In January 1992, just three months before Jorma Ollila became Nokia's CEO, the Bank of Finland, which controlled the company, was still negotiating to sell the company to Swedish rival Ericsson.
Ericsson whisked his sleeves away. The Swedish company looks at Nokia's fast-growing mobile phone business among many of its businesses, but worries about its heavily loss-making consumer electronics business.
If the two companies had really merged, there wouldn't have been so many stories about Orila, and the amazing story of him growing Nokia into the world's largest mobile phone maker would never have happened.
As one of the world's most recognized accomplished executives, Orilla will take on a new challenge as non-executive chairman of oil giant Royal Dutch Shell. Shell is transforming from an Anglo-Dutch joint company to a single entity.
What can Shell investors and managers expect from the Nordic? Olilla, who had just taken a short vacation in France and at her villa in the Finnish forest, told the Financial Times: "Obviously, our task is to rebuild the new shell after the merger, which should be globally integrated and able to cope with the problems facing the energy industry." ”
Finn
After deciding to resign as Nokia's CEO, he wasn't in the mood to relax. "I'm 54 years old and I feel that I'm really good both physically and mentally. I feel that there is still much more to contribute. This week, there has been a lot of media coverage of his identity as neither Dutch nor British, and it is widely believed that this is a good thing, as Shell is trying to move away from bloated and antiquated structures and strive to shape a streamlined, integrated organization and culture.
Yes, Olilla is Finn. Hailed from a forested town in mainland Finland, he has embraced the low-key character of the locals.
Björn Wahlroos, CEO of Sampo, one of Finland's largest financial services groups, who met Olilla in the 1980s, said: "Joma is a combination of high intelligence and organisational skills, but he is not a central figure anywhere. He wasn't a standout speaker or an American extrovert. ”
Olilla herself likes to quote the ancient Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu: "Taishang, I don't know." When the work is accomplished, the people say: 'I am natural'. (Editor's note: "Taishang, I don't know what it is" means: the wisest ruler, the people do not feel his presence.) )
This does not mean that Olilla is a shy and humble person. He shaped the new Nokia with a strong will and was known for his strict management, for example, if he felt that the company's reports were not true, he would often follow the reporters involved.
He was relentless in his international contacts: joining the Board of Directors of Ford Motor Company, taking the lead in the Roundtable of Europe's major industrial nations, and attending the Bilderberg Meeting of Exclusive Heads of State politicians and business leaders. Most importantly, Orila is known as a disciplined manager.
Martti Häikiö, author of Nokia: The Inside Story, said: "Orila is methodical and very good at building long-term structures. He is also adept at finding shortcuts to problems. ”
The king of the mobile phone world?
But in the 18 months leading up to August 2005, Orila's crown as the king of the mobile phone world had slipped off. For years, analysts have asserted that Nokia cannot maintain both global market share (nearly 40 percent at its peak in 2002) and more than 20 percent of mobile phone profits, and Nokia has dismissed this assertion.
However, the company misunderstood the mobile phone market trend, especially the popularity of the clamshell model, so in April 2004, the company was forced to issue two consecutive profit warnings. Nokia phones, which were once the best models, lost some of their design advantages. The Group's market share quickly fell below 30%, but then climbed to around 33%. In addition, under the competition between the resurgent Motorola and Asian rivals, the company is also facing increasing pressure on profits.
Olilla disputed this. "We are very satisfied with the current situation. Our market share is unmatched in the global electronics industry and our profits are among the leading positions in the industry. ”
It is undeniable that in the mid-90s, under The leadership of Olilla, Nokia quickly became at the forefront of the mobile phone world. He originally worked at Citibank and became CEO after seven years at Nokia. Something painful and unforgettable happened during this time. In 1988, when Olilla was chief financial officer, the company's extraordinary leader, Kari Kairamo, committed suicide. Founded in 1865 and started as a forester, the group was struggling to move into consumer electronics and computers, expanding into television production, tire manufacturing, and even power generation.
But, like Ericsson, Nokia has quietly and seamlessly enhanced its leadership and technical expertise in mobile phones. While much of the world scoffed at the unwieldy early brick-like mobile phones, the Nordic countries embraced the technology and developed common standards for mobile communication systems in the early 1980s.
During her first two years as CEO, Olilla, head of the mobile phone division, was convinced that mobile phones, the fastest-growing new consumer product technology in decades, were the company's future.
Bjørn Valros says Olilla's ability is not just to refocus the attention of the expanding conglomerates, "he has a unique vision and realizes that as long as the investment and direction are right, the products that the company has can truly go global, and the prospects are limitless." And that takes a lot of courage. --On August 9, 2005, CCID.com #Management # #TMT #
