (Koronis, E., & Ponis, S., 2018). It is rewarding the employees who worked hard to make the idea a reality should have been done to ensure that the new change was successfully implemented and used in the development of new smartphone devices.

Implementing and sustaining change

After creating momentum among the employees, the organization needs to establish a new culture and nature among the employees in the organization. Nurturing the new religion among the employees is essential in ensuring a sustainable change by an organization. For the case of Nokia, the organization should have developed a good relationship with its employees and share values on the benefits of changing the organizational structure to a centralized structure.

Coaching and training

The next stage involves training to ensure the change that has been promoted by the organization. Coaching and training are essential in improving the performance of an organization. Employee training should be done to ensure that employees can use their skills to develop better and improved products (Magalhães, 2018).

Conclusion

Bureaucracy made decisions making slow, which affected the Nokia company’s ability to adapt to rapid changes in the mobile technology market. Nokia needed to make changes in the mobile user interface to allow for the application of a touch screen in efforts to compete with its competitors. This caused the company to go down as its competitors were already involved in the development of touch screen devices that ensured their competitive edge. The organization adopted the use of an Autocratic leadership system under Stephen’s leadership. Stephen made independent decisions to work with the Microsoft company and choose to remove some of the workers from the organization in reducing the operational cost incurred by the company in its processes (Pearlson, K. E. & Galletta, D. F., 2019). This action left the managers in the business as they were not involved in decision-making for the organization. The Nokia company should respond to customer complaints in ensuring its competitive edge by the development of better devices. Currently, the organization is involved in the event of android devices that are also proving competitive in the current market.

References

Ciesielska, M. (2018). Nokia on the slope: The failure of a hybrid open/closed source model. The International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation, 19(3), 218-225.

Hayes, J. (2018). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave.

Koronis, E., & Ponis, S. (2018). Better than before: the resilient organization in crisis mode. Journal of Business Strategy.

Magalhães, R. (2018). Human-centered organization design. The Design Journal, 21(2), 227-246.

Pearlson, K. E. & Galletta, D. F. (2019). Managing and using information systems: A strategic approach. John Wiley & Sons.

Nokia Company Organizational Change

Nokia Organizational Change

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