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Product description Throughout its long history, Nokia Corporation has played a substantial role in the Finnish economy and during recent years in the global economy. Its operations have expanded from pulp to paper to energy production, from rubber boots to car tyres, and from electric cables to computers, telephone exchanges and mobile phones. The company has evolved and expanded so quickly that even those who have lived through its development have sometimes had difficulty seeing the big picture. One question more than any other stands out in the Nokia story: what explains the company's ernormous rise to become one of the world's biggest companies in the 1990s? It is the first Finnish company with a name commonly known all over the world, so how did a Finnish company become a world-class enterprise? In January 1997, Nokia's Board of Directors decided to document the company's history and pivotal points of development to try and answer that question. "Nokia: the Inside Story "builds on that exercise, and aims to explain the choices and decisions that have steered Nokia's growth. Drawing on key sources including the minutes, memos and correspondence of Nokia Corp., plus interviews with many of the individuals involved and their personal archives, this honest, reliable account provides unique insight into Nokia's histrory. From the Back Cover "Nokia's dynamic evolution is a story of how visionary industrial thinking and courageous decisions have enabled a company on the edge of Western Europe to grow rapidly into a truly global force." Now one of the most recognized and respected brands in the world, Nokia enjoyed an astonishing rise to prominence at the end of the 1990s and continues to set performance standards its competitors struggle to match. Originally created in 1865 as a Finnish wood-processing plant, Nokia has followed a long and tortuous path to its present elevated position. In Nokia:The Inside Story, author Martti Häikiö adapts his award-winning three-volume history of the company to concentrate on the key questions for business observers today: What explains Nokia's phenomenal recent success?How did a Finnish company become first a European force, then a global giant?How did a stumbling conglomerate transform itself into a streamlined pacesetter? This is the story of a company that recovered from times of great crisis: the threat of hostile takeover and financial ruin, the suicide of a charismatic CEO, the collapse of its core market in the former Soviet Union, and enormous losses in the consumer electronics industry. It is also the story of a management team unafraid of reinvention, divesting businesses that once formed the very essence of the company. It details the interrelationships between technological innovation and organizational change, between bottom-line demands and public regulatory measures. In writing Nokia: The Inside Story, Martti Häikiö enjoyed privileged and unprecedented access to the internal company record and to key Nokia personnel. He has used this information to build an authoritative account of the major events and strategic decisions in Nokia's recent history and the lessons they hold for any company seeking to prosper in today's ever-changing business environment. Dr. Martti Häikiö is a historian, journalist and Senior Lecturer at the University of Helsinki's Institute of Political History, where he has worked since 1978. An author and analyst of vast experience, he has written hundreds of articles and more than ten books, covering topics in business history, international diplomacy, and Finnish politics. His current research interests focus on deregulation in the telecommunications and energy markets, particularly the interplay between innovation, business and public policy. "If this book has a message for others seeking success, it would be a plea for flexibility and open-mindedness. Only with those qualities can a company in today's volatile global environment hope to prosper."