Contemporary Issues in Business and Management Essay

Contemporary Issues in Business and Management - Essay Example The external business environment includes demographic, social, cultural, political, legal, economical, technological, and environmental factors. The environment in which an organization operates, significantly impacts every aspects of the business. The business strategy, marketing strategy as well as the operational strategy of a company is highly dependent on its external business environment. In addition, the internal functions of the business are also impacted to a large extent (Lamb, Hair and McDaniel, 2010). In the same way, corporate culture is also a crucial factor for a business to operate efficiently in the market place. According to Daft (2009), corporate culture acts as the most important mechanism for attracting, retaining and motivating the talent. In the similar manner, different scholars have laid emphasis to the fact that a company’s value is dependent upon the way people are treated in an organization (Daft and Marcic, 2010). In this study, we will try to unc over the importance of business environment and corporate culture in an organization. The company chosen for conducting the study is Nokia and according to the report Nokia is currently dealing with issues pertaining to external business environment and corporate culture. This study will also underpin how the company is dealing with these prevailing situations. Now getting further deep into the study, a brief overview of Nokia is presented below. Nokia: A Brief Overview Nokia is a Finland based multinational company that operates in the field of information and communication technology. The company was founded in the year 1865 and is presently headquartered at Keilaniemi, Espoo, Finland. The founders of the company were Leo Mechelin and Fredrik Idestam. From the date of its incorporation, the company has always tried to offer customers with high product value (Bontje Musterd and Pelzer, 2011). In addition, the company also aims to connect the whole world with their technology offeri ngs. Such intentions also reflect in their tagline which states â€Å"connecting people†. The principal products of the company are portable IT devices and mobile telephones. Apart from that, Nokia also sells different type of games, application, media, music, and messaging platform through the company’s OVI platform. Similarly digital map and navigator services are also provided without any cost through Navteq, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Nokia. The company is divided into three divisions namely mobile phones, mobile solutions, and markets. The mobile solutions division is responsible for overseeing Nokia’s portfolio of mobile computers and Smartphone, whereas the mobile phone division is responsible for administering the product portfolio of mobile phone. The market division looks after the supply chain and distribution activities (Yahoo Finance, 2012). The company has also entered into various strategic alliances which helps them to cater to diversi fied customer base and large geographical locations. Vertu, Navteq and Nokia Siemens networks are some of the strategic alliances of the company (Plunkett, 2009). Some of the major competitors of the company are Samsung, Apple, HTC, Motorola and the local players of the market (where Nokia is having its operations). Until 31 December, 2011, the company had an employee strength of 130, 050. As of financial year 2011, the company