Developing strategies to achieve competitive advantage: case study Nokia (U.K.) - Essay Example

In this research will use Nokia as case study to fine a way to get competitive advantage over the competitors. Nokia Corporation is one of the world’s largest manufacturers of mobile phones. Based in Finland, it sells in 150 countries with R&D in 16 countries. As Ewing and Lakshman (2007) add, Nokia has been the pioneer of innovation in the industry creating new technological products for its varied market and gaining the competitive edge with such products. However, the technology is easily replicated in this industry and the competitive edge lasts for a short while only.

Sustaining a competitive edge in this industry is difficult as the competition is stiff with giants in the market like Samsung, Motorola, Sony Ericsson and Siemens etc., thus together they make the industry very competitive and they need to consistently make products that capture the market’s attention (BBC website 2007). Nokia has been in the market for a long time and has been able to sustain itself very well. However, Kwong (2009) argues that technology is today converging, as computers, music, cameras, mobile phones are all being merged to form single products.

This is causing the industry to shift, and is seeing the introduction of even bigger players like Microsoft and Apple. Until now Nokia has been able to retain a position for itself but what the future holds is difficult to say. Though Nokia has been able to survive with ease in the market, the upcoming problem is that it is unknown for how long the pure mobile phone industry can survive. This is because there many players in the industry and the technology are ever-changing with new players entering the market.

Thus Nokia needs to have a competitive edge to be able to survive in the market (BBC website 2007). This research has been conducted on Nokia users so that their likes and dislikes may be studied. This is essential so that it may be assessed