Assessing Leadership And Change Management: A Nokia Essay.

Assessment Title: Applied project and Presentation Slides

This assessment is designed to assess your skills in evaluating the appropriateness of the existing leadership and change management approaches in a selected business organization. This project is designed to assess your ability to apply the theories of leadership and change management models in a real business case. It will enable you to do the gap analysis of the selected case organisation by evaluating it against the best practices of leadership and change management. Suggesting a revised change management plan to the case organisation will enable you to have experiential learning of the role of a change manager.

Change Management and Leadership in Business Organizations

The business organisations effectively focus on adopting the leadership and change management plan within the organisation, to ensure that the organisation’s strategic position within the industry is retained and further development can be done. The change at the organisation is being done as per the industry requirements and the changing customer preference within the industry. The organisations focus towards adopting effective change within the organisation has certain gaps which are required to be identified and analysed (Kotter & Cohen, 2012).

The analysis is focused on the change management plan at Nokia, which failed to maintain its position within the industry, but later focused on adapting the change management so that the organisation can re-establish it as a leading brand and can attract the customer's attention within the industry. The analysis also identifies the gap within the change plan at Nokia and accordingly identifying an effective change management plan for the organisation.

The changing industry requirements, as well as the expansion of the markets to the international borders, has resulted in the increased need towards adopting effective leadership style and change management. The leader within the organisation is responsible for the management of the activities within the organisation and to ensure that the employees are fulfilling their roles and responsibilities effectively, therefore, the leader plays an important role in the change management within the organisations. A study conducted by W Abbas and I Asghar reflects that most of the organisations within the industry fail to achieve their goals and objectives due to the lack of leadership or focus towards effective change management. As a result, it can be identified that leadership has an important role in managing the change and ensuring the development of the organisation (Abbas & Asghar, 2010).

The organisations effectively focus on adapting the policies and approaches so that the leadership, as well as the organisational change, can be managed effectively within the organisation. The researchers have effectively focused on developing policies and the strategies so that the change can be implemented in a strategic manner and the effectiveness of the organisation can be improved. The effective approaches defined by the researchers include the leadership-member exchange program, the contingency approach, the transformational leadership and the goal-focus theory. Such approaches effectively focus on the implementation of the change as per the industry requirements and accordingly adapting leadership within the organisation (Alagoa, 2015).

The recent changes in the industry in terms of the leadership and change program reflects that the organisations are becoming more concerned about customer satisfaction and the services provided within the industry. Therefore, it is required that they focus on linking the leadership skills and capabilities with the change analysis within the industry. The leadership styles should be adopted so that they can effectively focus on analysing the changes required and can make decisions effective for the change implementation within the industry. As it is required to be ensured so that the organisation’s competitive position can be ensured and the outcomes can be achieved as required (Lumbers, 2018).

Leadership Styles for Effective Change

AI Akinbode and SRA Shuhumi have conducted research to identify the changing requirements in the change management within the organisations and has identified that organisations that fail within the industry are due to their leadership ineffectiveness. Therefore, the authors have focused on identifying the leadership styles such as the transformational leadership style, transactional leadership and the lassiez-faire to be adopted. As an effective leader will be able to lead the workforce and to achieve success by effectively implementing the required changes and will be able to make the required strategies and decisions within the organisation (Akinbode & Shuhumi, 2018).  

Nokia was the market leader in 2004 within the industry, but the ineffectiveness of its leaders within the industry resulted in its failure to understand the changing customer preference and the industry requirements, due to which its market share started declining and by 2007, Nokia lost a major part of its market capitalisation. The organisation focusing on the reestablishment of its market capitalisation and to regain its market position, the management focused on adopting changes within the organisation so that its efficiency can be improved and the organisation can achieve success. The change management practice at Nokia was focused on the transformation of the organisation and to rebuilt its image as a market leader within the industry, by offering quality products and service (Medium, 2018).

The leadership and change management at Nokia included the hiring a new CEO so that the effectiveness of the decisions made can be improved and the strategies for the development of the organisation can be improved. Also, the organisation sold its mobile device division so that the loss-making segment can be improved from the organisation’s portfolio and it can focus upon the industry requirements and developing required technologies. In 2008, Nokia effectively restructured the organisation segments and merged the nine segments into four major segments so that the managements focus areas can be restricted and effective decisions can be made. The change at Nokia was focused on transforming the entire organisation so that the customers can be attracted and can be provided with the required products and services (ALC, 2020).

The management at Nokia focused on adapting the policies and strategies through which they were able to develop relations with other major players within the industry and accordingly focused on developing products and innovative technologies so that the effectiveness of the change management within the organisation can be ensured and the success within the industry can be achieved. Also, the organisation effectively merged its business units so that the capabilities within the organisation can be fully utilised and in different segments so that the market position can be strengthened and an effective leadership culture can be established within the organisation (Global Focus, 2019).

Case Study of Nokia

Nokia has effectively focused on implementing change within the organisation so that the market share can be regained and the organisation can rebuild its image as a market leader within the industry. As the organisation failed to understand the industry changes due to which it lost its market share and to overcome the impact the organisation has adopted certain approaches and practices, but still there are certain gaps which are required to be focused upon so that the overall effectiveness can be ensured and the organisational development can be ensured. The changes at the managerial position done by Nokia is effective but still, the organisation does not have sufficient resources to allocate as per the desired outcomes (HBS, 2018).

The change management adopted at Nokia is focused on the alternative sources and practices within the industry which is different from the manufacturing and the distribution segment of the organisation. Due to which it is concluded that in order to regain its market share, Nokia is moving away from its core business which is a negative aspect for the organisation. Therefore, a major gap lies with the change management program at Nokia. As it should be focused towards manufacturing products as per the customer preferences within the industry and serve them within the industry, so that it will be able to rebuild its brand image within the industry (Bouwman, 2014).

Nokia was a leader within the past mobile industry, it is required that it focuses on the development of the policies and strategies through which the available resources can be allocated effectively to their use and accordingly the organisation be able to achieve success. As the current practices at Nokia lack the focus on the market analysis, the organisation has hired new CEO, however, it is required that the CEO establishes effective leadership so that the activities can be managed and the workforce can be provided with the guidance and motivation within the organisation to ensure effective change management and the achievement of the desired goals and objectives (Peltonen, 2019).

Developing effective leadership and change management plan is required to ensure the development of the organisation and the retention of the competitive position within the industry. For an effective change and leadership plan, it is required that the management focuses on developing an effective culture within the organisation, strategies should include the change to be implemented at the top level, ensure the engagement of every employee within the organisation, make decisions after effectively analysing the industry requirements and changes, focus on the challenges that may arise during the change implementation, develop innovative strategies and after that the plan is required to be developed and implemented, so that the overall effect can be ensured and retained (Aguirre & Alpern, 2014).

Analysis of Nokia's Change Management Plan

Nokia focus towards the reestablishment of its business within the market can be ensured through its focus on the establishment of effective culture within the organisation and adopting of the leadership approaches so that the effectiveness of the strategies can be ensured. The success of the change management plan at the organisation can be ensured through analysing the effectiveness of the leaders within the organisation, as they are responsible for the analysing the business requirements and change within the industry and accordingly developing policies and strategies. Therefore, during developing change management plan the leadership and change at the organisation should be considered as an interlinked and important aspect (Quinn & Quinn, 2016).

The change management plan developed at Nokia should focus on the industry analysis and accordingly it is required that the management focuses on developing vision statement that guides the employees as well as the members of the organisation regarding the changes that are required within the organisation. Developing such vision statements will help the organisation in developing policies and strategies by focusing on every aspect involved in the organisation’s working within the industry. The results of the analysis will help the management to effectively focus on Kotter’s change management and developing a change plan to ensure the efficiency of the planned process. Also, will help to effectively develop the brand image within the industry and to attract the customers by providing them with the quality services and required products as compared to its competitors (Root, 2018).

The management at Nokia can effectively focus on eliminating the gap within the change management plan by ensuring that the organisation is focusing on its core and accordingly is providing the customers with the product and services. Also, the organisation is required to ensure that the leaders within the organisation have necessary skills to communicate, collaborate and commit the required changes as per the industry and the competitor’s practise within the industry. Such practices help in effectively planning change management and linking it with the key areas of the organisation and the achievement of the goals and objectives (CCL, 2020).

Conclusion

The change within the organisation is required to focus upon in order to ensure the efficiency of the organisation within the industry. The change in the industry ahs resulted in the improved focus of the organisations towards adopting the change management plans within the organisation. Nokia was the leader within the industry, but the ineffectiveness of the management within the organisation resulted in the downfall of the organisation, as they failed to analyse the industry changes and to make the required changes within the organisation. Therefore, it is required that Nokia focus on effective change management within the organisation.

Effective Leadership and Change Management Approaches at Nokia

Nokia has focused on adopting change practices within the organisation including hiring new CEO as well as merging its business operations, but still, it requires that the organisation focuses on developing effective leadership strategies and focus on its core aspect so that the customer's needs and requirements can be fulfilled and the organisation can establish a competitive position within the industry. The change management plan at Nokia is required to be focused on the effective industry analysis and accordingly developing policies and strategies so that the organisational goals and objectives can be achieved and the strategic position can be re-established.

References

Abbas, W. & Asghar, I., 2010. The Role Of Leadership In Organizational Change. [Online] Available at: https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:326289/fulltext01[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Aguirre, D. & Alpern, M., 2014. 10 Principles of Leading Change Management. [Online] Available at: https://www.strategy-business.com/article/00255?gko=6c601
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Akinbode, A. I. & Shuhumi, S. R. A. A., 2018. Change Management Process And Leadership Styles. International Journal of Social Sciences, 42(2), pp. 609-618.

Alagoa, H. E., 2015. Leadership Approaches for Effective Organizational Change: The Case of Henry Anderson Consulting Engineers Adding Construction Supervision to its Portfolio of Consultancy Services While Maintaining a Fixed Technical Staff Strength. SSRN Electronic Journal, 1(1), pp. 1-11.

ALC, 2020. What You Can Learn About Change Management From Coca Cola and Nokia | ALC Training News. [Online] Available at: https://www.alctraining.com.au/blog/can-learn-change-management-coca-cola-nokia/#how-nokia[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Bouwman, H., 2014. How Nokia failed to nail the Smartphone market. [Online] Available at: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/101414/1/794346243.pdf
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

CCL, 2020. How to Be a Successful Change Leader. [Online] Available at: https://www.ccl.org/articles/leading-effectively-articles/successful-change-leader/
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Global Focus, 2019. Implementing change in a global company – Nokia & Complex Adaptive Leadership & Abilitie. [Online]
Available at: globalfocusmagazine.com/implementing-change-global-company-nokia-complex-adaptive-leadership-abilitie/
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

HBS, 2018. Future X and Open Innovation at Nokia. [Online] Available at: https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/future-x-and-open-innovation-at-nokia/
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Kotter, J. P. & Cohen, D. S., 2012. The Heart of Change: Real-life Stories of how People Change Their Organizations. London: Harvard Business Press.

Lumbers, M., 2018. Approaches to leadership and managing change in the NHS. British Journal of Nursing, 27(10), pp. 554-558.

Medium, 2018. Why did Nokia fail and what can you learn from it?. [Online] Available at: medium.com/multiplier-magazine/why-did-nokia-fail-81110d981787
[Accessed 16 May 2020].

Peltonen, T., 2019. Case Study 4: The Collapse of Nokia’s Mobile Phone Business. s.l.:Springer.

Quinn, R. W. & Quinn, R. E., 2016. Change Management and Leadership Development Have to Mesh. [Online] Available at: https://hbr.org/2016/01/change-management-and-leadership-development-have-to-mesh [Accessed 16 May 2020].

Root, D., 2018. 5 Change Management Strategies for Leaders. [Online] Available at: https://www.eaglesflight.com/blog/5-change-management-strategies-for-leaders-and-managers [Accessed 16 May 2020].