Nokia Corporation used to be one of the key leaders in the international market of mobile devices. Nokia is well-known for the superior quality of its mobile devices and navigation products. The company develops and supplies cell phones and smartphones, mobile computers and applications, as well as Internet services like music and messaging (Yahoo Finance, 2011).
Nokia’s current financial profile is not very attractive: the company failed to retain its leadership in the smartphone market and has almost lost its smartphone business (Butcher, 2010). The company is fighting to restore its position in the financial market, and the price of its shares slowly increases. Whether or not Nokia manages to improve its strategic and financial position depends on the quality and efficiency of the new CEO’s decisions and actions.
Nokia, one of the leaders in the international market of mobile devices, is currently listed on the Frankfurt, Helsinki, and New York Stock Exchanges (Nokia, 2011). The latest closing data for the NYSE shows that the price of Nokia’s shares does not exceed $6.02 (Nokia, 2011; Yahoo Finance, 2011).
The 52-week range for Nokia is $5.81-11.75, and it is possible to assume that Nokia is currently near the bottom of its financial performance (Yahoo Finance, 2011). The company was able to improve its financial position in the NYSE, but its corporate future does not look very bright. The company is facing numerous strategic issues. At the end of May, Nokia announced that it would not be able to make any profits on phone sales (Arthur, 2011).
The company feels too weak against its competitors, Google and Apple: the former sells millions of cell phones with Android operating system, whereas the latter has turned its iPhone into the source of unprecedented profits (Arthur, 2011). The popularity of Nokia products in Europe and China is decreasing because of price (Arthur, 2011). Whether or not Nokia manages to improve its financial position depends upon the quality and efficiency of the new CEO’s strategic decisions.
At the end of 2010, Nokia decided to replace its CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo with Stephen Elop, who used to be the head of a business division at Microsoft (Butcher, 2010). Today, Elop is Nokia’s CEO (Nokia, 2011).
Before Elop became the new Nokia’s CEO, he said that his main task was to lead the company through the period of change (Butcher, 2010). Elop was confident that superior financial performance was one of his main professional goals (Butcher, 2010). Little has changed since then: the company is losing its customers and cannot retain its position in the mobile devices market.
The company lost nearly 33% in stock prices over the last year (Yahoo Finance, 2011). Its payout ratio is 63.00% and its return on equity is 8.80% (Yahoo Finance, 2011). Apparently, Nokia is in the dire straits of the mobile devices business and needs an entirely new strategy to improve and capitalize its market position. Compared to 2010, investors holding Nokia’s shares have lost nearly 18%.
Nokia hopes that its new CEO will give an impetus to the company’s movement towards new strategic highs. Obviously, the company needs a major move to remain competitive in the technological age.
Positive changes in stock prices suggest that Nokia has a chance to revive itself against its competitors, but to make it happen, Nokia needs an entirely new strategic vision, mission, and direction. Years may pass before Nokia restores its position in the international mobile and cell phone industry. Until then, all Nokia can do is to fight with the ghost mills of its former popularity, while other technological giants are developing and selling brand new products.
Nokia has been facing a number of operational challenges influenced by the development and advancement in the mobile industry. Nonetheless, the company enjoys a superior market share in a number of countries like India.
Although nokia is not a very popular brand among the city and urban dwellers, the brand enjoys great loyalty from the rural market segments (Cheng, 2012). A number of reasons have helped nokia to attract rural dwellers. This includes the extra powerful battery that last quite long compared to other brands. The Nokia brands also boast of a strong and hard body, which enhance its durability.
Other features include a detachable panel that enables users to replace their broken or worn out covering. Nokia phones are also famed for efficiency in network reception and they cover all the available market segments.
These are some of the strengths enjoyed by the nokia brand hence giving it a lifetime in the market. However, the company’s performance is limited by some factors such as high import tariffs. Other brands have come into the market with better products and features and Nokia Company seems to be left behind.
The company has great opportunities in the rural segment as well as the urban market. There is a large rural market that is still not fully exploited and the nokia brand has an upper hand in capturing it. The company can also take the opportunity to introduce 3G in India.
Threats are inevitable in any market and the mobile phone market is not an exception. The major threat faced by Nokia is the launch of Apple’s iPhone (Cheng, 2012). With the great applications and advanced technology, the nokia brand has been overshadowed by Apple’s iPhone.
The entry of Chinese made phones in the market is a major blow to the Nokia brand especially in the low-end market segment. Chinese made phones are coming at very cheap prices making them easily accessible to the rural folks.
This is threatening to wipe out the overwhelming demand for nokia phones in the rural areas where the brand has its greatest market share. Other threats include factors affecting the entire industry such as the projected entry of Voice over Internet Protocol ‘VOIP’ handsets (Madrigal, 2012).
The nokia company like any other company is subject to legal requirements and political environments. In Multinational Corporation, political factors are important for to consider (Cheng, 2012). Nokia has always conducted surveys to establish its scope and limitations in order to abide by legal requirements are stipulated in different host countries (Madrigal, 2012).
The company works hand-in-hand with the governments of host countries in to gain favor on embargoes and quotas. The law of copyright is the greatest advantage that has allowed the nokia company to withstand the looming pressure from competitors.
Economic factors can have a major effect on the production of a company and this applies to nokia as well. Being in the global scale of production, international trade waves are important to nokia. Before the company sets into a country, they always take a background check to analyze the economic systems of the country, inflation rate, the exchange rate, and the level of employment (“Allthingsd: Nokia Slips to Seventh in Smartphone Market” par 2).
The company deals with quite a number of diversified cultures. Nonetheless, cultural aspects do not affect telecommunications are since mobile phones are easily assimilated. Communication is very vital regardless of cultural beliefs and this has made mobile phones rise in demand.
Technological advancement has influenced the mobile phone market. The way people communicate with each other using their mobile phones is changing so rapidly and Nokia Corporation is adapting to the challenges. The nokia brand has introduced Smartphones to counter the recent entry of the same products from the competition.
The company is continuously searching for ways to enable its consumers to access information on all the available options with regard to the existing technology. With nokia phones today, one can access the internet and access some of the biggest social networks. This has improved communication as well as enhancing customer’s standards of living.
Evidently, the nokia brand is slowly losing its grip in the phone market and its popularity is quickly fading away (Stoll and Grundberg, 2012). This is quite eminent in most of the developed countries where other giants like Samsung and Apple are gradually taking over the market.
Its Symbian phones have performed poorly in the market although it was intended to compete with Smartphones from other brands. The low-end phones are also not up to the challenge from other companies. Clearly, the company requires critical and relevant changes on its applications and technology.
For the company to succeed and become as profitable as it was before, it has to reconsider its use of Symbian and windows application (Cheng, 2012). With the popular Android operating system, nokia can increase its chances of survival in the already crowded market. Battery life has been a matter of concern with regard to Smartphones but nokia with their long battery life reputation can maximize this opportunity.
According to Hage (1999), organizational innovation can be defined as the process through which an organization adopts certain behaviour or an idea which is new to the organization (p. 3).
Innovation in an organization can be reflected in terms of a new form of technology, new practice in administration, new service or a new product. In the current business world, most top management leaders are paying extra attention on innovation in their individual organizations. This is in an effort to come up with necessary changes in order to improve on performance of their respective organizations.
On the other hand, change is the result of innovation in an organization. For instance, development of a new management practice may lead to changes in the management structure. Also, an introduction of a new technology may lead to an improvement on organization’s level of efficiency which may be followed by radical changes in an organization.
These changes are characterized by increased efficiency and productivity in an organisation. This discussion gives an analysis of innovation and change in organizations and its importance to individual organizations. In other words, innovation is the central subject in business prosperity.
Importance of Innovation to the Business; Why It Matters To Companies
In every organization, the level of innovation plays a critical role in determining its performance. In the modern business world, changes and innovation level has increased significantly due to changes in the nature of the market.
In the modern business world, the market is characterized by a very high level of competition. The market has become more customer oriented, the factor which has increased a need to innovate in order to meet these changes (Mariposa, 2010, par 1). For instance, the phones’ market has become very competitive in the current mobile phones market. Different companies have entered into the market with different varieties of mobile phones.
Nokia Company is one of the oldest and successful companies in the mobile phone market. Due to increase in level of competition, the company has heavily invested in innovation as a strategy to remain above its competitors. Therefore, organizations are paying more attention on innovation in order to survive in such kind of markets.
One of the major reasons for innovations in organizations is to improve on its performance. For instance, new technologies can significantly help in improving the level of performance in different areas. For instance Nokia has improved on its products through an innovation in technology. In other words, innovation enables an organization to survive in a competitive world.
In connection to this, innovation can significantly contribute in development of competitive advantage. For instance, when a company manages to innovate on new technology, it will be able to produce more efficiently and therefore reduce on its operational costs. New technology may also help in increasing quality of the products in a company.
Consequently, such kind of producer will gain competitive advantage over its competitors. The company will be able to offer higher quality products in the market at lower prices and still retain its profitability.
Innovations can also delight the customer which leads to increase in the level of sales (Mariposa, 2010, par 2). For instance, Nokia Company has maintained its high level of sales through innovations. For instance, the company has been adding different features on its products through innovations.
The company has managed to add features like radio, MMS and blue tooth in order to delight its customers. This has increase the level of sales. Such innovations entice consumers to buy the product. Up to date, the company stills invests more on research and development in order to retain high level of innovations.
Nokia Company has managed to remain at the top of its competitors like Samsung through its innovative nature. It has developed a good reputation in the market through its high quality products. The company has also managed to provide a wide range of its products which has significantly attracted the attention of its customers.
Innovations can also help an organization to shine in a market where there is high supply of similar goods. In some cases, there may be several options available to customers in the market for a certain product. In such cases, innovations can make the organisation’s goods to stand out from many other similar goods in the market (Mariposa, 2010, par 3).
For instance, there are several companies which manufacture watches. However, a watch from a certain company can stand out from the shelf among other similar watches due to innovative features applied. Nokia Company conducts an intensive research on the needs of the customers in the market and then conducts innovations with respect to consumer’s tastes.
This is unlike other companies which have heavily been relying on imported technology in order to make new developments. For instance, through research, the company recognized that consumers preferred smaller phones to big ones. On realizing this, Nokia came up with new developments which led to increase in sales. The company developed a technology to reduce the size of its mobile phones. This approach in innovation has significantly contributed to the success of the company.
Difference between Innovation and Change
The concepts of change and innovation overlap each other. The two concepts diverge in some point and converge on another. However, both innovation and change plays a very significant role in every organization.
According to Osborne and Brown (2005), change is a broad aspect which involves growth and development of one or more elements in an organization (5). Change reflects a difference between two time periods.
For instance, an organization may make developments on the management or administration. An organization may also involve the development of changes in the goods or services provided by an organization. For instance, Nokia Company has been making developments on its products which have led to changes in the company. For instance, a new product may require a change in the production process. This may require adjustments in an organisation.
On the other hand, innovation can be seen as a specific form of change (Osborne and Brown 2005: 5). Innovation can be described as deliberate efforts which are applied by an organization in order to realize improvements.
Innovation Management; Methods of Managing Innovations in an Organization
In order for an organization to retain a high level of innovation, it must have a clear management of innovation. As already noted, innovation is an important component of success in every organization. It provides a company with new opportunities (Mullen 2008: par 1). It also enables an organization to remain above its competitors. It is therefore important for every organization to have a clear change management process.
Mullen (2008) asserted that innovation is not just about good ideas in a business, it also include management of these new ideas as well as making adjustments on the old ideas taking the market and technology into account (par 2). In other words, the magnitude by which an organization benefits from an innovation will significantly be determined by the company’s efforts to manage these innovations. Otherwise, an organization will gain very little from new ideas and developments.
In order to benefit from innovation, leaders must create an innovative environment. The modern business world is characterized by a very high level of competition. Therefore, it calls for high level of performance in all the areas in an organization. Therefore, in managing innovation, managers should ensure that every area in the company retains high level of excellence in order to retain a high level of innovation.
Every component part of the business including product management, manufacturing, product management, sales and service and design, and design and development should record a good performance in order to have effective innovations in a company (Mullen 2008: par 4).
Co-operation is also an important element in innovation within a company. Managers must also encourage meetings, teamwork and committees in day to day activities in a company (Mullen 2008: par 8). Members representing different areas in the company must come together and co-operate in order to have effective innovations in an organization. Lack of co-operation may lead to disagreements which may threat innovation within an organization.
Lack of clarity and conciseness in business processes discourages innovation. It is therefore important for every organization to have a clear and concise business processes in order to encourage innovation. Every process must be clear and easily understood in all levels.
Organizational Change
Organizational change is another important element in business. Changes in organizations are now more frequent than before. Change allows a business to move from one level to another. Change leads to improvement in the level of efficiency, profitability and the overall productivity.
Therefore, change is very important factor which determines the success of an organization. Every leader in an organization has a responsibility in facilitating effective change in a company. Failure of any one of the departments can significantly affect the success of change process.
There are different types of organizational change. In an organization, we can have planned or unplanned changes. Planned changes are those changes which result from day to day operations in an organization. They are not planned. On the other hand, planned changes are changes in an organization which result from efforts made by the management in an organization.
We can also have slow and gradual change on one hand and radical change on the other. Weick and Quinn (1999) observed that the ability of an organisation to defeat its competitors is significantly determined by its ability to sustain change in the company (9).
Skills to manage and lead changes effectively are of great significance in organizations. Leaders should be able to convince every party in an organisation about the value gain through a specific change in order to reduce opposition to change.
It is necessary to keep open mind in order to have effective change. That is, one should not assume that a change will have negative impacts on an organisation. In other words, it is advisable to be optimistic towards change. Pessimism will undermine the success of change process.
Flexibility is also important in change management. An organisation should be ready to discard the old methods and embrace new ones. This can be encouraged through interactions among employees. It is also necessary to be patient has change takes time.
Change Management
Change plays a very important role in every organization. As already seen, change implies growth and development in different operations in an organization. However, these changes do not just occur automatically. Managers should come up with strategies through which to manage and boost change processes in an organization.
When change takes place in an organization, it is not always welcomed by all employees. Some may reject while others may welcome it. Therefore, managers should be able to foresee such reactions before implementing changes in order to be able to tackle the situation effectively.
Change management is the process through which an organization attains its future goals. As an organization does this, the traditional system pulls these efforts on the opposite direction. Past studies have indicated that 90% of the change initiatives which affects the past culture in an organization fail to meet their objectives (Atkinson 2005:13).
The success of an organization in realizing change depends on its ability to manage change. Atkinson (2005) observed that most big companies fail in implementing change in their organizations due to their inability to manage these changes well (16).
One of the ways which managers can use in order to come up with successful changes is by developing a methodology and attitude necessary to implement changes in an organization (Atkinson 2005:17).
Conclusion
In conclusion, this discussion has clearly shown that innovation plays significant role in an organization. In the modern business world, the market is highly competitive. There are many competitors, the factor which has raised the need for innovation. Innovation is the major factor which helps an organization to remain ahead of its competitors. Therefore, it is necessary for every business to have clear innovation and change management in order to remain profitable. Otherwise, it will be difficult to remain in the market.
Reference List
Atkinson, P., 2005. Managing Resistance to Change. Institute of Management Services. Volume: 49, Issue: 1, ISSN: 03076768
Hage, J.,1999. Organizational Innovation and Organizational Change. University of Maryland. Annu. Rev. Sociol. 1999. 25:597.622.
Mariposa, A., 2010. Importance of Innovation in Business. Web.
Mullen, C., 2008. Innovation Management. Web.
Osborne, S. & Brown, K., 2005. Managing Change and Innovation In Public Service Organizations. New York: Routledge.
Weick, K. & Quinn, R., 1999. Organizational Change and Development. University of Michigan Business School. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1999. 50:361.86.
To remain competitive in modern contemporary markets, companies need to have effective marketing strategies. An effective marketing strategy assists a company segment the market effectively and reaches the target market on time. With development in technology, changes in the electronic industry are fast; the industry is dominated by innovation and invention.
Marketing managers have the role of aligning their companies with the needs of customers; there is need to have policies that are responsive to the changes in the industry. Nokia Corporation has been ranked among the leaders in the industry, in 2010; the company was second from Apple Inc. in sales and electronic products production.
To maintain the leadership the company adopts strategic management styles that assist it add value to their target customers. Despite the company dominance both need to adopt “Blue Ocean” strategy to enlarge their market base (Rakesh, 2005).
Introduction
Amidst the changing business environment, the role played by marketing, advertising, and communication continues to take centre stage in strategic management arenas. Strategic marketing has gained much advocacy from management gurus as a way of improving ones business and retaining competitiveness; Nokia is international company in the telecommunication industry that have different approaches to marketing.
Its marketing team lead by marketing managers/leaders at different level determines the strategy the company adopts; the effectiveness of their marketing programs makes the differences in their operation level. This report evaluates the role played by marketing managers within an organisation; it will use Nokia Corporation as a sample company.
The company looks at how marketing is used to create competitiveness among companies in the same industry and will offer best approaches to marketing considering their internal and external environments (Barney, 2007).
The nature of the industry
Advancement in technology has facilitated the growth of mobile and telecommunication industry. On the other hand company’s electronic products are on the rise; the sector is dominated by leading world producers who depend on their operational management decision to remain afloat in the competitive industry; some of international companies in the industry include Samsung, Nokia, Sony-Ericson, Apples, and Google Android-powered phones. To remain competitive companies in the sector must adopt effective marketing strategies (Kerin and Peterson, 2009).
Historical background of Nokia
Nokia is an international phone company, with its headquarters in Finland; according to the company’s website, the company currently enjoys a market share of about 37% and aims at increasing the market share to over 40% by the end of 2011. It has a strong brand all over the world, the companies positioning statement is “technology connecting people”.
The company’s headquarters are located in Keilaniemi, Espoo. Currently it has a total number of employees over 123,000 distributed in various countries. It has it presence as a selling point of full branch in over 120 countries. In the year 2009, the company was able to make a profit of €1.2 billion this was over 10% than what it had recorded the previous year. The idea of the company was started in 1865 however; it became a telecommunication company in 1960’s.
Nokia PESTLE Analysis
P.E.S.T.L.E. analysis is a strategic management tool that analysis the external environment that a company operated; the analysis assists in making informed decision about the influence that the company is going to get from the outside environments as the technology and other variables change.
When making marketing decisions, management should ensure they understand what the external world wants in terms of service and products. There is very little that a company can do to avoid the effect of the outside world; however its influence can be felt across difference; P.E.S.T.L.E. stands for political, economical, social, legal and environment. Let’s analyze the above each at a time;
Political
Nokia has to face changes of global environment; the world is in the process of employing free trade policy whereby the market is the one that determines the price in the market as well the products to be supplied. The global financial crisis has compelled countries of the world to relax their trade barriers; when making marketing decisions, Nokia management has to consider the effect of the global environment; his is good for the company since it can expand to other many countries. This will increase the market base.
Economical
In the past decade, the economy of the world has been on the low pace with other countries recording a negative rate; in this time, Nokia Company has to develop products that meet the living costs of the current population. Even if the rate today is not so good there is hope and thus a risk taker can as well diversify his business; Nokia should ensure that it develops with the current economic trend
Social
The attitude the people has towards Nokia Products is that they are of high quality and are reliable. Despite the appreciation, people are willing to trade with current technologically improved products so the marketing team should ensure that products are continually improved. There are no threats as far as the social environment is concerned if the correct technology is adopted.
Technological
As stated earlier, there is a change in technology in the world; when making products, Nokia should ensure that its internal processes and products are of high technology as this will increase their demand and thus their competitiveness. The technology is not stagnant and more is expected in the future. The competitiveness of the company will be dependent on the efficiency of technology that it will implement.
Legal
The important thing is to comply with the particular country it invests in laws and regulations; when developing marketing strategies, Nokia marketing team ensures that it works within the legal frameworks of the country where the marketing campaigns are likely to take place.
Ecological
The world values its environment; Nokia marketing manager needs to advice the company on the right methods to protect the external environment. There are policies that are target to compel companies to respect nature; on the positive note, since the country policy makers realize that no production can be made without emission of waste, it has embarked on waste recycling technologies as well as adopting environmental friendly technologies.
Role of marketing management
Marketing is an integral part in a product cycle; marketing manager is given the responsibility of developing effective marketing strategies for their companies. Management gurus have agreed that how well a company markets its products has an effect on the success of the product; with this notion, marketing team should be in the forefront shaping products, services, and customer management policies.
In contemporary team leadership strategies, marketing is undertaken using task forces/team management; team leaders to address different element in their area of study (Couturier and Davide, 2010). The roles of marketing manager can be classified according to the nature of the business segment its self, they are:
Instilling a marketing led ethos throughout the business
Marketing is a science that needs to be gotten right from the start of the campaigns; marketing is a management term used to define the methods that a company should use to improve its market base; to sell effectively and be able to beat once competition.
In an organisation is important to have strategies and enact measures that that favour the company, marketing managers are responsible of enacting such competitive strategies. In the case of Nokia the marketing manager needs to establish the market they are going to sell their products to then come up with policies that manage the market segment effectively (Huang, 2000).
Researching and reporting on external opportunities
The world is adopting different approach and demands keep changing; with these understanding, marketing managers have the role of researching and reporting/advising their company on the right opportunities they can adopt; when developing a marketing strategy, the first thing that marketer should do is to perform a marketing research. Marketing managers should ensure that marketing research starts before a company has created the products required in the market and continues through the product cycle (Fred, 2008).
Nokia Boston Matrix
Boston Matrix is an international marketing decision tool that determined the state and level of a company as far as marketing needs are concerned. Nokia has been doing well in the domestic and international market; it can be seen as a star in the global market. At its level the company ensures that it keeps improving its products for the benefit of the company (Möller, 2006).
The chart below shows a Boston Matrix analysis:
When developing a marketing strategy it is important to understand internal and external factors likely to affect the strategy, the factors are the line through which the strategy operates, thus an effective understanding is crucial.
From an internal perspective, Nokia aims at understanding its strength and weaknesses, whereas an external perspective the company understands the position that it holds in the market as well as the effects of competitors. In the case the company is adopting new products; the marketing manager ensures that the company is able to understand the market dynamics operating in certain industry for future marketing related decisions like marketing entry mechanism.
The nature of Nokia business line is that that requires and understanding of external environment facing the industry; external environment trend is likely to affect the behaviour of consumers so when well understood better strategies will be made effectively.
When undertaking marketing research, marketing managers have the main aim as gaining an understanding of psycho-dynamics of the market and the underlying factors that can be used for the advantage of the company and developing mitigation measures against those factors that are likely to affect the business negatively.
It aims at answer the following questions:
What is going in the minds of target customers mind?
What need in the market is not met by the current products and offers an opportunity for the company?
What need is not met but is pressing in customers life?
What persuading terms and tools can be used effectively for a certain category of market segment and
What can be used as association in the advertising strategy?
The marketing manager has the role of ensuring that there is an effective market research; with an effective marketing research, a company is not able to segment its market effectively for the betterment of competitiveness in the market; Nokia marketing manager need to understand best marketing research to be undertaken for effective marketing.
Understanding current and potential customers and Managing the customer journey (customer relationship management)
Businesses can only prosper if the management has policies that ensure that the products and services produced address the need of their customers, marketing managers plays a crucial point ensuring that customer needs have been met effectively.
To ensure that customer needs have been addressed, the management has the responsibility of undertaking wide and comprehensive research on the target market and making responsive business decisions.
To undertake such efforts marketing managers plays an important role; according to management gurus, customers are the most important segment of an organization; they need to be managed effectively and their loyalty developed. Organizations that have enacted effective customer management approaches have remained competitive amidst challenging business environments they are engage in.
Nokia has managed to be second world largest electronic industry in sale volumes and production due to its effective customer management procedures; the company adopts a customer relationship management (CRM) approach to attract and maintain customers.
In the definition of the company CRM is a management strategy where a company creates healthy relationship with the suppliers, customers and the public. At Nokia customers are the most important stakeholder and all processes are aimed at increasing customers’ welfare.
The following are the main objectives that effective customer management programs endeavors to fulfill:
Determine, develop, nurture, and develop mutual satisfaction of the organization and customers, this notion means that the customers’ needs are aligned with business goals and objectives
Create, develop, and maintain good customer rapport, the customer rapport will be an effective tool that will create customer loyalty. When an organization has attained high customer loyalty , it is able to sell its products at relatively low cost of marketing, the company is self marketing
Customer relation management have the goals and objective of creating a positive feelings in the organization and the customers
The most important parameter that Nokia marketing management consider when enacting customer relation management policy within its frameworks is the target market who will be consuming the products and services of the company. In contemporary competitive business arena, companies need to management the relationship they have with their customers.
When customers are well managed, an organization benefits from loyalty and self marketing notion of their organization; customers are the backbone of a company; they are the sources of finance and the reason why a certain business exist.
CRM’s main objective is satisfying customers and developing close relationship that facilitates customer loyalty; to attract customers and persuade them buy ones products takes a combination of business processes; effective marketing and sales strategies have a direct effect on customer’s attainment and development of customer loyalty.
In customer acquisition and creation of loyalty, there are two main theories that a company needs to understand and decide the best approach to use; the theories are customer retention and customer acquisition (Keramally, 2003).
Customer relation management policies link a company to its target customers; if this link is not effective, there will be a breakdown of communication between these two parties. Information is power; marketing offers much needed information for strategic decisions. When producing goods, there is a target market that company aims. Human beings are not static; their needs change with time and space. Understanding of customers’ trend is important for an effective business.
Customer relation management assist, a company to compete effectively and probably win the competition. How well a company persuades its customers goes a long way in determining whether customers favor it or not.
To satisfy customers, marketers provide much needed information on which products are on demand, to assist the company make products that meet customer-changing needs. For example, it advises a company when designing distribution channels, supply chain, and retiling systems (Wheelen and Hunger, 1998)
Developing the marketing strategy and plan and Management of the marketing mix
To sell its products, Nokia has to develop effective market segmentation methods; they divide their markets according to the following four methods:
Geographical approach
Since the company is in the international market it has its market divided according to the market that they will be selling their markets. If they aim at moving to the Caribbean or African market their marketing teams will be sent to collect data and research the markets to come up with a concrete report on the best strategy to sell in the economies.
Demographic/ income strategy
When using this approach the company considers the income, age and the locations that the people will be found; the youth are likely to be in search for products that are highly updated in technology yet they are affordable, when noting this, the companies embark on strong innovation for better products to satisfy their clients.
Behavioral segmentation
With current changes in human tastes and needs the company ensures they understand what their customer really wants. With changes in tastes and preferences the marketing department are mandated with the role of understanding the needs of their customers and advising the production teams to come up with the best products for a certain market (Pickton and Broderick, 2005).
Target markets
Nokia products are made to target certain markets in the world market; phones which is a product that they share targets all classes of people with Nokia seeming to have access to the very low in the economy; it also has focus on people who are interested in efficiency and are technologically sensitive.
When coming with products, the company ensures that they improve on the current product to increase the utility that customers derive from the use of the products.
Nokia divide their markets on the line of price, location and age; depending with the level of technological advancement that a certain phone has, then the price will vary with the same range. The main target market that Nokia has can be seen as the old, the low earners, high earners, illiterate, and the literate (McFarland, Bloodgood and Payan, 2008).
Nokia has been a leader in the electronic industry however current innovations and venture of other international companies have hindered the companies continued leadership; the companies strength and innovativeness has made it world’s largest manufacturer of mobile phones.
In the first three quarter of 2010, the company enjoyed a market share of approximately 31% on average; however, the market share reduced to 30% in the last quarter of the year. The drop of the market share can be attributed to aggressive marketing and selling approaches adopted by its competitors mostly Apple Inc and Google Android-powered phones. The company is also diversifying rapidly in laptops, IPods and I phone to enable it share a large market in the electronic industry.
The results of 2010 were lower to those recorded in 2009 of 35% in the fourth quarter; so far, the marketing approach that the company has adopted is doing well in the markets however, the trend is alarming and calling for something extra to be done if the company has to remain in the forefront of the market (Kurtz, MacKenzie and Kim, 2009).
Nokia S.W.O.T. Analysis
S.W.O.T. analysis is a strategic management decision-making tool used to evaluate the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in a business undertaking, project or activity.
Nokia has an advanced technology that assists the company make products that are responsive to its customers need; its products are respected for their reliability and quality. The advancement offers high strength to the company; on the other hand the company is commanding a high market share.
The company has effective cost minimization procedures. The main weakness that Nokia has is that the company lacks to have a marketing team that focuses on improving the products of the company. It has been evident that there are some upcoming companies that are offering better products than Nokia, they include Apple Inc. the main opportunity that Nokia’s has is development of free trade in the globe and development of global economy.
The main threats facing Nokia is high competition from other companies like Sony, Ericson, Apple, ZTE, and Samsung Corporation. This high competition limits Nokia’s in attaining its goals and objectives.
Recommendations to improve Nokia Marketing policy
Despite the success that Nokia Marketing team has attained, the company can do better. One area that the company should address is the link between the production team and marketing team. The marketing team should not be seen as sellers of products already made but should be involved when making a decision of what to make.
When developing products, the inputs of marketing team department should be considered. Consideration of the inputs should be based on the notion that marketing team is closer to consumers thus they are better positioned to give quality decisions. The segment of making laptops is of late improving fast; Nokia has not ventured optimized the opportunity offered by the global environment. The marketing team should research for information that can assist the company develops such new products.
References
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Nokia is one of the most internationally renowned leading mobile phone companies that originated from Finland, with its headquarters in Espoo. The company emerged in 1885 and has since then been dealing with providing telecommunications and information technology services such as developing mobile phones and their accessories, internet services, and telephony technologies.
Be sure to discuss the main products and/or services that the company sells
Nokia Corporation deals with an assortment of products and services related to telecommunication and IT. For products, the company ventures in mobile phones, mobile phone accessories, computer devices, tablets, and several other portable Information technology gadgets. Nokia also provides internet services, including mobile phone internet applications, routing services, digital mapping, gaming services, and multimedia services.
Describe the industry in which the company operates
Nokia Corporation is a mobile phone manufacturing company under the mobile phone industry, but is under the telecommunication and information technology industry as it deals mostly with communication products and services. The telecommunication, cell phone and the information technology industries are industries dealing with inventing modern communication devices and providing efficient communication services.
Nokia Corporation is a multinational company that is currently venturing in almost every state or nation across the continents. Within the UAE, Nokia has a series of argent companies that operate under the Nokia umbrella. Nokia Corporation has sub-companies in Dubai and within other major cities around the United Arab Emirates.
Mention something about the competition and how you believe the company competes (relating this to their operations)
Nokia UAE is facing stiff competition in the Middle East as well as across the world because companies like Samsung, Apple, and Huawei have come up with unique models of phones in terms of hardware, operating systems, and applications that meet diverse needs of customers. However, I believe that Nokia UAE is increasingly becoming competitive in various markets because it is expanding its operations to reach many customers.
Nokia UAE has made sure that it provides customers in the UAE with all models of Nokia phones and applications in Ovi Stores. Moreover, Nokia UAE has an extensive support system that allows customers to optimize the use of phones. The advent of smartphones has compelled mobile operators to offer high-speed networks and business solutions. Hence, the operations of Nokia UAE are very competitive in the markets.
Nokia Corporation performed very well during the last few years with a market share of approximately 18%, which currently seems to have downsized to about 3%. Although still earning a somewhat good market reputation, its market value is diminishing. Nokia is in fact currently facing financial disaster and has lost over 40% of its cell phone revenues.
Strategy of the Company
Nokia UAE Corporation has an articulated mission indicated as, to become the dominating communication products manufacturer and distributor of the world.
Nokia Corporation serves under a strategic plan that focuses on cost-effectiveness and differentiation strategies. Nokia UAE has a cost-effectiveness strategy by ensuring that it produces and distributes low-cost products that are quite affordable for the Emirati people. It also utilizes differentiation strategy by producing unique products and in varieties exceptional from its competitors.
Nokia Lumia model is a smartphone that competes with android and other models. Nokia’s first-ever Windows tablet is Nokia Asha, which is a unique model with crystal-clear design, high pixel camera, and very sensitive user interface.
Are they following their strategy or not? And why?
Differentiation is a strategy that is paramount for Nokia UAE and remains unchanged. For the cost-effectiveness strategy, the strategy fluctuates depending on the market trends. Since it is a determinant in the decision-making process, the strategy relies on the consumption and other factors.
Does the company measure the productivity of their workers?
Employees are important facets to Nokia UAE and their productivity is paramount to the management of the company. The company’s human resource department measures and analyses the performance of its employees and offers motivation through employee empowerment.
How do they measure productivity?
Nokia UAE measures employee productivity through analyzing the potency of a single employee per the work assignment given to them on their first day. The company assumes that productivity depends on job satisfaction.
Is productivity difficult to measure in this industry or company? Why?
Nokia UAE rarely faces challenges in measuring the productivity of its employees, as the company’s human resource management team is normally competent in assessing employee productivity and a strong top management with sufficient information regarding the company’s operational capabilities.
How is Nokia different from others in the industry?
Differentiation as a paramount business strategy makes Nokia an exceptional company, with its assortment of portable information technology gadgets being exemplary. For instance, while many cell phone companies produce smartphones with integrated android operating system, Nokia has devised its unique approaches. Ordinary phones and smartphones of Nokia have unique shapes, colors, and features.
The features of Nokia phones are user-friendly and customized to suite customer’s tastes and preferences. Moreover, Nokia phones have the largest internal memory when compared with other phones, and thus allows them to run many applications just like android phones.
Forecasting
Forecasting is a management strategy that is useful in analyzing organizational strategies and productivity. Regression, qualitative, and quantitative are the major business forecasting techniques. Regression-based forecasting model examines trends in the business costs and net income to examine their business market. Qualitative forecasting model is where a business uses actual opinions and ideas as forms of data to ascertain the situation within the market.
Quantitative forecasting model uses sales numbers and web interchange numbers and new accounts to examine market state. Quantitative approach uses statistical analysis in predicting trends in various markets. Nokia UAE uses the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) demand as a forecasting technique.
Nokia UAE uses the Mean Absolute Deviation (MAD) demand is a forecasting technique that calculates demand variability of the products and services in the market. Within the Nokia UAE, the Mean Absolute Deviation Percent (MADP) and the Mean Absolute Error (MAE) are forecasting techniques common in this company.
In enhancing forecasting accuracy, Nokia UAE uses certain time horizons that include short-range time forecasts where certain programs, operations, and activities follow short-term stipulated schedules to achieve its targets. This explains the reasons why their products do not serve for long in the market before other new ones emerge.
Given the rising competition in the modern-day business world, forecasting as a strategy should receive the needed attention to make Nokia UAE more successful. Regression as a business-forecasting model is becoming an effective modern approach, as it focuses on costs and net income of the company. For Nokia UAE, this approach will help the company balance costs, forecast of income and meet operational demands as anticipated.
Product and Service Design
Like its international program, Nokia UAE deals with an array of telecommunication and information technology products and services as well. In terms of products, the main intent of the company is to produce affordable and portable communication and technology devices that are anticipations for the vibrant youth consumer population.
Smart phones, tablets, portable computer devices, internet-enabled phones, simple communication phones, various touch screen phones, and many other advanced technology tools. The products have been so reliable for the consumers, something that keeps Nokia Corporation on the market. In terms of services, the company offers mobile gaming services, internet applications, instant messaging, and multimedia services.
Nokia Corporation, unlike several other mobile phone companies known to the world, has at least managed to produce high-quality products characterized by durability. With high-quality assurance and quality control measures designed by the company strictly followed, the products produced by Nokia UAE and its international allies are of exceptional quality with recorded evidence of long-term durability. The life shelf of many of the Nokia products exceeds that of its direct competitor, Samsung.
Is the company managing product design according to their selected strategy (low cost/ differentiation/ response)?
The concept of low pricing and differentiation as the main market triumph strategies are normally in line with the product designing strategies. Nokia UAE designs products, with consideration of the consumer preferences and the consumer ability as determined by the pre-existing market research evidence documented.
The company designs its products and offers services while considering the purchasing power of its consumers as per the market where the products intends to serve. The products designed differ, but sometimes clients have expressed their resentments over the little changes made to each advancing Nokia product, as they reflect a slight change from the previous ones.
Reverse engineering, is a business practice that involves the process of unveiling the technological ideologies pertaining to a device, system or even a business operation or program through structural analysis of its composition.
The Nokia Corporation, as aforementioned, has a weakness of relying on their previous technological designs to invent a new product. Reverse engineering will help Nokia figure out new products and make design decisions without using recurring ideas.
Capacity Planning
Nokia, as a multinational company, seems to have been sailing through the market due to its initial financial capacity, though sudden twist in its economic status may undermine this fact. Capacity planning means understanding the potential of accompany to initiate and manage a business program.
Nokia UAE has the best-talented workforce with perfect skills required for high productivity of the company. However, wrangles between managers, employees, shareholders, are ruining their capacity in strengthening the company.
The company seems to have the right capacity of both human and capital resources required to make the company more effective than it seems. Nonetheless, the current situation in the management is not appealing as the conflicts arising from the company are ruining its productivity. This means that the company requires reexamination of its management capacity to perform well.
Strengthening the management and ensuring constant employee empowerment and support as motivation is one of the key employee retention techniques that seems more effective in the modern-day business environment. Over-employment of the workforce is also harmful nowadays for companies.
The company has no excess capital capacity the current resources, especially human resources are functioning optimally while the room for growth is diminishing due to lack of excess resources for development. Currently, the company’s production is currently not exceeding the consumption demands.
Cost-effectiveness in the company includes analyzing company’s capacity before investing in any business product or demanding more workforces. The capacity management of Nokia UAE is in tandem with the customer demands regarding products unveiled to the market.
Nonetheless, the internal conflicts are affecting proper utilization of the human resources and this affects the cost-effectiveness aspect as the employee productivity remains underutilized.
Process Design
Process design involves determining, equipment requirements, program implementation, and workflow required to meet needs of the clients. Nokia UAE uses design for assembly line with sophisticated machinery because it reduces the assembly costs. The design for assembly line process involves the use of automated machinery in the generation of products in sequential manner.
The automated controls aid in the assembly of products continuously, and thus increasing the volume while reducing variable costs. Moreover, design for assembly line is flexible as the company can increase or decrease the volume of production while maintaining the cost of production at the same level. Thus, this process design has helped Nokia to increase production while reducing the costs of production.
Typically, the concept of cost-effectiveness in the company seems convoluted because, as the company provides cost-effective products, the process design seems sophisticated and expensive than anticipated.
The operation cost designed in the freight-designed manner is relatively higher than their market strategy demands. Sophisticated technologies employed to design products, offer services require exemplary care, and the company spends immensely to handle the machinery and maintain the processes.
Location
The physical location of Nokia Corporation from its backdrop is Finland. However, its location within the UAE countries lies within places with fast-growing business premises and Dubai is one of the centers where the company operates. Dubai is the fastest-growing Muslim city with millions of investors attracted to this capital. Dubai is a strategic location within the UAE and Nokia expects to excel in this place.
In locating the headquarters in Dubai, Nokia UAE had targeted the fast-growing city as part of its strategic location planning. Technological innovation and consumption of technological communication services and its devices are on rapid growth in Dubai. Located within the Al Thuraya Tower II, also known as Dubai’s Internet City, the center is a technological zone that pulls millions of potential consumers.
In your opinion, is this a good location? Why or why not?
Nothing can match the most effective decision made at the headquarters of the Nokia Company around Dubai, as it currently stands out as the most advanced Muslim city where millions of potential investors and consumer population converge. The city is a growing technological center with a vibrant youth population who anticipate for such modernized mobile technologies.
The strategy of cost-effectiveness and differentiation remains well supported by the Dubai City, as although it may deem expensive due to the city structure, a pool of consumers is enough to bring back the desired profits. Although several other companies have invested in Dubai, Nokia is still a unique technological company. The unique technological products are a potential force behind the market success.
Quality and Quality Control
The reason behind a constant supply of desirable Nokia product rests upon the fact that the company has been in the forefront in strengthening the quality management system. Although somewhat poor in innovation, the products designed in quality-oriented manner where durability is a great concern, the company products are exceptional.
The quality control system of Nokia UAE entails persistent quality examination undertaken by a team of quality management experts who perform quality checks. Early test, pretests, in routine cycles throughout the production processes help Nokia UAE.
The early checks, constant reexaminations, and pretests to ascertain the quality of the phones and other technological devices is part of the inspection process that examines the quality of each product in Nokia UAE.
Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA), Ishikawa diagram, and statistical process control (control chart) are the types of quality tools that Nokia UAE uses in its quality assurance and control procedures. FMEA is an effective control tool because it identifies faults, and thus aid quality assurance and control procedures. Ishikawa diagram is a control tool that depicts the relationships between a problem and its causes, and thus it is a cause-and-effect tool.
The Ishikawa diagram is significant because it identifies causes of problems in a process by grouping the causes of problems into machines, methods, materials, management, and human resource. Statistical process control (control chart) allows measurement of attributes over a period. The control chart is important because it monitors processes and ensures that they are performing optimally as expected.
Adding some external quality control overseers is important to help the company acknowledge the importance of producing goods in respect to reverse engineering as an important business practice involving technological companies. This enables the company to avoid reinventing technologies following their previous designs.
The company’s quality management system seems effective, especially when considered in its effectiveness in maintaining the quality of the Nokia phones and accessories. Lack of understanding of the principles of reverse engineering makes the expertise of the quality control seem questionable.
Conclusions
It is slowly becoming clear that companies venturing within the Arab nations are receiving a motivating welcome and Nokia being a technological investment, the possibility of Nokia UAE becoming strong and independent in the UAE is considerably high. Of greatest concern is the growing concept of Nokia International assuming the importance of the principles of reverse engineering, something expected to influence its future survival when consumers realize this weakness.
It may remain unknown whether the company is really serving under its two aforementioned strategies, differentiation, and cost-effective techniques. This is solely because whereas the company is producing affordable devices, the sophisticated operational process consumes many finances. Inasmuch as the company is producing trendy products, the differentiation aspect remains undermined by lack of proper adherence to the reverse engineering principles.
Introducing technological devices of different shapes, colors, and design is not enough to manipulate the lively technological consumers who are becoming more technologically suave in the modern-day. Consumer’s high exposure to a series of technological devices may finally lead to discovery and design lapses in the devices produced by Nokia. It is imperative to understand the principles of reverse engineering to enhance the quality of its products in terms of innovation.
Brand extension is a marketing tool used to market products “riding” on the strength of an existing strong brand. It involves developing new products, mostly related to the product already in the market; it is a method of widening a range of products (or services), by taking advantage of the success of an existing brand.
It is a method of optimal brand strength utilization by creating additional sales as well as increasing brand equity. Brand extension should be strategic and timely; when over done, it ends to diluting of a brand (Reast, 2005). This paper discusses how to create a brand extension of Nokia Phones with Nokia I-phones.
Brand extension strategy
Generally, brand extension strategy takes four major steps; these steps start from creation of a strong brand name to reaching a decision that the practice can be made effectively. Nokia Phone Company was incorporated in Finland, as a telecommunication company; it entered the phone manufacturing company in early 1990’s. The company enjoys a strong brand name both in the local market and internationally. It specializes in different models of phones, and accessories with varying cost and features.
As a market segmentation practice, the company caters for different needs of the people through features and costs of it products. In this brand extension case, Nokia should aim at middle upper class and high-class markets. With the current brands, these markets are targeted for browser-enabled phones, phones with internal capacity memory, and flashy phones. The same people will be targeted for I-phones. The process of brand extension will be as follows:
Determine Brand And Category Associations
The first stage in brand extension is gauging the current market position and strength of the brand wanted to ride on. It should have a commanding role in the market. If the brand is strong enough, like the case of Nokia, then products that can sell in the same market segment and will add value to a customer are established, in this case I-phones has been recognised as an effective brand extension product.
Players and competitors of the new brand should be analysed; market entry methods should be surveyed. In the case of Nokia-I-phone brand extension, the company should consider competition offered by Apple Electronic Company’s I-pods and I-phone. Their strength and the market position they are enjoying in the market should be interpolated. This stage is undertaking a brand S.W.O.T. analysis. The stage should recognise associations that customers have on a particular brand.
Develop Brand Extendibility Proxies
After recognising customers associations of a particular brand, then the next step is locating/extending proxies. For each association a continuum of attributes and benefits are established and analysed; they are required for learning the strength and approach strategy that the new brand can use to venture in the market. Nokia should seek understand why its product of which it want to extend through is values; then establish an unmet need. The new product should come in to fill the unmet need in the segmented market. Establishing brand relevance will go a long way in recognising of how extension can appear in the future.
Conduct Brand Extendibility Research
After proxies have been established, it is important to research on a more specific angle on the viability of the new product in the market. This will call for getting back to the segmented market and get rich information on whether they have a need in a certain area. It is the point that inputs, evaluation and more insight information regarding a particular product is gotten.
Developing team should aim at understanding customer rationale, virtues and values. In the case of Nokia, the company should randomly have a survey on the viability of new product; this will be through talking to customers and getting to learn how far current products fulfil their needs (Pickton & Broderick, 2005).
Create Brand Extendibility Guidelines
After getting information from the target market, it should be analysed to get an in-depth understanding of whether it is the right time for an extension or not. If it is, then the market is divided into proxies and target market for the product is developed. Through the product will be marketed like any other product/service in the customer, as it penetrates the market, it is rational to advertise it along with the old product and give out the superiority of the new brand.
When marketing, care should be taken to ensure that confidence on the old product is not faded; customers should have a feel that the new product is more focused to their need but not proving the old product inferior. In case confidence in the old product is diluted, then it is likely to affect the brand negatively (Kotler & Keller, 2009).
Conclusion
A strong brand is a company’s intangible asset; maximum use of this asset can be attained through strategic brand extension where new products targeting same or similar market segments are developed. Nokia phones have a strong brand name thus the company should think of developing I-phones to target middle upper class and high class people in the society.
This paper reviews literature relating to knowledge workers and its application to Nokia Corporation. It proposes a model to understand the way KM affects the organization, especially human resource management (Hannabuss, 2001). KM is a term used to refer to the management of the skilled and knowledgeable employees in an organization (Caddy, 2007).
Skilled and knowledgeable employees are important because they help the organization to utilize its competitive advantage in innovation (Henard & McFadyen, 2008). They lead to increased sales revenue and improved financial performance in an organization.
Different levels in the organization enjoy managing knowledge employees, since employees understand what is important in the organization. HRM is usually at ease with managing these employees. However, it has the task of increasing knowledge in the organization through workshops, seminars, and training.
Additionally, human resource responsibilities change to include the creation of teamwork in the organization, to facilitate not only sharing and the increase of knowledge, but also for organizational performance (Winograd & Flores, 1986).
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is the world leader in provision innovative solutions through production of high quality products to enhance the process of knowledge creation and transfer within organizations and across different parts of the world. The company’s mission is as simple as “Connecting people.” This is what has driven the company towards its success.
In highly competitive industry like mobile phone services where all companies are striving towards securing a stable market share of customers, the company needs to come up with elaborate measures of knowledge management systems to increase the chances of survival in the industry.
Nokia Company has been in the forefront in ensuring that its products meet or even go beyond customer satisfaction through integration of its services carrying out of intensive research and development in order to come up with appropriate handsets which customer demands. The company aims at building great mobile products to enable billions of people all over the world enjoy life’s opportunities through mobile.
Knowledge Management
Galia and Legros (2003, p. 15) argues that a rival organization of sustainable worth builds on what it “collectively knows,” how good it uses what it knows and how directly it “acquires and uses knowledge that is new.” KM provides an enabling environment for an organization to obtain this advantage. It helps to transform established processes into entirely superior collective knowledge bases in an organization (Rasheed, n.d, p. 3).
According to Yahya and Goh (2002, p. 462), knowledge is the acquaintance of facts, truth, and principles from study. Over time, knowledge has become an important asset for organizations because most companies find it useful for their success. KM cannot avoid concerning itself, largely, with the management of people who work with or work on knowledge.
Consequently, demand has been necessary for a class of workers known as knowledge workers (Richard, 2004, p. 3). Corporations have been looking at knowledge as a resource. Martin (2000, p. 13) posits that the existence of such a perspective led to the emergence of KM. KM has subsisted in combination with the development of knowledge information systems and KM systems.
Additionally, there are new terminologies such as knowledge perspective of the firm (Gold, Malhotra & Segars, 2001). Different people have defined KM differently. Some have defined it as a form of document management, which is a system of letting engineers share design data or for consultants to share desirable practices (Luhmann, 1995).
According to Benson (2006, p. 186), KM may mean a simple, searchable database to customer service and call center managers. However, Barnes (2002, p. 36) defines KM as a set of practices that maximizes the business value of knowledge by assembly, structuring, and bringing it at critical points of customer interface.
KM systems have developed over time to offer effective possibilities of access by call center agents, web agents, customers, and partners, or their combination (Lueg, 2001). Thus, knowledge should be a multi-channel resource to an organization.
The basic goals of KM systems in organizations are to reduce costs of production in the organization, improve service provision, improve on the consistency of the services provided by the organization, and improve the overall performance of the organization, such as customer service and financial performance (Mohanta & Thooyamani, 2010).
Additionally, KM can apply in other strategic areas in an organization, such as outsourcing, merging of two or more call centers, and extension of call centers (Drucker, 1994).
Knowledge should be a multi-channel asset to the organization. KM systems typically deploy to achieve specific and measurable goals in the organization through several processes (Habermas, 1987).
KM processes include organizational learning, which is the routine by which a firm takes a report as knowledge, and knowledge production, which is the routine, and which transforms and integrates tender report into knowledge that in turn is utilitarian to change commercial operation problems.
In order to reduce harmful effects of KM to an organization, there is the need to overcome obstacles such as issues related to concepts and/or mindsets and operation in the organization (Yahya & Goh, 2002, p. 466).
Classification of knowledge
Various researchers have come up with various ways of classifying knowledge. Knowledge can be either tacit or explicit. Tacit knowledge is an internalized knowledge that one may not be consciously aware of for instance the one performs some tasks. Explicit knowledge is the knowledge that one holds consciously, that is in a form that can be easily communicated to other people (Alavi and Leidner, 2001).
There is an also content and relational perspective of knowledge and knowledge management. The content perspective asserts that knowledge can easily be stored since it can be codified while the relational perspective recognizes the relational aspects of knowledge (Esch, 2008).
Knowledge management efforts need to change internalized tacit knowledge into explicit to facilitate sharing of knowledge. There is a research, which suggests that a difference between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge led to oversimplification. Nonaka and Takeuchi (1995) came up with a model that takes into account a circling knowledge process interaction between explicit and tacit knowledge.
The proposed model is SECI (Socialization, Externalization, Combination and Internalization). The model asserts that knowledge follows a cycle in which explicit knowledge can be converted into tacit knowledge and vice versa.
Another widely used model, which categorizes knowledge dimensions, distinguishes between embodied and embedded knowledge of a system. Embodied knowledge is a learned capability of a human body’s nervous system (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995).
Impact of Knowledge Management on Nokia
KM can be applied in Nokia Corporation in various sections. The impacts of applying it in the organization are evident. The performance of the company will improve since KM helps the organization to reduce the operating costs. Moreover, the human resource department will find it easy to supervise employees while on duty. Below is an explanation of these impacts.
Human Resource Management
Knowledge economy is a term that has risen in human resource management with a major shift in focus of the HRM from a bureaucratic ‘personnel management’ operation to the development of discrete functions of the HRM. The incorporation of these roles to support competitive benefit and a strategic thrust has accompanied the application of KM in HRM.
According to Robles-Flores (2004, p. 99), specialists are warning that HRM faces extinction unless it responds to changes that arise from the shift from a traditional to a knowledge-based economy.
Jackson, Farndale and Kakabadse (2003, p. 195) adds that if the human resource function is unable to add value under these conditions, it is under extreme threat. Gloet (2004, p. 75) argues that the HRM can reinvent itself through its input to effective linkages between the management of human capital and KM within organizations.
Galia and Legros (2003) note that there has been growing interest in the relationship between KM and HRM over recent years, as both KM and HRM have grown more refined and intricate. Though there are points of view that there is a reasonable agreement on the character and scope of HRM, its components and principles, this is not the case with knowledge management.
As Yahya and Goh (2002, p. 461) note, the vital aspect of any sensible understanding of knowledge and its incorporation into the management of organizations is awareness of a range of views on the KM concept.
This includes the perceptions of KM as an entity, a resource, a capacity, and a process (Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall, 2003, p. 99). However, knowledge applies as a social creation emerging at the interface between people and information, and especially within communities engaged in communication, creation, and sharing of knowledge and learning.
According to Lengnick-Hall and Lengnick-Hall (2003, p. 130), competitive advantage in organizations now rests on the successful application of knowledge. The proliferation of information and communication technologies has increased with the rise in knowledge based economic activities. This exists in combination with rapid economic change, complexity of global organizations, and rapid change.
In order to manage these changes, human resource management must also respond to changes by expanding the traditional roles of human resource management, and include both within and outside the organization. Coates (2001, p. 5) notes that the traditional focus on managing people has broadened to include managing organizational capabilities, managing relationships, and managing learning and knowledge in the organization.
Four areas in HRM have undergone changes in order to respond to the demands of the economy of knowledge and to develop connections with knowledge management. These areas are the strategic focus of HRM, roles, learning focus, and responsibilities (Storey & Barnett, 2000).
Financial Impacts
Knowledge management aims at reducing cost of production in an organization. It has helped Nokia lower the cost of customer service by reducing the number of repeat calls, call handling, agent training, and by maximizing the ability of employees to solve problems in the organization.
The improvement of employees’ ability to perform better does not only enhance the net efficiency of employees in the call center, but it also gives firms access to a larger labor pool, because there is a reduced need to find other employees with interpersonal skills and the domain knowledge. According to Jackson, Farndale and Kakabadse (2003, p. 190), KM usually helps companies provide better quality services.
The clients of the Nokia are more likely to receive the right answer in time with no need to be on hold or to move to another agent. The provision of quality services to customers usually leads to a better brand reputation for the company and a good company name. This translates to increased customers, increased market share, revenue, and hence the profit of the organization (Meehan, 1999).
Customers who buy a product with problems but receive “world-class” customer service while resolving the problem are more than twice as likely to repurchase from the company than customers who buy a perfect product with no problems at all (Lang, 2001).
Additionally, Gloet and Martin (n.d) compliment that consistency in the provision of quality services and goods in an organization requires the use of KM. It is difficult for the firm to accustom with the responses of customers without KM (Buckland, 1991).
The consistency applies in the customer care given to customers because one response applies for all customers with the same question. The achievement of consistency enables the organization to boost its quality service and product provision, hence boosting its financial performance (Fivaz, 2000).
According to Rumizen (2002, p. 106), many multinational corporations outsource their raw materials from other countries. Outsourcing is expensive since most outsourcing contracts are usually costly. However, KM can help an outsourcing firm to negotiate the deal of outsourcing, based on KM to reduce communication costs.
Jackson, Farndale, and Kakabadse (2003) note that KM could make the transition virtually painless, and significantly lower the cost of training employees. Merging call centers in an organization could also be costly to the organization. Using knowledge management, the costs of merging the call centers can reduce while the financial performance of the organization improves (Davis & Botkin, 1999).
Impacts on the Competitive Advantage
Effective competition in the industry requires use of certain strategies that include differentiation of products, innovation, research and development, and increased networking. In order to gain any competitive advantage, KM plays an important role. According to Galia and Legros (2003, p. 13), KM plays a big role in identifying the competitive advantage for Nokia.
In order to succeed in its industry, Nokia needs a strong competitive advantage against its competitors. Companies have different competitive advantages. The use of KM is essential in identifying the best competitive advantage for the firm.
According to Yeuk-Mui, Korczynski and Frenkel (2002, p. 8), KM can help the HRM department charged with recruitment to select an effective and knowledgeable team in the organization. The knowledgeable team can create a competitive advantage for the organization through innovation.
As pointed out by Martin (2000, p. 29), innovation is an important competitive advantage for all those organizations operating in competitive industries. Innovation enables the organization to produce new products that suit the market and the needs of consumers (Probst, Raub & Romhardt, 1999).
On differentiation, KM can help the recruitment of knowledgeable employees who will carry out a successful study of the market and enable the organization to differentiate its products successfully in the competitive industry (Binney, 2001).
Differentiation is important because, as a competitive advantage, it will help the company to make its products different from those of its competitors. Since the products will undergo manufacture by a highly qualified team of employees, the company brand will stand out from many other products as the best (Harkema & Browaeys, 2002).
According to Brown & Duguid (2000), teamwork is very important in ensuring better performance in an organization. The use of KM in selecting highly knowledgeable individuals ensures that employees work as a team. Through knowledge management, the work of human resource management to cater for employees’ needs eases (Yolles, 2000). Monitoring employees as they work in teams will be easy.
Additionally, there is easy handling of any problems encountered by employees in time. Therefore, there will be fewer disruptions in production, hence improved product quality. Additionally, the recruitment of a highly skilled labor force ensures that the best knowledge applies in production in different sections of an organization (Barth, 2000). The result is a high quality product or service blended together with the best skills.
Therefore, proper management of teamwork by the human resource aided by KM can create a competitive advantage for the organization, leading to better performance (Berger & Luckmann, 1966). Knowledge workers work in teams, and if knowledge workers are not employees, they must at least feature affiliation with an organization (Drucker, 1994, p. 71).
Jackson, Farndale and Kakabadse, (2003, p. 461) argue that KM ensures that there is effective communication within an organization and the outside environment. Using KM systems, the management of the organization is able to execute its duties, linking all participants in the supply chain of the organization such as the suppliers, the creditors, distributors, and the customers.
Robles-Flores (2004) posits that the effectiveness of an integrated supply chain depends on the implementation of KM in the organization. Therefore, the use of KM in an organization can improve the integrated supply chain of an organization (Lindgren & Henfridsson, 2002).
This cuts down the costs along the supply chain, reducing further the product costs, and enhancing performance. The integrated supply chain can form a good competitive advantage for an organization, given the use of KM (Clarke & Rollo, 2001).
Conclusion
The modern economy is full of knowledge, with organizations employing skilled employees. The employment of skilled workers is important because it helps the organization to identify and develop competitive advantage. KM in an organization is an important concept that affects the functions of HRM.
Human resource management shifts its traditional employee management to include other functions associated with the development of the organization. The effect of employing skilled employees is improved financial performance, growth, and development. On the external environment, KM leads to better products of the organization, hence improved reputation of the company and the good reputation of the product brand.
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When going over the case data, it becomes immediately apparent that the primary strength of Nokia is its capacity to exploit economies of scale which enable the company to not only produce enough handsets to meet global demand but also enables the company to sell them at a lower cost (Sengul & Gimeno, 2013).
It can be seen that despite Apple, Samsung and various Android based phones being the pre-dominant smart phone/smart phone in the global marketplace, the fact remains that smart phones as a whole are expensive and, as such, manufacturers of such devices would have a considerable amount of difficulty in penetrating developing countries where the limited income of the local consumers would result in low levels of demand (Clercq & Lianxi, 2014).
While it is true that Nokia has actively pursued First World markets in the past, as evidenced by the ubiquitous nature of the Nokia brand, the fact remains that its traditional markets are overly saturated which prevents the company from gaining a sufficient foothold (Kern, 2014).
It is based on this that one potential strategy of the company would be to expand into Third World economies by providing cheap yet effective mobile phones (Barrett, 2004).
From a market penetration perspective, this strategy would enable the company to encompass a much larger user base as compared to companies such as Apple that focus solely on the development of technology that appeals to middle to high income consumers (Besanko & Wu, 2013).
For instance, markets in Central Africa such as Cameroon and Ghana have a considerable amount of potential phone users in what is a generally untapped market for mobile devices (Subramanian, 2013). The reason why the proposed strategy would be effective is related to the limited telecommunications infrastructure in third world countries and how this factors into the ability of Nokia to create a substantial market share (Ojo, 2009).
First and foremost, based on the red ocean – blue ocean strategy, Nokia is able to leverage its current product lineup as compared to other phone manufacturers simply because various iterations of mobile phones produced by Nokia are not as dependent on highly prolific 3G and 4G network infrastructures.
It is important to note that smart phones, by their very nature, require a relatively robust network to function properly (Zhu, Singh & Manuszak, 2009). Without such a network, they are relegated to being nothing more than a very expensive phone whose capabilities are severely limited by the lack of a data networking (Zhang, Song & Qu, 2011).
Within many developing third world countries, it is far more important to have a functioning and affordable phone rather than one they cannot afford and can barely utilized.
It is along this line of reasoning that is more than likely that Nokia would be quite successful in various countries where the network infrastructure can only support mobile devices that are not as demanding when it comes to their data needs (Kawasaki, Lin & Matsushima, 2014).
Overcoming its Current Issues
When examining the SWOT, Value Chain, etc. that were utilized early on in this paper, what is immediately obvious is that despite the current capabilities of Nokia, the current global marketplace is rife with many potential competitors with sufficient capital that can go to China, make a contract with a local company and they would be able to have their own phone model with its own distinctive branding which would run on the free Android operating system (Schmidt, 2013).
One example in which companies can develop their own products utilizing outside help can be seen in the case of the company Polaroid who used to be popular for their instant cameras yet, due to a lack of sufficient foresight, have lost a vast majority of their market share (Cennamo & Santalo, 2013).
However, as of late the company has made a surprising move wherein it has actually entered into the Android based tablet industry and have actually been moderately successful selling tablets that were made in China by a third party supplier yet bore the Polaroid brand.
A similar strategy could potentially be utilized by various competitors with the prospective third world economies that Nokia may attempt to penetrate in the future (Dennehy, 2010). The barriers to entry that used to exist such as having to build a factory and developing a supply chain are no longer an issue which has resulted in a proliferation of different types of mobile phone brands (Sung, 2014).
Recommendation
It is with this in mind that one way in which Nokia could address its current issues with regard to market penetration would be to create a phone that is both incredibly affordable yet usable in locations where mobile phone service is somewhat lacking.
Nokia has the technological capacity to accomplish this which its various rivals that buy their phones from China cannot given the generic nature of the mobile phones that are produced by third party suppliers that do not have specialized technologies (Ahn & Breton, 2014).
Not only that, more prominent phone companies such as Apple and Samsung are less likely to develop affordable phones that have good serve quality in low signal areas given their current approach towards expanding into industrialized countries where such a situation is not an issue at all (Kaufman, 2013; Rubin, 2014)).
This particular approach would definitely conform with the “red ocean – blue” strategy that was mentioned earlier since it would allow Nokia to dominate a niche market that other competitors simply could not penetrate due to a lack of technological capability or are simply disinterested in penetrating such markets in the first place given the low level of demand for complex smart phone devices in such regions (Pitcher, 2002).
This presents itself as a good opportunity for the company since it ensures that potential rivals to its new markets would be limited in size and scope.
Conclusion
Overall, while it can be seen that Nokia, despite being one of the largest companies in the world, is being overwhelmed through the sheer amount of competitive forces that are in the market. It has to deal with the competitive pressures from Apple and Samsung as well as the proliferation of cheap smart phones through the open source Android operating system.
Success for the company will be determined in the next few quarters as it attempts to penetrate new markets with its current phone lineup. Whether or not the company will succeed with such a plan has yet to be determined, however, with its superb development team and supply chain it is likely that the company will definitely put up a tough fight.
Reference List
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Nokia has been a leading seller of mobile phones in Europe and across the globe. The new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) decided to present new changes in order to make Nokia a leading competitor in the industry.
According to Stephen Elop, Nokia Corporation had become insensitive about the changing expectations of its customers. The employees at the company had weakened Nokia’s core competencies. The company was no longer promoting its Research and Development (R&D) practices.
The internal conflicts and competing agendas also affected the company’s business strategy. These job cuts would encourage innovative ideas and software development at the company. The practice would make Nokia a leading producer of smartphones.
This decision was necessary towards improving Nokia’s responsiveness and agility. The leader would manage the company’s web services and software development practices. The new leader wanted to reduce the expenses incurred by the giant corporation.
The approach will make Nokia an innovative and competitive firm. The leader wanted the company to recover its glory in the global market. This explains why Stephen Elop was ready to eliminate 1800 jobs even though Nokia was performing well.
Nokia decided to hire an American as the company’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO). There are several reasons to support this decision. To begin with, Nokia was the chief marketer of mobile phones in North America for very many years. New players had overtaken Nokia by 2009.
Some of these marketers included Motorola, Research in Motion (RIM), LG, Apple, and Samsung. This situation explains why Nokia decided to hire an America. The new CEO would present the best incentives about the changing expectations of the American consumer.
The company’s decision to produce GSM phones also affected its performance in the United States. The new leader from American would advise the company to produce CMDA mobile phones. These phones are widely used in the United States.
Nokia had failed to respond to the shifting expectations and tastes of its American customers. The new CEO would make it easier for the company to respond to these tastes and preferences. The CEO would consider such aspects during the production of Nokia’s smartphones.
The second reason was that Microsoft is a successful Silicon Valley giant. Stephen Elop would offer the best leadership styles and recruit competent web designers for Nokia.
The decision would make Nokia the leading producer and marketer of smartphones in the United States. This explains why the company’s decision to hire Stephen Elop was one of the best.
This case study explains why Nokia should move with haste to revitalize its performance in the United States. The new CEO should begin by using a transformational leadership style. The leadership approach will motivate every employee in order to achieve the targeted organisational goals.
Stephen Elop should also encourage his employees to work as teams. The CEO should encourage his employees to be innovative. The leader should support Nokia’s research and development (R&D) team.
Stephen Elop should encourage his employees to interact with one another during decision-making and problem-solving practices. The manager can change Nokia’s organisational culture by hiring employees from different socio-cultural backgrounds.
These changes will support the company’s core competencies. These organisational changes will help Nokia produce the best smartphones that can address the changing needs and expectations of different customers in the United States.
I have chosen Nokia Corporation as the company to write about in this assignment. Nokia Corporation is based in Keilaniemi, Finland and is, by far, the largest manufacturer of mobile instruments in the world. There are other fields that the company is engaged in, such as multimedia and networking.
Nokia Corporation has been in the telecommunications field since the last 50 odd years. But prior to venturing in the telecommunication field, Nokia had tried its luck in various sectors such as paper mill, rubber boots, car tyres, electricity, televisions etc. Presently, the company has its manufacturing facilities across the globe in various European and Asian countries.
Nokia Corporation’s logo, ‘Connecting People’, is tantamount to its line of business. According to Datamonitor, Nokia “…employs about 129,355 people. The company recorded revenues of €42,446 million ($56,363.6 million) during the financial year ended December 2010 (FY2010), an increase of 3.6% over 2009” (Datamonitor, 2011).
Nokia Corporation can be considered as the pioneer in mobile technology. “On July 1, 1991, Finnish Prime Minister Harri Holkeri makes the world’s first GSM call, using Nokia equipment. And in 1992, Nokia launches its first digital handheld GSM phone, the Nokia 1011” (Nokia).
In order to have a better understanding about the company, it is always better to do a SWOT Analysis.
SWOT Analysis of Nokia Corporation
Strengths of Nokia Corporation
Well equipped research and development department.
World’s first GSM call was made from a Nokia instrument.
Largest manufacturer of mobile phones with manufacturing facilities in not less than 15 countries worldwide.
Largest marketing network.
Follows the ‘Diverse Workforce Management’ policy.
Nokia products are marketed in not less than 160 countries worldwide.
Nokia has a strong financial base.
Better re-sale value as compared to other brands.
Weaknesses of Nokia Corporation
Profits of the company dropped by almost 40% in the year 2010.
In spite of global presence, Nokia Corporation does not have specific presence in the United States of America.
The same is the case in Japan though the reason is greater competition from local brands such as Panasonic, Sharp etc.
In India Nokia has an appreciable presence but the after sales service is not up to the mark.
Some of Nokia’s products are not compatible with the available software.
Pricewise, Nokia mobiles are costly as compared to Chinese mobiles.
Opportunities of Nokia Corporation
Nokia Corporation entered into a joint venture with Germany’s Siemens and as such now there are greater opportunities for the company to expand in the hitherto neglected European markets.
Nokia has specific presence in the Asia Pacific region and it is encouraging that this particular market is one of the fastest growing ones.
Nokia mobiles are stylish and colourful. This feature is liked by the younger generation.
There is tremendous scope for Nokia in developing countries.
There is an incessant growth in the telecommunication industry.
Threats of Nokia Corporation
Due to the launch of several Chinese brands, Nokia’s monopoly in the mobile market has started to diminish.
Other brands like Apple etc. have introduced mobiles with better and more user-friendly software.
Due to a variety of choices available in the market, customers have more and better options.
Past, Present and Future Position of Nokia Corporation
Nokia Corporation ruled the mobile market for about 14 years but due to its not paying attention to the emerging competition from brands like Apple and Samsung, there has been a drastic drop in its sales. Initially, Nokia provided its customers with value for their money. Nokia handsets were considered to have the latest technology.
When Apple introduced the Android phones, Nokia did not suffer much because the Android phones were meant for high-end customers whereas Nokia phones were meant for the masses. But unfortunately, the different models launched by Nokia had only some minor changes and since the customers wanted something different, Nokia started losing ground.
During this period, Samsung also launched its Android phone but with a difference and at a lesser price. “All these factors created an opening for Samsung which gave the public exactly what they wanted – variety of prices in the smart phone segment, with touch screens, with android and with fabulous marketing plan” (Bhasin, 2012).
As a result, Samsung took over the number one position in mobile phones and it is expected to be there until Nokia Corporation comes up with some innovative features in its mobile phones. Following is a table depicting the comparison of sale of mobiles using different operating systems:
“Looking at the present scenario, Nokia has started to make efforts to enter smart phone market by collaborating with Microsoft and bring its smart phones to the market, with Nokia Lumia 800 being the recent one in the stable” (Raina, 2011).
Market share of Nokia
According to Gartner, “Nokia’s share of the mobile phone market dropped to 25 percent in the first quarter of 2011, the lowest for 14 years, down from 30.6 percent at the same time last year” (as cited in Globaltimes, 2011).
Talking about Nokia’s market position, Gartner further reported that “It is still ranking well ahead of second place Samsung, which holds 16 percent, followed by LG in third with 5.6 percent, Apple in fourth with 3.9 percent and RIM with 3.0 percent” (as cited in Globaltimes, 2011). Alex Webb reported that “Nokia, the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, reported that first-quarter profit fell as it continued to lose market share to competitors” (Webb, 2011).
Target Market of Nokia
Initially, Nokia did not pay much attention to the European and the US markets but as mentioned earlier in the paper, it entered into a joint venture with Germany’s Siemens and as such now there are greater opportunities for the company to expand in the hitherto neglected European markets. But the main area that Nokia is paying attention is the Asia-Pacific region, to be more specific, India and China. Both these are developing countries and as such there is a lot of potential in these markets.
Marketing Strategy and Strategic Marketing Plan of Nokia
“Nokia has unveiled a ‘youthful’ and ‘revitalised’ marketing strategy, using the internal strap line ‘live adventure everywhere’ for the launch of its debut windows phone devices as it looks to reclaim its position at the top of the smart phone market” (O’Reilly, 2011). The following are the main points of Nokia’s marketing strategy (Source: www.authorstream.com).
Focused on handset manufacture only
Enhance product portfolio
Increase distribution channels
Adjust preferences for specific markets
Customer satisfaction
Focused on replacement
Increase commitment to emerging market
Improve collaboration on designs
Ensure accountability and quality
Aggressive pricing (Source: www.authorstream.com)
Nokia’s strategy is to “Create irresistible solutions through vibrant ecosystems with our partners, user experience at the heart of all we execute, intensify pulse on consumer needs, bringing the best devices to all markets, smart context aware services with people & places” (Nokia, 2009).
Analysis of Samsung and Apple
“Midway through the fourth quarter earnings season, it’s becoming apparent that while Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) had a record breaking quarter with 37 million iPhone sales and Samsung did nearly as well, most other handset makers are struggling or facing stagnation” (Goldstein, 2012).
Goldstein further suggests that “Analysts point to the unique attributes that have buoyed Apple and Samsung, including their access to components, scale, brand recognition and overall product execution” (Goldstein, 2012).
One of the major advantages that these two companies have is that all the components are manufactured indigenously. Both the companies have invested huge amounts in their research and development programmes. Another advantage that these two companies have is the instant delivery of products in the markets. Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy range have created a brand name of their own.
Key competitive factors between Nokia, Apple and Samsung
For comparison purpose, we shall consider the latest models of each company i.e. Nokia’s Lumia 800, Apple’s iPhone 4S and Samsung’s Galaxy S2.
Factor
Nokia Lumia 800
Apple iPhone 4S
Samsung Galaxy S2
Winner
Design
Basic design of Nokia N9. The material used is polycarbonate that makes the body light weight.
Almost similar to that of iPhone 4 but there have been major improvements in the downloading speed.
Designed sleekly with only one button (the home key).
Samsung Galaxy S2
Screen
3.7 inches, clear black OLED screen, Gorilla glass
4.3 inches, AMOLED plus technology
3.5 inches, retina display,
Samsung Galaxy S2 and Apple iPhone 4S
Camera
8 MP
8 MP
8.1 MP
Samsung Galaxy S2
Processor
Qualcomm MSM8255
Dual core A5
1.2 GHz dual core AARM Cortex A9
iPhone 4S
Battery
1450 mAh. 265 hours standby with 2G and 335 hours standby with 3G
Li-Ion
Li-Ion 1650. 710 hours standby with 2G and 601 hours standby with 3G
Samsung Galaxy S2 and iPhone 4S
Price (without contract)
$699
$749
$600
Samsung Galaxy S2
Conclusion
The chart clearly shows that Samsung Galaxy 2S is the clear winner based on most of the factors. If Nokia wants to retain its top most position, it has to work hard on various aspects such as pricing, innovation, customer satisfaction, after-sales service etc. The management of Nokia Corporation has to evolve a long term business strategy and implement it religiously. It’s beyond doubts that Nokia is a giant company and can sustain the competition in a healthy manner.
The brand Nokia has been the favourite of consumers since long and an emotional bond has been created. It’s only that new and innovative products have entered the mobile market that people have diverted their attention. But if Nokia maintains the innovation that it has shown in Lumia 800, the time is not far when Nokia will retain the top-most position. The only thing required is positive approach and value for money to the end-users.
References
Bhasin, H. (2012). Nokia loses its top position after 14 years to Samsung. Web.
Datamonitor. (2011). Nokia Corporation – SWOT Analysis. Web.
Globaltimes. (2011). Nokia’s share of market slips down to 25%: Gartner. Web.