Engaging Change : An evaluation of change management at Nokia

ABSTRACT In the fiscal year 2007, Nokia, the Finnish mobile phone manufacturer, enjoyed a profit of 7205 euro million dollars, this primarily from the sale of mobile devices worldwide. In August 2007, the company announced the launch of , a web site that would offer a plethora of mobile services, in its initial launch, content included music, and country maps for Nokia Global Positioning System (GPS) enabled devices, games, as well as a social networking and photo sharing website. This would be the company bold attempt to transform itself from a hardware company to an internet company. In line with the launch of OVI, the company announced a major reorganization. This dissertation aims to critically evaluate the change management methods and practices that Nokia adopted in this radical change that the company undertook in January 2008. Specifically where organization change is concerned, three areas will be focused and researched in-depth and these are: 1.Changes to structure: We will examine the change in the formal organizational structure, specifically the advantages and disadvantages that the new structure brings to Nokia. 2.Change Mechanisms: We critically evaluate the mechanisms used in employee communications. We use these mechanisms as the basis for interviews in the research gathering process. This is done to evaluate the success of the methods and how they can be improved. The approach undertaken is to understand change, what it is, how it impacts a company, and what is necessary for the staff in a company under going frame breaking change to understand and embrace change. Other pertinent aspects of change impacting business requirements such as technology change will also given due attention. Studies and theories on change will be discussed on in the literature review, specifically on what entails change, and why companies need to change. We examine also how the individual employee views change, specifically resistance to change. A well developed change methodology and established change process can enable a company like Nokia, attempting to radically engage in a new business and technological initiative to succeed. Lessons that can and should be learnt from the success of successful change from other companies can be used in its current endeavour