Learning Is Business at Nokia - Case Study Example

Learning is business in Nokia Summary Nokia believes and practices the culture of learning, it glorifies techniques that strengthen the values of itscustoms, it exercises those ideas that enhance the ideals of its beliefs which it places in the strength of its people. In order to look into processes that could achieve such organizational goal, Nokia has devised mechanism for knowledge deliverance that translates into sharing experiences, to create a knowledge culture based on gaining, sharing, honoring and progression.

To achieve these objectives Nokia establishes a strong and dynamic training department with the aim of training, not to instruct, but to teach how to self-instruct. It has more of inclination towards letting employees develop their own set of skills and design ways to attaining them. This department differs from others with a proposition that it provides support for training, which is more of a necessity, while its emphasis on support for learning, is conceived to be uninterrupted. Analysis of Problems Nokia considers its organization as a fore runner that brings together people, who carry out processes based on latest technologies.

Thus the whole set of its values including customer satisfaction, respect, achievement and learning, revolves around the center of ‘strength’, strength that its people possess in steering this organization. Thus by emphasizing elements of continuous learning, it tends to strengthen the very core of its culture that ultimately builds up its foundations. In order to work out with and achieve its core objectives, Nokia has to identify the best attitude that could build up such structure that includes formation of best training techniques that would prove its worthiness both in and out of organization.

Second is the role of training department in stemming such techniques while fostering the core values in all of its employees with equal effectiveness and third issue remains differentiating its approach from the generic approach in order to make them more effective while adding an element of persistence and self-indulgence. Key Issue 1: In order to create a culture of continuous learning, more commonly pronounced as the kaizen concept, Nokia has come up with two part strategy. First is the coaching process that involves training sessions, seminars and workshops, lead by each business group President and second by engaging employees to work out their own ways of learning in a manner that might be deemed workable by each individual, tended to provide flexibility while managing ongoing processes.

In both ways an environment of learning and teaching is created along with the performance calibers that measures after-effects of such endeavors through efficiency and performance. The idea of knowledge sharing, taking risk and learning together stems from the fact that Nokia is striving to achieve a learning process that challenges the basic underlying assumptions on which the decision making is done. The learn & teach is like assembling a self sustained and self evolving process which is pushed by the organizational culture while retaining the pull element based on rewards, those dependent on boosted performance.

This is the concept of double-loop learning that triggers remodeling and recasting of the shared paradigm and for this to take place Nokia emphasizes a time out from daily routine to outline, question and concede on shared mental models. In most organizations this therapy does not work, as they try to accentuate on substance and process but never highlight context in which the element actually dwells. By letting employees to contribute to knowledge deliverance among other fellows is meant to engage to deliver and express, not what they look but how they perceive the environment and world around.

The whole process of engagement is to build a context based on perception and not on the lifeless facts and data, for the same reason that Nokia stresses upon following the ‘Nokia way’, essentially a culture that nurtures and nourish such context building. Key issue 2: This is expedited through a series of procedures that involves communication and interface between the top management namely presidents presiding the whole learning processes, colleagues and employees spread across the organizational spectrum, enabling deliverance of command in hands of people and not people being ruled by commands.

This is very much like preserving an environment and filling it with a common vision, while setting a platform where people are invited to perform to the best of their capabilities. Thus the change process is not controlled by training department rather it’s the duty of department to ensure that change is owned by each individual. Key Issue 3: Training is something that is confined within the boundaries of its very purpose, limited by the frontiers of its period and ineffectual by the seeds of its weathering seasonal fruit, it can not achieve more then what is envisioned for it, it can not reach beyond the reach of its vision.

While support for learning is continuous and as for Nokia it’s the very name of its culture. A culture based on pretext of knowledge sharing, thus training in Nokia is not about deliverance of some thing crucial or technical rather it’s the seeding of concept of very deliverance itself. Revising core objectives of Nokia tells us about company’s struggle in breaking into emerging technologies and markets and so does its value ‘innovation, perfectly synchronizing with objective. Recommendations Then in order to overcome the organizational fear of remitting all information to people (traditionally considered sacred enough to conceal) Nokia has devised custom of knowledge sharing by constructing a flat, decentralized structure while emphasizing on networking, speed, and flexibility in decision making.

This leads management to assess the results of knowledge sharing and its effect on organizational efficiency, while not letting it guised under the emblem of benefits, Nokia intends to teach its people that it is their responsibility to look for as much knowledge as they can as it comes as part of their duty. Integration is needed not only at the technological and processes level but also at people’s level. Thus the training department apart from conducting structured coaching procedures, also practices job rotations, specifically meant to pool or gather people’s abilities to understand and appreciate various facets of organization in order to build the right context, of several functions making a single body.

Innovation doesn’t come out of training rooms, it very much sprouts from an open culture, a culture that nourishes an environment for sharing, team work and swift permutation. This open space then produces a conducive environment instrumental for thoughts, assessments and conclusions, but its not just the process that induces these activities, it’s the environment that creates an urge to challenge, an urge to spell out, to spell their own brewing knowledge. Off course this tendency proportionate with level of openness that organizations have and with the culture prevalent in Nokia, inviting people to interact and socialize, it is intended to breakdown the barriers that might exist and hinder the free flow of info.