In the name of Allah, the most gracious, the most
merciful
Introduction
Nokia is a Finland-based company,
established in 1865. It is the world's second-largest mobile phone maker by
2012 unit sales (after Samsung), with a global market share of 22.5% in the
first quarter of 2012. Nokia was the world's largest vendor of mobile phones
from 1998 to 2012. Nokia is a public limited-liability company listed on the Helsinki
Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. (Nokia, 2012)
It is the world's 143rd-largest company
measured by 2011 revenues according to the Fortune Global 500. (CNN, 2012)
Nokia use to be at the fore front of
innovation in mobile industry and it had a huge market share of mobile phones
for at least a decade. But thing began to change in 2007 with the launch of iPhone
and the later with the introduction of android enabled mobile phones which laid
the foundation of apps development. It opened new possibilities for the mobile
app developers to create innovative applications for the end users and earn
revenue from the download and updates. This created a difficult situation for Nokia
which did not adopted to this innovation in the mobile industry. Hence it
lacked behind and kept itself with its symbian mobile operating system which
worked for it for over a decade. Nokia did not realise how quickly the industry
would change and the new eco system of mobile apps would sweep it across. And
this is exactly what happened, Nokia lost its market share dramatically since
2007 and it’s now facing a difficult time and all now the only way forward is
to innovate and bring new ideas and inspirations into reality and find ways to
better help customers.
The Scenario:
Nokia is a well renowned
mobile manufacturing company. In the past Nokia was holding a prestigious
position in the mobile market which has been affected due to a change in
technology in the mobile communication industry. My task in this assignment as a
Strategic HR Manager/ Change and Innovation Consultant is to help Nokia pull
out from its current position and regain it position as a market leader. It
would be my responsibility to make strategic decisions, bring changes in
business, technology, HR and any other areas that are affected in the
organisation. I would be advising the Nokia’s higher officials on policies and
issues related to technology and the impact which they had on the company.
a) During the change processes discussed
above in (Task 1), evaluate the current creative and innovative management
processes that could be applied at Nokia. (6.1.1)
Innovation
Innovation is what makes good companies
great. It’s not just invention but also a style of corporate behaviour
comfortable with new ideas and risk.
Creativity and Innovation plays a huge role
in organisations especially in IT and telecoms where the change cycles are
quite frequent. Companies like Microsoft have an annual innovation budget of
around $10 billion. (Microsoft, 2013)
The advancements in technology have
a profound effect especially in IT and telecommunication sector where the
competitions is high from countries like China, Japan and Korea. Due to this continuous shift in technology,
companies continuously face challenges. Many companies are spending a large
amount of capital in research and development.
Rate of underlying technology
innovation is not slowing down in next decade, a technology base case offers
that Moore’s Law which is the rule that semiconductors double in capacity or
computing capability (speed) doubles every 18 months is going to continue for
at least next 10 years. So CPU rates will increase by a factor of 100 in next
ten years (Intel, 2013). Doubling every 18 months is roughly a factor of 10 in
five years. In 10 years that’s a factor of 100, In 25 years it’s roughly a
factor of 100,000. Another law, Kryder's law says that memory (digital storage
space) doubles every 12 months (ScientificAmerican, 2013). The tech companies
are fully aware of these statistics and cannot afford to lose their grip on
keeping up with the rate of technological innovation.
According to Eric Schmidt, CEO of
Google, “We only need to look at the internet adoption rate which gives us a
clue into mobile adoption rate as “most people now and in future will have
their first internet experience on a mobile phone not on the pc”. According to
the statistics three billion mobile phone users have mobile phones of any type,
out of that about one billion users are using the smart phones. So that leaves two
billion people which are currently still using ordinary mobile phones. While
the world’s population is around 6.5 billion plus. So there is a huge market for
these smart phone consumers in near future.
According to the statistics, another
billion users will be using the smart phones by the year 2015. So what we are
seeing now is just a small piece of a very large pie. Every big telecom company
wants to get its share and that’s why we see the race among the players to
accommodate these next billion plus users” (Telegraph, 2012).
Now this is only possible through
research and development. Nokia would need to realize that the importance of
technology change is critical in telecoms industry, as it drives the uses
behavior.
Creative and Innovative process
Innovation is also defined as using
creativity to add value. Value can be economic, social, psychological, or
aesthetic. (Joseph V. Anderson, 2013)
To implement innovation at Nokia we suggest
a three phase innovation process, the process is categorised at:
1. Conception - Identify and generate new ideas
2.
Implementation
- Development of commercial concepts/ products
3. Marketing - Commercial launch and market establishment
By following the three phase process of
innovation i.e. conception, implementation and marketing we could successfully
lead Nokia through the innovation management process.
The conception
is the stage of nurturing and discussing new ideas and plans to better help the
consumers in innovative ways. Sometimes
these ideas can be inspired from existing trends in the market, or from
competitors or completely new innovation that solves any user problem.
The stage involves thinking and
concentrating on one thing long enough to develop an idea about it. The stage
also involves studying the feasibility of the new idea once it’s inspired to
see whether it’s suitable for the company to invest resources on this project.
During the implementation, a prototype is built for testing, and then a beta
version is launched. The most successful companies have very tough product
reviews before its launched for the public beta testing, and after wards
customer feedback is taken into consideration. Then the final product is
launched with a powerful marketing campaign.
The higher management team at Nokia could
make use of this model to positively embrace innovation and re-invent the smart
phone user experience.
(6.1.2, 6.1.3) Explain how Nokia could lead
and persuade its stakeholders to positively embrace innovation and change.
Implementation of Creative and Innovative Process at
Nokia
Nokia can make use of the Google innovation
model, in which they encourage their employees to spend 20% of their time out
of their working hours to work on projects in which they are interested in. And
this has been a huge success for the Google and most of their interesting
projects have come from this strategy. This encourages employees to discuss any
innovative ideas they may have and would encourage to pursue towards it.
Effective Leadership and its importance
A creative environment also requires creative
leadership and re-thinking organizational designs. Creative leadership must
facilitate positive relationships in organizations to produce profitable growth
through innovation.
Some characteristics of a good leader are
motivation, confidence, communication and integrity. To manage the creative
enterprise is as much as art as science. Creative people are driven by exciting
work more than by a pay check, and they need to express themselves through
their work. A mind set foreign to many employers. The role of an effective
leader is to encourage staff to "kill bureaucracy" to make the firm
more nimble.
It’s important to note that many different
leadership styles work. There is not one leadership style that is the way in
which corporations, institutions succeed. You will have passionate, charismatic
and disorganised leaders. You will have boring and rational and precise leaders
but what really matters about a leader is their commitment of getting to the
right answer and doing it in the right way. And however do they get there, if
they get to the right answer, people would respect them, along the way there
may be conflict and you can resolve it in many different ways. If you don’t
seek out the conflict you won’t excel, because without the conflict at least the
ideas in conflict, you won’t hear the best ideas.
The best way to lead others is by way of
free-rein leadership style in which we set the goal for managers and employees
and the get along with their job. It gives employees a sense of responsibility
and a chance to develop their own potential.
b) Assess the influence of vision and
mission of Nokia on generation of creative and innovative management process in
the organisation. (6.2.1)
Vision of an organisation is defined as
what they want to be in the future. It is a picture of an ideal future state
for a company or an individual. It’s their reason for being in the business.
Mission is defined as how an organisation
will achieve its vision. A Mission Statement also defines the organization's
primary objectives. It is the process that is adopted to achieve the vision.
Vision Statements and Mission Statements
are the inspiring words chosen by leaders to clearly and concisely convey the
direction of the organization (MindTools, 2013). One of the goals of vision and
mission statements is to encourage its employees to work and strive for
excellence.
A good vision and mission statement
inspires people in the organisation to have a sense of direction and a clear
goal of what they should aspire for. And it also helps to motivate the
workforce when they know they have a clear objective of their work.
How vision of Nokia influence the
generation of creative and innovative management process
Nokia’s mission is simple:
Connecting People. Our goal is to build great mobile products that enable
billions of people worldwide to enjoy more of what life has to offer. Our
challenge is to achieve this in an increasingly dynamic and competitive
environment.
Ideas, Energy, Excitement and
Opportunities, in today's mobile world, it feels like anything is possible -
and that's what inspires us to get out of bed every day. (Nokia, 2013)
Nokia’s mission “Connecting People”
is a powerful slogan which exquisitely defines its purpose of being in the
mobile industry, which is to connect people.
This statement gives a positive
message for its employees who work for the company that their ultimate goal is
to connect all the 6.5 billion people of the world.
Mobile phones have experienced a
tremendous adoption rate in last decade with more than 3 billion people of the
world are now carrying a mobile phone with them.
Out of these 3 billion, 1 billion carries
a smart phone with them.
According to the statistics, another billion users
will be using the smart phones by year ~ 2015. So what we are seeing now is
just a small piece of a very large pie. Every large mobile company wants to get
its share and that’s why we see the race among the players to accommodate these
next billion plus users” (Telegraph, 2013).
In case of Nokia, their current vision
statement is “Connecting people and very human technology” and this has helped
them through a whole decade of success. What’s needed now for Nokia is to
reform their mission statement and reinvent the way people get connected and
now share on social media, use apps to entertain and educate them using the
power of web. Nokia’s powerful vision
statement had a profound effect in which the organisation worked and the way
people view the organisation and the same is needed by them to influencing the next
generation of creative and innovative management process.
Leadership also plays a huge role in
influencing the next generation of creative and innovative management
processes. In order to positively embrace others for innovation, a leader needs
to have a clear vision of where the organisation would be if it embraces
innovation.
Successful innovation requires a clear
vision defined by the leadership of the organization as well as the creation of
an environment where this vision can be shared by colleagues. This combination
of vision and environment is called strategic context. Organizations rely on it
to harness their creativity. Without a clear strategic context, creativity may
blossom, but it will be misplaced. Strategic context gives purpose and
direction, benchmarks and role models. It shows the way ahead.
The most widely used search engine Google
have a vision statement “Focus on the user and all else will follow.” And their
mission statement is “To organize the world’s information and make it
universally accessible and useful”. The effect of their mission statement has
enabled their employees to work and feel to be part of an organisation which
affects the lives of mission of people every day. Their vision statement have enabled
them to keep their focus on the end users and not care much about the
shareholders and put the customers first.
Nokia should implement a similar culture of
innovation and creativity that Google has implemented and try the combination
of new social media, web and monetization methods which enrich the developers
to create innovative apps that affects the lives of millions of mobile phone
users around the world.
6.2.2) Identify available analytical tools,
and use one tool to identify potential creative and innovative management ideas.
There are multiple areas in which Nokia
could add value to its products and offer customers more value for their money.
We have identified two potential ideas
Incorporate Multiple OS (Windows and
Android)
We suggest that Nokia should implement a
hardware feature that would enable multiple OS to be installed on them, this
would give choice to customers to switch between Android and Windows phone OS
and they could be able to use both the Android and Windows Apps.
So for window users they should be able to
use windows 8 apps and for Android users they should be able to use Android
apps. This would give windows and android users a choice to use any OS they
wish and will give Nokia a cutting edge over its competitors.
Nokia would need to break from existing
closed model of app development – symbian - which has worked for them for a
decade. They should now switch to a more open and flexible app development
environment like Android and Windows Mobile OS.
This could encourage and empower app
developers to make apps for the Nokia phones without limitations of the
underlying hardware and software. On symbian OS the app developers were forced
to make apps using very limited functionality java apps and there was no open
model like app store where developers could distribute their apps and earn
revenue from them.
Monetise Nokia Apps Market
Monetising the Nokia App market (Ovi.com)
would also encourage developers to make exclusive apps for Nokia for which they
get rewarded for their efforts. Nokia has an app store called Ovi.com but its
not very popular among the customers and people hardly know about it.
Nokia should monetise ovi.com so that
developers can specially make apps for Nokia phones just like they get paid by
for their apps on Google’s App Store (Goolge Play). This would encourage
developers to make apps and this also provides an opportunity for users to get
innovative apps from the Nokia store and ultimately this encourages innovation.
Google introduced Android which is an open
source Mobile OS with java based android development tools for app developers.
This enabled apps developers to make apps and make them available at the
Android App Market on Google Play.
Similarly, Apple has been successful by
monetising the app developers through its AppStore called iTunes. The
developers can submit apps on the Apple AppStore and then the end users can
install them through iTunes. Nokia would need to adapt a similar strategy like
Apple and Google so that it can enable its app developers to create innovative
apps. Just as iTunes gave Apple a significant advantage in having a comfortable
app purchasing mechanism that customers already accepted and used. Until that
is matched by Nokia for its marketplace, it will still remain fragmented.
SWOT analysis
to identify potential creative and innovative management processes.
SWOT stands for strengths, weakness,
opportunity and threat analysis and it’s an internal organisational analysis
tool. A detailed SWOT analysis on Nokia would reveal us weather it is feasible
for Nokia to implement the creative and innovative ideas of incorporating
multiple OS and monetising Nokia Apps market.
Strength
Experience of Mobile Industry
Nokia has been in the mobile industry for over
50 years and it has a great track record of producing innovative and creative
mobile phones. Nokia can use its experience of the mobile industry to work on innovative
and creative ideas that have been discussed.
Market Share
Nokia’s strength is also in its market
share. Even with sales declining for last 5 years, Nokia still holds a good
percentage of mobile phone market. It is
the world's second-largest mobile phone maker by 2012 unit sales (after
Samsung), with a global market share of 22.5% in the first quarter of 2012. Nokia
holds the second position in the world in terms of unit sales behind Samsung
which holds the first position.
Durable phones with Longer Life Battery
Currently Nokia offers longest battery life
in phones than any other mobile phone maker. The new Nokia phone has a lengthy
17 hours of talk time and 48 days of standby time, an attractive feature in a
country like India where many people don't have regular access to electricity
and power cuts are frequent. Nokia strength lies in its research and development
section.
Cheap Prices
Another positive aspect of Nokia is that it
offers smart phones at a very cheap price. The new Nokia Asha phone range cost
around 70$ which is quite affordable even in Asian countries like India and
Pakistan. This gives Nokia a very distinct advantage over its competitors like
iPhone and Samsung galaxy phones which cost around 500$ and more.
Brand Name
Nokia has another advantage that it has a very
strong brand image. Nokia name is synonymous to quality, reliability, long
life, durability and simplicity. The name Nokia has a strong brand power in
mobile phones industry and this could be used by Nokia to further strengthen
its market.
Nokia’s current administration would need
to encourage their employees to innovate and work on ideas and thoughts that
they believe are interesting and would benefit the company. The flat style of
leadership at Google could also be applied at Nokia as it encourages employees
to feel comfortable that they are being appreciated.
Weakness
Inability to Innovate
The weakness of Nokia has been its
inability to innovate and produce creative ideas in last few years. They need
innovative, sleek, smart phones like iphone and Samsung galaxy but with a cheap
price.
Stephen Elop, the CEO of Nokia said:
"While competitors poured flames on our market share, what happened at
Nokia? We fell behind, we missed big trends, and we lost time."
"The first iPhone shipped in 2007, and
we still don't have a product that is close to their experience. Android came
on the scene just over 2 years ago, and this week they took our leadership
position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable." (BBC, 2013)
Also applying creativity and innovation is
never an easy task and that this would require a great amount of efforts. Changing
an incumbent culture and replacing it with a new model requires new vision and
inspirations.
Nokia has an experienced management with a
history of not realising the importance of innovation and creativity in last 5
years. Nokia would need creative and innovative management with inspiring
leadership which can consistently implement and monitor the change while it’s
implemented.
Tough Competition
At the same time it’s equally important
that Nokia realise what its competitors are doing and how they are doing it.
It’s all about learning from past mistakes and taking necessary measures to
make sure that they are not repeated in the future.
Lack of Platform
Nokia also needs a platform where users can
get apps easily and the developers who develop these apps get paid lucrative
amount that encourages them to produce even more innovative apps.
Opportunities
Large Market Share
Nokia has a huge
market share and it’s still the second biggest mobile maker in the world. This
gives Nokia an opportunity to capitalise on its market share and come up with a
way that enables the Android and Windows Phone users to be able to use Nokia
phones. This could be achieved by incorporating both Andriod and Windows Phone
OS in its smart phones.
Expanding Mobile Markets
The Mobile industry is still in a boom. The
number of users that are adopting new mobile phones is exceptional.
- There are about 1.5 billion Users
online - from around 6.5 billion population of the whole world.
- Another 1 billion more people will
be online by 2015 (Point to consider is that these billion people are those who
literally have no connection to the connected world right now via internet) so
these are new comers.
-There are over 1 Billion PC’s connected to
the internet, that number is to increase as well.
- We have about 4 Billion Telephone
terminations, 3 Billion Mobile phones of any kind - World wide – out of which 1
billion are Smart phones – All or most smart phone are now connected with one
way or another to the internet.
- Another 1 billion mobile phone
users will come online in next 2 to 3 years and they will have their first
introduction/access to the internet via their mobile phone!!!
- Mobile internet adoption rate is
faster than anything else we have seen in traditional media, Internet Mobile
growth is 8 times faster than then traditional internet on desktops and PC’s
Lots of new customers will be using
the mobile phones in the future and Nokia should try to capture this new
market.
Low Price Phones
Another potential opportunity for
Nokia is to start producing high quality, low price phones. This could be
achieved by offering smart reliable phones at completive prices. Nokia would
need to produce high end phone with prices that are low enough for people of
all countries specially India, Pakistan and China should be able to afford
them.
Competitor Analysis
Keeping an eye on competitors and by
adopting the ways of its competitors Nokia could produce phones like that of
Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy but at low prices. This would encourage more
users to buy Nokia phones as it would give them all the features of iPhone and
Samsung Galaxy but at cheap prices which they could afford easily.
Growing Smart
Phone Market
The figure below illustrates that there is still a demand for smart
phones in next few years. For Nokia to be able to keep in this highly
innovation driven market and growing competition, it has to implement
innovative and creative processes.
|
Worldwide mobile device shipments in 2012 and 2016
(millions of units), according to Canalys
|
|||
|
Type of device
|
2012 shipments
|
2016 shipments
|
2012-16 Growth
|
|
Basic phone
|
122.0
|
58.0
|
-17.0%
|
|
Feature phone
|
770.8
|
660.9
|
-3.8%
|
|
Smartphone
|
694.8
|
1,342.5
|
17.9%
|
|
Tablet
|
114.6
|
383.5
|
35.3%
|
|
Notebook
|
215.7
|
169.1
|
-5.9%
|
|
Netbook
|
18.3
|
0.3
|
-65.4%
|
|
Total
|
1,936.2
|
2,614.2
|
7.8%
|
Threats
Competitors
The main threat that Nokia faces are its
competitors. Companies like Samsung and Apple are offering sleek, smart and
beautiful phones which users really like.
The biggest threat for Nokia in the low-end
segment of Internet-enabled phones is cheaper devices running on Google's
Android software, typically made in China and Taiwan and shipped worldwide to
be sold by local companies.
Opposition to New Creative and Innovative
Ideas
New changes and new creative and innovative
styles always pose a threat to the incumbents who would oppose the change. There is always a possibility that things don’t
go the way one expects.
Incorporating multiple OS like Android and
Windows Phone in Nokia could be challenging. It would require a firm leadership
with ability and experience to lead the company from its present state. To
change the traditional ways of engineering requires a great deal of skills. To
implement creativity and innovation, an environment of innovation has to be
created where there is recognition for creativity. Most companies fail to take
new challenges as they fear failure and fear to take risk.
6.3.2) communicate the ideas to
stakeholders
Stakeholders are those individual, group or
bodies that have an interest in an organisation. Stakeholders can affect or be
affected by the organization's actions, objectives and policies. An example of
key stakeholders are creditors, directors, employees, government (and its
agencies), owners (shareholders), suppliers, unions and the community from
which the business draws its resources.
For Nokia the most important stakeholders
are its higher management which defines the way in which companies operates. Secondly
the customers are also essential stakeholders for Nokia and for Nokia to strive
in this market; it has to win the trust of its existing customers and expand
its customer base.
We would implement stakeholder analysis
tool that identify and assess the importance of key employees and group of
people which influence Nokia’s business activity.
According to the Nokia’s business activity we
have identify higher management as the Primary Stake holders who have high
stake and high power. These are the most important people that need to be
delegated about the innovation process.
Motivation
Articulating the new creative and
innovative ideas requires motivation. In order to pursue its Primary
Stakeholders to incorporate Android and Windows Phone OS in it hardware we
require motivation for them to understand that a change is needed.
This innovation would give Nokia an edge
over its customers who only offer a fixed OS for the phones.
Past Performance
To involve stakeholders of Nokia, some of
the systems that could be used are system analysis and system modelling.
Analysis of the past performance gives Nokia unique insights of where they went
wrong and it give them an opportunity to learn from their mistakes. That is why
some of the smartest companies actually celebrate their success along with
their failures, as failures give them a unique learning experience which is
used as a warning to avoid future mistakes.
Team briefings
Team briefings are the best ways to
communicate ideas to stakeholders. Holding team briefings and then to
communicate these creative and innovative management ideas with stakeholders
are some of the methodologies that could be deployed by Nokia.
Competitor Analysis
If we do an analysis of the competitors we
understand that their competitors like Apple and Samsung have produced
beautiful phones with powerful apps that have facilitated the lives of millions
of mobile phone users. This leads us to convince the primary stakeholders that
Nokia need to incorporate multiple OS in its hardware and offer its customers a
choice to choose whichever platform they would like to use in their Nokia
phones.
Social media, presentations, coaching and
mentoring are some dependable means by which creative and innovative ideas can
be communicated to the stakeholders. The higher officials should schedule
regular meetings to discuss how things are going. Review any quantity and
quality measures that are relevant.
(6.3.3, 6.3.4) Using one change model to
support and establish the implementation of the creative and innovative
management ideas
Since Nokia is struggling to cope with the challenges
posed by the existing telecom companies who are dominating the mobile market
through innovation, a change is required in order to bring Nokia to a position
that it once holds.
This change is the introduction and
implementation of new creative and innovative ideas like incorporating Multiple
OS and Monetising Nokia Apps Market.
The model applicable to Nokia in the light
of current situation is ADKAR Model which describes how innovation and creative
management ideas can be implemented from their concept to implementation. The
ADKAR Model simplifies this by defining each step in a holistic way.
Awareness
From ADKAR change model’s initial block we
recognise that awareness should be created among the stakeholders of Nokia so
that they are aware of why the incorporating Multiple OS are required and what
would be involved with them.
Also the need to monetise Nokia Apps Market is also
required as the competitors like Apple and Google have successfully implemented
this model where the app developers can earn revenue from various sources like
Ads, Subscriptions and downloads. This encourages app developers to further
produce innovative apps which facilitate the end users.
Nokia employees would need to be aware of this fact
that there are millions of downloads done on Apples App Store and Google Play
and they would have to come with similar strategies like their competitors to
stay in the competition.
There should be awareness among stakeholders before
any new change is propagated. It’s all about letting stakeholders know that why
a change in Operating Systems is needed and what will be the advantages
associate to it.
This would give them knowledge of what is
the risk of not applying the new innovative ideas.
Desire
By making aware to stakeholders about the advantages
of incorporating multiple OS and monetising Nokais Apps Market there will be a
desire among them to support the change.
It could also provoke a desire among them for the change when they have
an awareness of why the change is necessary.
Creative and innovative ideas are most critical
in any business today. The ADKAR model states that there should be a desire
among the stakeholders to implement a change in their systems and they need to participate
in that change to support it. This would only be possible if they are already
aware of why the change is needed.
With Nokia, the innovation is inevitable
now specifically in Multiple OS technology. Nokia has shown positive signs in
its desire to adapt to new creative and innovative ideas. Their deal with
Microsoft has been a positive change and this has shifted technology paradigms
for Nokia. Considering the fact that Microsoft's annual innovation budget is
around $10 Billion. Software innovation is at the heart of Microsoft’s business
(Microsoft, 2013). With Microsoft on board with Nokia, Nokia has a very good
chance to use the expertise of Microsoft’s innovation and incorporate Windows
OS in their phones along with Android OS.
Knowledge
Knowledge in the context of ADKAR Model is
defined as information that is required on how to change, how to implement the creative
and innovative ideas.
Specific knowledge about Operating Systems,
Engineering and Application Marketing is required on how to accomplish the
tasks that are involved in this process. This could be attained by investing in
research and development and by hiring the best talent from around the world.
This could also be done by headhunting the competitors main engineers in this
field.
Change requires a deeper understanding of
the whole system, its policies, processes and procedures. The knowledge of what
the proposed solution of Multiple OS would offer is required and its future
consequences.
Also the knowledge is to be acquired about the
advantages of monetising the Nokia’s app market place where developers can get
a substantial share for the apps that they submit.
In the case of NOKIA creative and innovative
process implementation is eminent across its departments and the way
cooperation currently operates.
Understanding Apps market trends and shifts in user
preferences is critical before a new creative and innovative ideas are applied.
Knowledge about new customer’s choice especially
in the regions of developing countries of Middle East, Asia and Africa is very
vital for Nokia where there is demand for new cheaper, smart mobile devices.
The economical conditions of the world also
need to be taken in consideration. Most developers develop apps so that they
can earn money. This will boast Nokia’s sales in Asian countries like India,
Indonesia and Pakistan. This knowledge
is critical in making decisions before a new creative and innovative process is
to be applied.
Ability
The fourth postulate of the ADKAR Model suggests
that in order to implement creative and innovative ideas, the ability to
implement those processes is required.
We see that Nokia has the ability to
produce great smart phones. Nokia already has an Operating System called
Symbian which is Java based and is installed in all of its smart phones. Nokia
engineering team have been managing and bringing new versions of Symbian for
over a decade.
However, Nokia now requires the talent and capacity to
implement multiple OS across its new smart phones. This could be a big software
and hardware engineering challenge. Nokia would need the ability to overcome
the barrier that may restrict the implementation of the new creative ideas involving
software and hardware engineering, copyrights, patents disputes and research
and development skills.
The ability to utilise skills, execute
strategy, and overcome the barriers and to implement the change is required.
This ability can be enhanced by various initiatives such as planning, testing, prototyping
and executing.
One way to achieve this is by offering
employee development plan such as skills training and supervisory skills can increase
the ability of workers.
With Microsoft as their strategic partner
in technology, Nokia can leverage the expertise of Microsoft in innovation and employee
performance management. The symbiosis between Microsoft and Nokia can have a profound effect on
the way Nokia currently works.
Reinforcement
It is defined as the process of
strengthening. Once the decision has been taken to implement creative and
innovative ideas processes, and changes has been made in the engineering processes then there are mechanisms which required
in order to keep that state. This could be achieved by rewards and
encouragement.
Once the Nokia Apps Market is
monetized, there has to be an eco system which would facilitate both the
consumers as well as the producers of the apps. This would require various
marketing and sales strategies in order to main this eco system.
Reinforcement is the empowerment of the
people. During the reinforcement process its best to constantly monitor
innovation and creativity progress in order to encourage and direct employees
to the right track.
Schedule regular meetings to discuss how
things are going. Review any quantity and quality measures that are relevant.
The higher management needs to setup mechanisms to keep the innovation model in
place.
It is also a well known fact that
Incentives derives behaviours. Setting up mechanisms to reward employees
otherwise there is a potential risk that employees may be drifted to old ways.
For Nokia this would mean that they would
need to create an environment of innovation like their rivals Apple and Google
so that the employees feel motivated that they are making a positive change.
(6.2.3) Assess and comment on risks and
benefits of creative and innovative management ideas for Nokia.
Resistance to change is defined as the
action taken by individuals, groups or an organisation when they feel that a
change is occurring which will be a threat to them.
By incorporating multiple OS in its phones,
Nokia would be the first mobile phone manufacturer who would be offering its
users a choice to choose which platform they would like to use in their phones.
Users will be able to switch from one platform to another using the same
device. This would give Nokia a unique competitive advantage over its rivals
who currently only offer either Android, iOS or Windows Phone OS.
Lack of Creative Management
The risks come in many different ways most
notable is the Nokia’s ability to introduce innovation and creative ideas in
the company then take it to the next stage is in itself a huge task which
requires exceptional leadership capabilities among the management who implement
it. It would require a team work with innovative management.
Lack of Technical Skills
The internal risks that Nokia may suffer
from are human factors, technological factors and physical factors. Nokia would
require fresh talent with creative and innovative skills. The job cuts in Nokia
have already lowered the morale of their current employees.
Resource Implications
In order to innovate, Nokia would need a
powerful Research and Development budget in order to incorporate innovative and
creative ideas. They would also need to hire more technical staff from across the world. In current times, when
the global economy is in a standstill, it’s very difficult for companies to
invest in new ideas.
Encouragement of Employees
It’s a well known fact that Incentives
derives behaviours. Setting up mechanisms to reward employees otherwise there
is a potential risk that employees may be drifted to old ways.
It’s an “adopt or die” situation
for Nokia and the stakeholders would need to realize that the new creative and
innovative management style is for their own benefit.
Benefits of innovative and creative
management processes
Some of the key benefits that Nokia could
enjoy by utilising the creative and innovative ideas is that it could launch these
news creative products in market first before their competitors. Hence it gives
them a chance to reach the market first and get hold of the market share
initially.
Since markets are driven by consumers
demand and whoever meets the consumer demands first gets the larger share. This
has proven true for Apple and Samsung and this is what is needed by Nokia.
Right now there are no mobile phone
manufacturer who are offering multiple OS in their handsets and hence this
would give be seen by users as a unique way to get the best of both OS in the
market using one smart phone.
Premium Prices
Using the new creative and innovative ideas,
and bringing out new innovative products in market first, Nokia can charge
premium prices for its products which could boast it revenue figures.
In part, this has to do with increased
competition. With Samsung going all-in
against Apple, Google pressing with its Android products, and even Research in
Motion trying to get back in the game with its BlackBerry 10, Nokia has to
fight a multi-front war but this will give Nokia an unprecedented edge of its
competitors who have not thought of this innovation yet.
Large Market Share
Since the smart phone market is huge with
estimates that another one billion new users will be getting hold of a smart
phone device in next 2 to 3 years ~ by 2015. So the consumer smart phone market
is still quite lucrative and most mobile companies are fully aware of these
statistics, that is why there is a fierce competition in the mobile market to
get the new products launch early with new ideas and innovation that compels
the end users to adopt these devices.
Many new developers are busy building apps
for the users as it benefits the consumers who uses these apps, plus it
provided incentives to app developers who get paid for users who download these
apps.
By using these market trends, Nokia could
position itself again at the top by introducing new products and features early
in the market.
The effect of large volume sales has a
positive impact on shareholders as it maximises the shareholder return. This
creates new investment opportunities in exploring new ideas and services that
people care about.
Increase in Research & Development
Research and development budget can also be
increased if the Nokia is making more money. The stock value rises and gross
margins increase. The company can also invest in new ventures.
For its shareholders, Nokia could engage in
aggressive stock buybacks. It could also
hike its dividend. But for consumers and
for those concentrating on their finances rather than on the stock price, the
best thing Nokia could do is continue developing cutting-edge products that
expand its stellar ecosystem and continue to get consumers on board.
Increased employee motivation and morale
By implementing the proposed creative and
innovative ideas, Nokia can keep coming up ways of bringing new innovation in
its products and this also increases employee motivation and morale.
When the staffs know they work in a company
that values creativity and innovation then they feel more motivated to work and
hence it increases the productivity of an organisation.
People love to work in companies which play
an important part in the lives of millions of people every day.
d) Assess and comment on barriers of
creative and innovative management ideas for Nokia. (6.4.1)
Barriers
Some of the barriers that may hinder the
implementation of creative and innovative management ideas in Nokia are the traditional
ways of thinking and working. This is one the main obstacles for Nokia as they
would need to break from traditional incumbent system and adopt new ways to
move the company forward.
Market Analysis
Another potential barrier and obstacle for
Nokia is the failure to analyse the current market trends. This barrier needs
to be addressed by adopting appropriate measure to understand the market trends
and then behaving accordingly.
The implementation of multiple OS in its
smart phones and monetising the apps market place requires a thorough market
analysis and weather it’s feasible to implement such ideas.
If Nokia does not keep up with changing
market trends, user preferences and behaviour then it allows their competitors
to offer services which people care about and this has been a major source of
downfall for Nokia.
As Nokia missed big trends like adopting
open source app development platform Android which allows people to publish app
in the apps market.
Nokia also missed the opportunity to offer
beautiful and sleek smart phones with design and aesthetics that Apple offered
its customers in shape of iPhone. This created a huge gap between Nokia and the
mobile phone consumers who went along with companies that offered them products
and services that was needed.
Poor leadership
Poor leadership style is also another
barrier that needs to be addressed by the Nokia. Leadership plays an important
role in any organisation. An organisation can be as forward thinking as its
leadership. The best organisations, institutions, firms of the world are those
who have a forward thinking leadership who can foresee the direction of the
company and plan accordingly.
Nokia require Google’s style of innovative
and creative management where there is a very flat structure among the
organisation and employees are given power to make decisions. Google’s
management style is a combination of democratic and free-rein leadership style
which Nokia needs to adopt and be flexible.
No recognition for creativity
Recognition of creativity is another
barrier for Nokia as there are intelligent people in every organisation around
the world, but most are failing to recognise their potential and this can be a
setback for the company. This is another barrier for Nokia that hinders its way
towards creativity and innovation.
Business culture
In Nokia, there are still traces of a
mentality or business culture that stems from the organisation’s history as a mobile
phone maker monopoly. This mentality does not fit well with the new business
logic of dynamic and customised solutions where customers are offered new and
innovative products from many competitors.
Fear of Trying
Most corporations fell in the trap of being
so much engaged with their current ways of working that they fear change and
fear of trying something new. This has happened to Nokia as well. To break this
fear the higher administration of Nokia would require efficient leadership
which would have the courage to make strategically creative decisions and then
wait for them to come into shape.
6.4.2) Plan a strategy to overcome
identified barriers to the implementation of a creative and innovative
management idea in Nokia
Encouragement and Empowering People
In order to overcome the barriers which are
identified in the creative and innovative process we suggest that first of all Nokia
should adopt a style of leadership which encourages innovation and creativity
and it allows new ideas to flourish, hence increasing productivity.
A creative environment also requires
rethinking organisational designs. Managing creativity is as much as art as
science. Creative people are driven by exciting work more than by a paycheck,
and they need to express themselves through their work.
Management must have vision and leadership
and the workspace environment has to be favourable for its employees.
Marketing
Nokia also needs powerful marketing team
which can portray the true innovation that it produces. In a competitive world,
good marketing is the innovators most important key to insure success. The two innovations i.e. Multiple OS and
Monetization of App Market place would need to reach out to public in order for
them to participate in it before the competitors catch up. Nokia needs to make
sure that it uses all the available marketing tools to reach the broader range
of customers.
Market Analysis
We concluded that Nokia needs to address the
issue of market and competitor analysis. Nokia was the world's largest vendor
of mobile phones from 1998 to 2012. But now Samsung have surpassed Nokia to
become world’s largest maker of mobile phone.
e)
Explain and communicate to stakeholders how a strategy plan for overcoming
barriers will ensure innovative change is achieved at Nokia. (6.4.3, 6.4.3)
To communicate to stakeholders about the
current innovative and creative plans, we would use stakeholder analysis tool
to identify the major stakeholders in Nokia who plays an important role in the
company.
Nokia’s primary stakeholders are those key
people and groups that significantly influence the success of Nokia. The major
stakeholders for Nokia are its board of directors and other higher management. These internal customers have the power to promote
and approve the products, make demands for new products and services.
The higher management have the impact on company’s
products, they have the credibility and resources to lead company, implement
its policies and procedures, inspire and motivate others and shape the future
of the company. Thus the higher management are key stakeholders that would need
strong convincing to understand the barriers that are affecting the change in
the organisation. With stakeholders help and support Nokia could be on its way
to success.
By making aware to stakeholders about the
change there will be a desire among them to support the change. It could also provoke a desire among them for
the change when they have an awareness of why the change is necessary.
Team Meetings
To communicate with stakeholders the best
way is to schedule team meetings and team briefings where they are educated
about the changes that are inevitable for Nokia in current times.
There is an old saying that “If people are threaten with prospect
of extinction, they will tend to compete ferociously”
Nokia has lost more than 70 billion Euros in market value
since Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007, taking the lead in smart phone
innovation (Bloomberg, 2013). So now it’s an “adopt or die” situation for Nokia
and the stakeholders would need to realize that change is for their own
benefit.
Motivating the stakeholders
Creative and innovative management style is all about
inspiring people, and what you inspire them to do, how you make them feel and
how you articulate this vision of where they should go. Its about creating an
environment where creativity and innovation could be produced.
If there is a goal, and that goal is overarching and
if that matters stakeholders and get stakeholders excited about it then they
naturally want to pursue it.
Incentives and Employee Rewards
It’s a well known fact that Incentives derives
behaviours. Setting up mechanisms to reward employees otherwise there is a
potential risk that employees may be drifted to old ways.
For Nokia this would mean that they would need to create
an environment of innovation like their rivals Apple and Google so that the
employees feel motivated that they are making a positive change.
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