Mission statement

Nokia set out a list of values on their website to provide a clear sense of direction "as employees and citizens of the world". These values are as follows:

Engaging you

"At every step of the way, we need to engage all our stakeholders, including employees, in what the company stands for in the world and how we meet the needs of our customers." 

Acheiving together

"We can all achieve on our own, we can do things together, but doing both – in other words succeeding through collaboration and partnership – shows the true potential of Nokia."

Innovation

"We are at our most innovative when we tap into people’s desire to live their dreams, releasing the courage to make the leap into the future through new and improved ways and through better understanding the world around us."

Very Human

"This applies to what we offer customers, how we do business and the impact of our actions and behavior on people and the environment. It is about being very human in the world – making things simple, respecting and caring, even in tough business situations."

Company history

Nokia's roots go back to 1865, when the Nokia Wood Pulp Mill was founded by Frederik Idestam. The company became successful very quickly, largely thanks to growing demand for paper and cardboard as a result of industrialisation in Europe. In 1895, Idestam handed control of the company over to his son-in-law, Gustaf Fogelholm. The Nokia Factory attracted a large workforce, and a community grew up around it. In fact, a community called Nokia still exists on the bank of the Nokianvirsta river, Finland, where Nokia's operations were first situated. 

Nokia used hydroelectricity (from the river Nokia) for the wood pulp mill. This attracted Finnish Rubber Works to set up a factory in there, and in the 1920s they started to use Nokia as their brand name. They manufactured footwear, tyres, raincoats, as well as industrial parts and rubberbands.

It wasn't until 1967, that Nokia finally became a corporation when they decided to merge with an electronics company, Finnish Cable Works, to form Nokia Group. over the next 20 years or so Nokia began to produce a number of electronics such as televisions and IT products, but it wasn't until the 1990s that Nokia started to make mobile phones.

Now, every day, around 1.2 billion people connect with each other using a Nokia phone.

Geography and products

Nokia currently employs over 120,000 staff and operates a total of 15 manufacturing facilities in Brazil, China, India, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Mexica, Republic of Korea, and the UK. Nokia products are available in over 160 countries, It's headquarters are in Espoo, Finalnd.

Strapline

Nokia have used the tagline "connecting people" since the 1990s. The tagline can be seen both literally and figuratively. Literally, Nokia is a telecommunications company, and as such it deals in connectivity. However, Nokia is also sending out the message that it cares about human relationships, that a phone call is all it takes to reach out to those that matter to us.

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Key people

Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo - CEO and President

Mr Kallasvuo has occupied a number of roles for Nokia since 1980. He was CFO from 1992-2004, President and COO in 2005, and then became CEO and President of the company in 2006. He became a member of the board of directors in 2007. He holds a masters degree in Law and an honorary doctrate in Law, both of which he received from the University of Helsinki