“Nokia-Connecting People”: this slogan is known all over the world. Nokia employs 50, 000 people in 120 countries. Currently every third mobile phone sold in the world is a Nokia. The Nokia Company is today one of the world’s leading high tech companies. Its rapidly growth in the 1990s coincided with a basal structural change of the Finnish economy and industry. In this restructuring process Nokia played an important role. Despite the fact that Nokia is a leading multinational company, a major part of its business is located in Finland. Nokia plays a significantly role in the economic growth of Finland, which has been one of the fastest in whole Europe. But the roots of the Nokia Company go back to the 19th century when in 1865 a forest industry enterprise in the small town Nokia in South Western Finland was established by mining engineer Fredrik Idestam. At the turn of the 20th century technology came with the founding of the Finnish Rubber Works in 1898 and the expansion of electricity into the homes and factories which led to the establishment of the Finnish Cable Works in 1912. With this development the manufacture of cables for the telegraph industry followed and supported so the new-fangled device, the telephone. The three companies (Paper, Rubber and Cables) were merged to the Nokia Corporation in 1967. Since the 1990s the Nokia Company focuses especially the telecommunication industry. The following essay deals with a detailed overview of the history of the Finnish Nokia company. But besides this, it is also mentioned the importance of this company for the Finnish economy. At the end of the essay I will give an overview of the future challenges for the Nokia Company and its surroundings. At first I start with the development of the Nokia Company; from its roots as a forest industry to a world’s leading telecommunication enterprise.
Table of Contents
1 Introduction
2 History of the Nokia Company
2.1 From a Pulp Mill to a Paper Industry
2.2 The Finnish Rubber Works
2.3 Cable Industry
2.4 The Merger
2.5 Information Technology and Telecommunication
3 Nokia in the Finnish Society and Economy
3.1 Nokia’s impact on the working culture
3.2 Nokiazation of Finland
3.3 Nokia and Finish Economy in Numbers
3.3.1 Nokia’s impact on the Finish GDP and labour-force
3.3.2 Nokia’s impact on the R&D expenditure
4 Future Challenges
4.1 Competition
4.2 Future of Nokia-led Finland
5 Summary
6 Bibliography
Research Objectives and Key Themes
This paper aims to provide a comprehensive historical overview of the Nokia Company, tracing its evolution from a 19th-century forest industry enterprise to a global leader in the telecommunications sector, while analyzing its profound socio-economic impact on Finland.
- The historical development of Nokia across various industries including paper, rubber, and cables.
- The strategic corporate mergers that shaped the modern Nokia structure.
- The transition and focus toward telecommunications and information technology in the 1990s.
- The systemic dependency of the Finnish economy on Nokia's performance.
- Future strategic challenges in an increasingly competitive global market.
Excerpt from the Book
2.1 From a Pulp Mill to a Paper Industry
The forest industry has the longest tradition of all Nokia businesses. Frederik Idestam established a pulp plant in 1865 in Nokia. Idestam's wood pulp invention was awarded a Bronze Medal in the 1867 Paris World Exposition.
In 1880 the first papermaking machine was acquired for the pulp if Idestam. But the years of the First World War closed the foreign markets. The procurement of paper machinery and raw materials became difficult (the same situation in the Second World War). The close of the Russian market was tragically, because Finland had a very intensive trade relation with Russia, one reason was the status of the Grand Duchy.
After the war Nokia could expand its international business again. The main export markets were England, France, the USA, Germany and the Soviet Union. After the merger in 1966 the new Nokia group under its President Björn Westerlund focused especially on energy politics and the cable business. The management was not interested in developing the forestry industry.
In 1970, the production was expanded to include the production of crepe paper in order to keep up with Serlachius, the main competitor. Kari Kairamo who became the in 1972 the head of Nokia’s forest industry (later in 1977 the head of the whole Nokia Group) increased the investments and implemented certain business acquisitions.
Chapter Summaries
1 Introduction: This chapter introduces Nokia as a leading high-tech company and outlines the paper's scope, covering its origins and its significance to the Finnish economy.
2 History of the Nokia Company: This section details the multi-industrial roots of Nokia, including pulp, rubber, and cable production, and explains the 1967 merger and the subsequent pivot to telecommunications.
3 Nokia in the Finnish Society and Economy: This chapter analyzes how Nokia transformed Finland’s working culture and economic landscape, highlighting the country's profound dependency on the company's success.
4 Future Challenges: This part examines the competitive nature of the telecommunications industry and the potential risks associated with Finland's reliance on a single dominant multinational firm.
5 Summary: The concluding chapter synthesizes Nokia's rise to power and reflects on the total dependency of the Finnish state on the company's future performance.
Keywords
Nokia, Finland, Telecommunications, History, Economic Growth, Mobile Phones, Pulp Industry, Rubber Works, Cable Industry, Mergers, R&D, GDP, Nokiazation, Globalization, Competition.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
This paper examines the history of the Nokia Company, tracing its evolution from its 19th-century origins in the forest industry to its current status as a global telecommunications leader and its impact on the Finnish economy.
What are the primary themes discussed?
The document covers the industrial diversification of the company, strategic mergers, the shift to mobile technology, and the systemic economic and social influence Nokia exerts on Finland.
What is the overarching research goal?
The goal is to understand how a single multinational corporation became the foundation of a nation's economy and to evaluate the consequences of such extreme corporate dependency.
Which methodology is employed in this study?
The study is a historical review based on literature, industry data, and economic reports detailing Nokia's corporate development over three centuries.
What is covered in the main section of the paper?
The main sections document the historical transitions between business sectors (pulp, rubber, cable) and the strategic restructuring that enabled Nokia to dominate the global mobile phone market.
Which keywords define this work?
Key terms include Nokia, Finland, Telecommunications, Industrial History, Economic Dependency, and Global Competition.
What does the term "Nokiazation" refer to in the document?
It refers to the immense influence and transformation of the Finnish society and economy due to the rapid growth and success of the Nokia Company.
How did the company manage its reliance on different industries?
Nokia utilized its success in telecommunications to sustain its less profitable forestry and rubber operations for several decades before eventually divesting from them to focus exclusively on high-tech consumer electronics.
- Quote paper
- Sarah Stolle (Author), 2006, The History of the Nokia Company, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/60554
