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The Rise and Fall of Nokia

By julian birkinshaw , lisa duke.

The case describes Nokia’s spectacular rise and fall, shedding light on the combination of external factors and internal decisions that resulted in the company’s handset business being sold to Microsoft in 2010.During the successful period of growth (roughly 1990 through to 2006), Nokia’s focus on design and functionality gained it a worldwide reputation. It was acknowledged as the first smartphone manufacturer. Through the early-mid 2000s it was the undisputed leader in the global mobile phone business. The case traces the first signs of trouble and the company’s subsequent decline over the period 2005 to 2010. Pressure in the early 2000s from low-end competitors led to early signs of problems. Then of course the game changed in 2007 with Apple’s iPhone and a year later with phones powered by Google’s Android operating system from HTC, Samsung and others. Nokia was initially dismissive of these new offerings but its proprietary OS, Symbian, was ageing badly and its App store (Ovi) was no match for Apple’s. In September 2010 it was announced that American Stephen Elop, formerly of Microsoft, would become CEO. Not long afterwards a partnership with Microsoft was signed which subsequently led to Nokia’s handset business being sold to Microsoft.

Learning objectives

• Understand why good companies go bad; in other words, see how the assets that enable companies to succeed can also be liabilities when the market turns against them.
• Provide insight into the nature of disruption in an established industry and why incumbent firms struggle to adapt.
• Examine the different paths companies should take to respond to disruptive forces.
• Understand the leadership challenge for executives when their performance starts to decline2. To understand the dynamics of change in a fast-changing industry.
• Identify strategies companies can use to adapt quickly to disruptive changes.

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Case Study 4: The Collapse of Nokia’s Mobile Phone Business

• First Online: 30 July 2018

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• Tuomo Peltonen 2  

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This chapter provides a wisdom-oriented reading of one of the most spectacular business failures of recent times: the collapse of Nokia mobile phones between 2007 and 2015. Using executive biographies and other published accounts of Nokia’s organisational patterns, the chapter attempts to offer a more balanced explanation of the processes behind Nokia’s inability to respond to the changing industry circumstances. The following analysis pays attention to the shaping of Nokia’s organisational culture. Company and its new leadership adopted a professional, no-nonsense approach in the aftermath of the problems of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The new generation of managers believed in a rational mindset supported by a bureaucratic organisational form. Leaning on a superior technological competence within the mobile phone sector, Nokia was capable of ultimately becoming the market leader. However, in 2007, with two major players, Apple and Google, joining the business, the established rules of competitive dynamics were irrevocably changed. Focus shifted to software and applications. Nokia’s risk-aversive and closed organisational culture could not respond in a situation where an open search for new innovations and a cooperative internal working mode were needed. An analysis of the development of Nokia’s organisational psyche following the emergence of a new generation of managers and executives highlights the role of local beliefs in using philosophical wisdom in critical circumstances. Nokia and its leadership were not able to abandon the outmoded habits and structures, as these had become integrated with the very identity of the company.

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Tuomo Peltonen

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Peltonen, T. (2019). Case Study 4: The Collapse of Nokia’s Mobile Phone Business. In: Towards Wise Management. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-91719-1_6

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Published : 30 July 2018

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The Real Cause of Nokia’s Crisis

• Michael Schrage

Nokia’s technology isn’t a root cause of its current crisis. Don’t blame its engineers and designers either. The company still knows how to innovate. There’s a simpler and more strategic explanation for why this once-perennial market leader became second-rate. Nokia ignored America. The company simply refused to compete energetically, ingeniously and respectfully in the U.S. […]

Nokia’s technology isn’t a root cause of its current crisis. Don’t blame its engineers and designers either. The company still knows how to innovate . There’s a simpler and more strategic explanation for why this once-perennial market leader became second-rate.

• MS Michael Schrage , a research fellow at MIT Sloan School’s Center for Digital Business, is the author of the books Serious Play (HBR Press), Who Do You Want Your Customers to Become? (HBR Press) and The Innovator’s Hypothesis (MIT Press).

Partner Center

Nokia: The Inside Story of the Rise and Fall of a Technology Giant

The case examines the downward spiral of Nokia, the mobile technology giant that once conquered the world, seen from the perspective of ‘insiders’ – based on interviews with Nokia executives at top and middle management level. They describe the emotional undercurrents of the innovation process that caused temporal myopia – an excessive focus on short-term innovation at the expense of longer-term more beneficial activities. Nokia’s once-stellar performance was undermined by misaligned collective fear: top managers were afraid of competition from rival products, while middle managers were afraid of their bosses and even their peers. It was their reluctance to share negative information with top managers – who thus remained overly optimistic about the organisation’s capabilities – that generated inaccurate feedback and poorly adapted organizational responses that led to the company’s downfall. The case covers the period from the early 2000s to 2010, with a focus on 2007 (the introduction of the iPhone) to 2010, when the CEO left. Read a related Knowledge article "Who Killed Nokia? Nokia Did" by Quy Huy.

After reading and analysing the case, students will understand (i) how emotional dynamics influence hard technological and strategic decisions in organizations as they translate into challenges for innovation, (ii) how emotional dynamics can undermine innovation and performance.

• Top and middle management
• Mobile phone
• Radical change
• Strategic agility
• Temporal myopia

Quy Huy

Timo o. vuori.

Lisa Simone Duke

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The Rise and Fall of Nokia – Case Solution

The Rise and Fall of Nokia case study deas with the plight of the mobile device manufacturer over the years. Since its inception, the company was known in the mobile market and mobile manufacturing industry. Over the years, it was a strong market player in the telecommunications (telecom) industry. However, the release of other phone models by other manufacturers greatly impacted the company, something Nokia did not foresee. This case study looks into how the company could have possibly avoided the negative impact of the rise of the competition.

​Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna, Christine Snively Harvard Business Review ( 714428-PDF-ENG ) January 06, 2014

Case questions answered:

• What do you understand to be the primary strategic decisions, positive or negative, made by the management of Nokia?
• For each item identified in number 1, what were the drivers that led them to make the decisions?
• Did the decision have a positive or a negative outcome?
• In the case of a positive outcome, provide an explanation as to why this was the case. For a negative outcome, identify what you would have done differently.

Not the questions you were looking for? Submit your own questions & get answers .

The Rise and Fall of Nokia Case Answers

1. what do you understand to be the primary strategic decisions, positive or negative, made by the management of nokia.

In the 1970s, Nokia started developing its own computers and released Mikro. More than a decade later, the company acquired the Swedish consumer electronics company Luxor AB.

In 2011, Nokia dropped its in-house operating system, Symbian, for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS. Around two years later, the company announced the sale of its Devise and Services business to Microsoft for $7.2 billion. This action marked an end to Nokia’s once-great handset business.

During the years 1977-1988, Nokia conducted a series of mergers and acquisitions. In 1992, the company divested its data, forestry, and chemical businesses and launched the first mass-produced digital phones.

2. For each item identified in number 1, what were the drivers that led them to make the decisions?

Nokia started developing its own computers to get into the computer market. The company also acquired Luxor AB to grow its exports of wireless telecom networking terminals.

The move of Nokia to drop Symbian for Microsoft’s Windows Mobile OS was due to its complexity and Symbian’s difficult and unfriendly code structure. It took 22 months for a phone using that OS to be developed.

Eventually, Nokia sold its Devise and Services business to Microsoft to…

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What Could Have Saved Nokia, and What Can Other Companies Learn?

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Leaders who are able to identify and manage patterns of emotions in a collective are better able to make their ambitious strategies a reality.  Our argument centres around the idea that the emotions felt by a large number of people within an organisation can determine the success of strategy implementation even when these feelings go unexpressed.

We recently had the opportunity to speak with Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, former CEO of Nokia, when he was keynote speaker at an INSEAD conference investigating why Nokia lost the smartphone battle.

When we asked him to describe what it was like to face the competitive market of the mobile telecommunications industry during his tenure from 2006-2010, he responded that nowhere in business history has a competitive environment changed so much as it did with the converging of several industries – to the point that no-one knows what to call the industry anymore.  Mobile telephony converged with the mobile computer, the internet industry, the media industry and the applications industry - to mention a few… and today they’re all rolled into one. 

In such a fast-paced changing environment, it was unsurprising that Nokia’s top executives drew on the best practices of strategy implementation and Nokia’s famed strategic agility was certainly impressive in terms of acquisitions and mobile device development, but with the benefit of hindsight he would now acknowledge that the emotional climate within the organisation was overlooked during this turbulent period.

Pluralistic Silence Within

Kallasvuo, who had been with Nokia since 1980 in various functions such as CFO and Executive Vice President and General Manager of Mobile Phones, replaced Jorma Ollila as CEO in 2006.  Although a more integrative company was to be created to develop integrated software, hardware, and applications for the advanced smart phone, the keen entrepreneurial spirit for which Nokia had long been known, strongly prevailed and the key business units continued to compete for resources to develop products that would address various market needs.  Kallasvuo now sees that the company did not pay sufficient attention to the emotional undercurrents caused by internal competition for resources to develop a vast array of phone models for various market segments worldwide. Optimising the interests of one department, when repeated across many different departments, inadvertently hurt the overall welfare of the company. The problem of Nokia, after all, seems frustratingly similar to those of many large companies such as Microsoft or Sony who could not develop high quality innovative products fast enough to match their rising competitors. As the companies grew larger and richer, each department became its own kingdom, each executive a little emperor, and people were more concerned about their status and internal promotion than cooperating actively with other departments to produce innovative products rapidly. This phenomenon is also known as silo politics, and spread naturally and quickly like bad weeds in the garden. In other words, the whole became less than the sum of the parts.

Kallasvuo’s opinion corroborates with the qualitative research that we have conducted where we spoke with over 50 key Nokia managers [including Kallasvuo] multiple times to get their inside stories on what it was like working for the company during his management.  Essentially, the overriding emotion felt by top managers and middle managers within the organisation was one of fear.  And yet, it wasn’t necessarily a fear of being fired which pervaded; it was more about fear of losing social status in the organisation. Together, these fears shaped a collective emotional climate which influenced what information was shared [or rather not shared] in meetings. Middle managers were happy to allow senior managers to believe that deadlines, which were unrealistic, would be met for developing the Symbian software platform – and they did this because of a fear of losing social status. It was simply a case of them not wanting to upset others for fear of social retaliation and not wanting to show they had limitations or weaknesses both on a personal level and also at a company level with the product they were all investing their energies in.

As a result, a kind of pluralistic silence endured where no-one would speak up about the limitations of the Symbian platform and the slow progress of development of other more advanced software platforms. As a result of optimistic reporting, Nokia top managers kept believing the company was progressing well in matching Apple’s iPhone while it was not.  

Reporting What You Think Your Boss Wants To Hear

Of course, Nokia senior management had their own fears which came from what other companies like Apple and Google were planning to do—disrupt the industries – and they most certainly felt the pressure from shareholders to grow their quarterly earnings and sales revenues.  Even though the top managers sometimes acknowledged the threats publicly, fear of losing internal momentum and external sales in the short term prompted them to emphasise the quality of Nokia’s products and internal developments and, thus, downplay somewhat, at least in relative terms, the competitive threats to larger internal and external audiences. As a consequence, middle managers’ fears toward the competitors and concern over Nokia’s future were reduced. However, to ensure that Nokia would both match the short-term financial goals and succeed in the long-term against the rising competitors, top managers tended to put heavy pressure on subordinates to deliver more and faster, not accepting “no” for an answer, thereby increasing their subordinates’ fears of reporting honest feedback. The top managers also subconsciously alleviated their own fears of losing to rising competitors by accepting optimistic reports by middle managers and not questioning the validity of the good news. 

As a result, managers of various departments focused more on internal competition for resources and higher social status and were less fearful of competitors. CEO Kallasvuo noted that complacency had crept into the organisation and not enough importance was attached to what external competitors were doing; somehow the sense of urgency to innovate had waned and managers of the successful company were more intent on defending and preserving existing successes than attacking competitors by developing radically new products and incurring the risk of failure. He admits that the culture of “Not Invented Here” had become entrenched and no-one can assume a leading market position if a company is risk-averse.

He spoke of being present at a panel in New York in 2007 when Google announced the launch of their Android operating system and he realised immediately the significance of Google’s strategy that made what used to be called “smartphone” a mere “window to the cloud.” He realised that Nokia’s Symbian software platform would be outmatched if he did not take fast and urgent actions.  But by increasing pressures to work faster and harder among various departments, he inadvertently created an unhealthy emotional climate of fear that led to optimistic reporting by managers of various departments, ultimately causing the fast decline of Nokia high end smartphones that relied on an increasingly constrained and underdeveloped platform.

Strategy is 5 percent thinking, 95 percent execution. Strategy execution is 5 percent technical, 95 percent people-related.

With the benefit of hindsight, what could Nokia have done differently? We believe that more careful management of emotional processes would have allowed top managers to get more accurate information of Nokia’s software capabilities and development speed. Elements of better management of emotional processes might have included top managers sharing honestly their fear of losing against the new competitors to a limited set of key middle managers, and engaging these middle managers to work with top managers to counter the rising threats might have created healthy external fear and reduced maladaptive internal fears, which made telling unpleasant things to one’s superior difficult. Another way of amplifying healthy external fear might have been to require middle managers to use the new competitors’ products extensively, like Samsung did, to ensure that the middle managers developed a sufficiently deep understanding of their strengths over Nokia’s products along specific dimensions, such as usability. Top managers could also have been more mindful of their own fears and how the fears influenced both the way they set demands for R&D and interpreted the embellished reports that followed.

We would argue that adopting a culture where “telling bad news is a good thing” would have overcome the collective fear that so seriously affected Nokia’s perception of their ability to develop new, leading products fast.  Perhaps nowhere in the history of recent powerful business stories, has the lesson of the Emperor’s new clothes been more applicable.  Just telling the truth could have saved Nokia’s fortunes. Nokia’s unfortunate decline again validates our affirmation that companies grew to greatness because they did something better than others. But they declined because they forgot to do common sense things, such as managing collective emotions and building organisational emotional capital during disruptive times (see Huy’s forthcoming book in Harvard Business Press ). Managing a large business can be humbling because increasing complexity crowds out simplicity in action; to keep things from deteriorating, one needs to maintain a culture of honesty, humility, and cooperation inside the organisation.

The lesson of Nokia applies to many successful and less successful organisations. The most important job for CEOs of successful firms is to inspire and mobilise various groups to honestly and genuinely cooperate with one another to do valuable and innovative things for their customers. Large and successful organisations tend to have many new ideas and resources, and can even afford to get cutting edge consulting advice and market intelligence. Oftentimes, the strategic goal is clear, but how to make it happen is much more complex. It is often said that strategy is 5 percent thinking, 95 percent execution. We extend this by suggesting that strategy execution is 5 percent technical, and 95 percent people-related. And managing collective emotions is a critical success factor in strategy execution.

Prof. Huy and Prof. Vuori  welcome your comments via email.

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About the author(s)

is the Solvay Chaired Professor of Technological Innovation and a Professor of Strategic Management at INSEAD. He is also a director of the   Strategy Execution Programme , part of INSEAD’s suite of Executive Education programmes.

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Anonymous User

30/08/2016, 10.05 am

I was intrigued by the avoidance by Mr. K to talk about the role of Finnish culture, and especially the corporate culture within Nokia. There is a set of cases in the Harvard Business School collection that relates what happened to NORTON Abrasives over some 20 years. They kept promoting the same people, the same path, without ever asking themselves if those were the kind of people needed for the "next" era. In my estimation, only GE's Board and senior executives had the nerve to choose individuals who were radically different one from the other. Jack Welch was vastly different from his predecessor, and Jeffrey Imelt likewise. For a signal lesson in what NOT to do look at the company I worked for: AT&T. By promoting people only from within, by maintaining a culture of "we're different: we have to have a monopoly because of end-to-end service", they failed to understand the shift from 99.99% technology to a demonopolization, from the winners being lawyers (e.g. MCI) and not the very conservative engineers and finance pros. It was handwriting on the wall that every other regulated industry was being forced into competition: surface and air transport, natural gas and financial services, etc.When Bill Ellinghaus,, president of NY Telkephone had the temerity to say that and to advocate allowing terminal equipment to be sold, not leased by AT&T, JohndeButts and the senior team rejected his ideas in 1973, some 5 years after the FCC made it plain they wanted competition in the industry. Michael Porter was already writing about Compertitive Strategy in the '70's. In 1974, AT&T was sued by the U.S.Justice Department for monopoly behavior. They fought a losing battle for 8 years, before facing "execution" by a judge, or "voluntary" splitting up into separate companies. No one ever asked whether the policy of promoting only "insiders" (e.g. people recruited from university graduates) kept a culture going where dissent, vigorous discussion, new ideas (e.g. cellular phones, despite the fact that the technology was a Bell Labs invention) and leadership as a strict insiders club was the right policy. I came in from the U.S. Government and small business at age 31, and was told ten years later as the developer of corporate planning that "We're glad to have a guy like you in the company, but thank God, there's only one of you." After becoming one of three Directors of Strategic Planning, I took early retirement when it became obvious that the company was going down the tubes. Was Nokia unaware of what Steve Jobs was doing with the iPad as the "mooshing" of totally separate industries? Of the iPhone likewise ? Perhaps we should teach the Book of Daniel instead of abstruse Finance in Business Schools!

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29/08/2016, 06.04 pm

they knew everything, they had everything, and yet they let it all slip away...

15/08/2016, 12.51 pm

In order to succeed a company should have genuinely cooperate with one another to do valuable and innovative things for their customers.

17/03/2016, 07.44 am

Well, Nokia has sunk. It is hard to see or prove but Nokia failed because of their arrogance, executives underestimated Apple and Google. Nokia was leader in the market place for many years and they took this for granted, they thought they were invincible. If you don't make a change someone else will.

27/06/2015, 05.45 pm

Truly a wonderful article ,which should be taken seriously by all corporates,will give an insight view and prevent cases like Nokia in future

Bli medlem i facket

17/01/2015, 03.09 pm

Great article. It's always nice when you can not only be informed, but also entertained!

19/11/2014, 05.18 pm

An excellent article. I ignore management talks. I know that is a bad thing, but this article made me to read 3 times in a stretch. Some things you can shout, talk but some things we don't know to express. This article exactly nails that. BTW, I was an ex-Nokia group employee too... Life moves on. Hopefully I remember this lesson in the coming days.

03/10/2014, 01.54 am

The thing of vital importance here is the fact that emotions can't be put on a piece of paper, or on a chart or show impact of the bottom line! It is imperative for the organization as a whole to be like a permeable-membrane, that is let emotions and feelings flow freely from the outside world to the employees and vice versa. I think Nokia shut itself in, it should have embraced the new players, tried to strike up strategic alliances, being permeable letting information flow, and along with it emotions !

26/08/2014, 01.47 pm

the real truth is that Nokia was lucky : first one in a new market has all the power to execute and grow....no competition there. When competition came they struggle to keep their supremacy (with Motorola and Blackberry). Finally she the time came for a game changer they were simply not able to deal with it. OPK and Ollila before him were just lucky at the beginning and when the game became harder they show their true colour : poor management, arrogance and bureaucracy....this is the real lesson to learn.

24/07/2014, 06.08 pm

I worked for Nokia in Senior Corporate Strategy roles. While I respect former CEO Olli-Pekka for many good things he did while at Nokia, I think his explanation for Nokia's demise is simplistic if not evasive. Issues OPK has raised happens in many organisations.

A big reason for failure of Nokia was lack of courage in the top management to act decisively. The writing was on the wall, presentation after presentation internal futurists and external Management consultants had shown the top leadership since 2003 that industry convergence would create huge disruption and shift comparative advantages to new players from internet and PC space. Top management agreed with the assessments multiple times but always went for the "compromise solutions".

Firstly, it was clear that Symbian Operating System couldn't do the job, hence Nokia started an initiative called Meego/ Maemo with Intel that was promising to be superior to Android at the time. However, most of the resources within the company were still employed at churning Symbian OS phones and that created a huge resource crunch and denied any realistic chance for a new product line. You can call it classic innovator dilemma - from inside it appeared to be many satraps and a weak top leadership who couldn't call shots despite knowing what was needed.

Secondly, during 2003-2010 Nokia was aware of the external threats. Instead of facing them, it kept reorganising itself. As if, musical chairs will solve the problem.

Thirdly, Nokia sought to go on offensive against internet players by going into apps and services business e.g. Maps. It was a reasonable move. However, it went on to acquire number 2 players in respective industries a little bit cheaper. "Two turkeys don't make an eagle". Hence, it ended up being an also ran in many industries and profit share was creamed by other players.

Finally, After Olli-Pekka was replaced in 2010, the slide became even worse. Olli-Pekka was at least trying to stem the rot. The new guy, Elop came with his inclination to sell the business to Microsoft. At that point, Nokia had a choice to adopt a multi-os strategy like Samsung and produce some Android phones. It had strong brand and channel presence in emerging markets where it could made strong profit and bought time for turnaround. Due to vested interests , Mr Elop the new CEO chose to go with his former employer Microsoft. Microsoft was an also ran and he effectively hit the death nail for Nokia.

What killed Nokia? During OPK's leadership it was indecisive management that failed to take bold calls internally or externally. During Elop's leadership, it was vested interest.

05/07/2014, 10.27 pm

Both the CEO Professor Huy seem to find new words for old problems.What they call "emotional processes" is another moniker for a management that is unwilling to reorganize and change its capital allocation process. Allied Chemical faced a similar issue in the 1970's when 800 lb. gorillas in established SBU's that were becoming commodity businesses stomped down the new ventures inspite of the obvious need. One new VP was given a chunk of capital "ex cathedra" and told to feed the best candidates in the new ventures. The French saying that you can't make an omelette without breaking eggs applies here. As for not spotting the convergence of several separate industries, that was the genius of Steve Jobs in the year 2000; where was Nokia management when foresight was available? I knew the woman responsible for screen monitors at HP in the 1980's; she said she was looking 5 years ahead, e.g. to plasma ( which she did not name.) That's called environmental scanning in my book.

25/06/2014, 04.18 pm

One of the aspect could be incorrect estimation of perceived risks to the individual and organisation. Extraordinary use of rewards & recognition, which as a medium, sometimes scuttles the need to elevate individual as well as team performance. How much of R&R is enough is not yet known hence we see examples of prosperity of individual parts and not the whole of it. Conviction and Clarity of thought drive Confidence which inturn attracts Capital. The article quite aptly describes how all of it can be lost in a short span of time.

24/04/2014, 09.00 pm

In my humble opinion there are 4 wheels that lead many companies into limbo, let me describe as you know all car to move need wheels(4), the car represents the company, the wheels represent necessary tools to move the car ahead from any point to any other one. First wheel: Vision Second wheel: Flexibility Third: Capacity to adapt to new environment Fourth: Strategy Nokia has missed 2 of the 4 wheels 1:Flexibility 2:Capacity to adapt itself to new environment The leadership is compared to a driver, ask yourself who can move his ahead to a good direction with broken wheels?

24/10/2014, 03.16 pm

Dearest Seefar, I share your vision about companies success. I would love to add one more point - A Passion. It's like fuel, it's like fire. All big companies have 4 wheels running well. all GREAT companies have a passioned person who put the authentic inspired passion for the smoothest drive. Steve Jobs, Richard Branson, Walt Disney, etc. No person - no more fuel. This is a human factor WHY we do what we do. What drives us? What drives the Leader to be the Leader? With deepest passion to all of us in co-creation of our personal experiences of mastering our brilliancy, Mila

04/04/2014, 04.41 pm

merci à Nathalie pour le partage de cet article intelligent car il donne à comprendre, et son premier mérite est de susciter réflexion & émotions... actions pourquoi pas?

27/03/2014, 02.26 am

Great article.

22/03/2014, 04.21 am

What other companies should take away from Nokia’s decline is not just “don’t be complacent,” but try to compete instead. For Nokia, this means knowing what kinds of innovations competitors are investing in to compete better. Like Nokia, BlackBerry also stumbled recently. This is a good look at what companies can learn from their mistakes - http://www.competing.com/2013/10/blackberry-company-b-and-forensic-strategy/

21/03/2014, 08.02 pm

60 years ago when the Dead Sea was still alive when I was in management school this phenomenon was called "suboptimization", meaning the promotion of the well being of components of the organization rather than that of the larger organization. Obviously there are emotional components in the dynamics of suboptimization but is it not true that the main problem is that the components are not working toward the well being of the whole?

28/03/2014, 10.54 pm

I could not agree more with you. Today I call this being trapped by legacy. Great companies are reluctant to disrupt themselves before others do and then it's normally too late. Today in the technology sector we are seeing massive waves of technology change that is enabling entire business model shifts and this has could many companies flat footed although these trends have been making progress for nearly five years. Solid article though.

20/03/2014, 06.37 pm

Interview Olli-Pekka is like asking John Sculley why Apple wittered and failed. It is a typical market lifecycle that faced by many once-great company such as Motorola, Kodak, Sony, Intel. The reasons for their failures can be attributed to a combination of complacency, underestimate the disruptive nature of new technologies, lack of vision, bad leadership and etc. To simply blame it on bad emotional management is way too simplistic.

20/03/2014, 05.26 pm

It's a brilliant article and so deeply true observations . I always say that lets not water the wrong weeds to ensure that the collective wholesomeness is not compromised on knowingly or unknowingly .

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9 Reasons Why Nokia Failed After Enjoying Unrivaled Dominance

Devashish Shrivastava , Akshat Hawelia

In the annals of mobile phone history, Nokia once reigned supreme with its robust devices and iconic brand. However, as the smartphone revolution took hold, Nokia's fortunes took a sharp turn, leading to a notable decline in its market share and influence. The fall of such a prominent industry leader begs the question: What were the reasons behind Nokia's failure?

This post focuses on the reasons why Nokia failed after enjoying unrivaled dominance in the mobile segment for several years. The ferocious and mighty telecom giant Nokia was well known for its products' hardware and battery life. By understanding the lessons from Nokia's journey, we can gain valuable insights into the rapidly evolving landscape of the technology industry and the critical importance of adaptation and innovation.

For years, it was the talk of the town. User satisfaction with Nokia’s mobiles was globally recognized. The company launched the first internet-enabled phone in 1996, and by the start of the millennium, Nokia had also released a touch-screen mobile prototype.

This was the start of a revolution in the mobile phone industry. The Finnish giant was the largest cell phone maker in 1998. Nokia overtook Motorola, a move that was hard to predict. So, what led to the downfall of Nokia? It wasn’t a single factor but a myriad of reasons, most of which resulted from Nokia's resistance to change. We present to you the six main reasons behind Nokia's failure.

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Reasons for Nokia Failure: Case Study

The resistance to smartphone evolution, the deal with microsoft, nokia's failed marketing strategies, moving too slow with the industry, overestimation of strength, lack of innovation in products, organizational restructuring at nokia, the symbian vs. meego os dilemma at nokia, failure to adapt and reposition.

In the fast-paced world of technology, companies that fail to adapt to changing trends and consumer demands can quickly find themselves left behind. Nokia, once synonymous with mobile phone supremacy, experienced a significant downfall due to its resistance to smartphone evolution. As competitors embraced the shift towards smartphones, Nokia's reluctance to fully embrace this revolution became one of the key reasons for its failure.

Nokia failed to take advantage of the Android bandwagon. When mobile phone manufacturers were busy improving and working on their smartphones, Nokia remained stubborn. Samsung soon launched its Android-based range of phones that were cost-effective and user-friendly.

Nokia's management was under the impression that people wouldn’t accept touchscreen phones and would continue with the QWERTY keypad layout. This misapprehension was the start of its downfall. Nokia never considered Android as an advancement and neither wanted to adopt the Android operating system.

After realizing the market trends, Nokia introduced its Symbian operating system, which was used in its smartphones. It faced usability issues and lacked the app support and developer ecosystem that rival platforms like iOS and Android offered. The clunky user experience and limited app selection hampered Nokia's ability to compete effectively. Also, it was too late by then, with Apple and Samsung having cemented their positions. It was difficult for the Symbian operating system to make any inroads. This is the biggest reason behind Nokia's downfall.

Nokia was slow to recognize the potential of smartphones and the shift from feature phones to touchscreen devices. They failed to anticipate the demand for devices with advanced capabilities, such as app ecosystems and touch interfaces. This led to a loss of market share to competitors like Apple's iPhone and Android-based smartphones.

Another reason for Nokia's failure was the ill-timed deal with the tech giant Microsoft . The company sold itself to Microsoft at a time when the software behemoth was fraught with losses.

Nokia's sales screamed the mobile phone maker's inability to survive on its own. At the same time, Apple and Samsung were making significant strides in innovation and technological developments.

It was too late for Nokia to adapt to the dynamic and rigorous changes in the market. Microsoft’s acquisition of Nokia is considered to be one of the biggest blunders and wasn't fruitful for either side.

The partnership limited Nokia's ability to differentiate itself and left it dependent on Microsoft's success in the mobile industry . The Windows Phone platform struggled to gain traction, further impacting Nokia's market position. This case study provides valuable lessons for businesses considering similar alliances and emphasizes the importance of aligning visions, complementary strengths, and adaptable strategies.

Marketing plays a crucial role in shaping a brand's success and perception. In the case of Nokia, its decline can be attributed, in part, to failed marketing strategies that hindered its ability to compete effectively in the mobile phone market.

One notable misstep in Nokia's marketing approach was its unsuccessful implementation of umbrella branding . Companies like Apple and Samsung successfully adopted the umbrella branding model, with flagship products like the iPhone and Samsung Galaxy series acting as the focal point for expanding their product lines. However, Nokia failed to follow suit and capitalize on the umbrella branding strategy, missing out on the opportunity to create a cohesive and recognizable brand identity.

Additionally, Nokia's marketing efforts struggled to maintain the user trust that the company had built over the years. Inefficient selling and distribution methods further eroded consumer confidence and made it difficult for Nokia to reach its target audience effectively.

While Nokia attempted to regain momentum by introducing hardware and software innovations, these offerings were often late to the market and lacked the uniqueness that would have set them apart from competitors. Rivals had already released similar features and devices, diminishing Nokia's ability to capture consumers' attention and regain market share.

The failure of Nokia's marketing and distribution strategies played a significant role in its ultimate decline and exit from the mobile industry market. Without a strong brand identity, effective distribution channels, and timely innovations, Nokia struggled to compete with rivals who had successfully aligned their marketing strategies with evolving consumer preferences and market dynamics.

Nokia's failure to keep pace with changing technology and trends played a significant role in its decline. While the company had earned a reputation for its hardware, it didn't prioritize its software lineup, which proved to be a crucial oversight.

Initially, Nokia was cautious about embracing technical advancements in order to mitigate the risks associated with introducing innovative features to its phones. However, this approach hindered the company's ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving market.

The business needed diversification, but it was too late by the time Nokia realized this. Instead of being amongst the early initiators, Nokia transitioned when almost every major brand had already started producing awesome phones.

This case study shows Nokia's failure to keep up with changing technology and its delayed response to industry trends significantly contributed to its downfall.

Nokia overestimated its brand value. The company believed that even after the late launch of its smartphones, people would still flock to stores and purchase Nokia-manufactured phones. This turned out to be a misconception, as consumer preferences had shifted towards other brands.

People still make predictions that Nokia will retain the market leadership if it uses better software at its core. However, this is far from the truth, as seen today.

The company got stuck with its software system, which is known to have several bugs and clunks. Nokia felt its previous glory would help alleviate any sort of trouble. Unfortunately, things didn’t play out that way.

Unfortunately, the market dynamics had changed, and consumers were no longer willing to overlook the shortcomings of Nokia's software. Competitors had surpassed Nokia in terms of user experience and software innovation, leaving Nokia struggling to regain its position.

Nokia's lack of innovation in its products significantly contributed to its failure case study. While brands like Samsung and Apple came up with advanced phones every year, Nokia simply launched the Windows phone with basic features, failing to keep up with the industry's rapid progress..

The Nokia Lumia series was a jump-start measure, but even that collapsed due to a lack of innovation. The unattractive and dull features didn’t help. In the era of 4G, Nokia didn’t even have 3G-enabled phones. Nokia also came up with the Asha series, but it was game over by then.

Wrong decisions and risk aversion brought about the decline of the mobile giant. Nokia refrained from adopting the latest tech. Nokia's failure became a powerful case study that made organizations realize the importance of continuous evolution and enhancements. The journey of what was once the world’s best mobile phone company to losing it all by 2013 is quite tragic. Nokia's failure was not solely due to its lack of innovation but also its shortcomings in leadership and guidance. These factors, combined with its inability to adapt to market demands and technological advancements, sealed the company's fate.

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Nokia underwent a sudden and significant organizational shift by adopting a matrix structure driven by enhancing agility within the company. However, this abrupt change resulted in dissatisfaction among stakeholders, particularly as key individuals in top management departed from the organization. These individuals, who had played instrumental roles in establishing Nokia as a leading company, were no longer part of the decision-making process .

The shift to a matrix structure also brought about internal challenges, as stability in top management, a crucial element for organizational coherence, was disrupted. Over just five years, Nokia experienced two CEO replacements , preventing employees from fully adapting to new leadership goals and visions. The frequent changes in leadership created instability and hindered consistent strategic direction. The lack of continuity in leadership contributed to employee dissatisfaction and impacted the overall cohesiveness of the organization. Employees and other stakeholders found it challenging to align with successive CEOs, leading to a breakdown in communication and a sense of disconnect within the company.

Nokia Changes their Logo After 60 Years

Nokia's problem arose when its R&D division underwent a split, with one faction dedicated to enhancing the Symbian operating system and the other focused on developing MeeGo. The competing claims of superiority between the two teams led to internal friction, causing delays in the release of new phones. The company grappled with the challenge of harmonizing divergent technological directions, impacting its ability to bring innovative products to market in a timely manner. This internal competition within the R&D division created a complex dynamic, hindering Nokia's efficiency and potentially affecting its competitive edge in the rapidly evolving smartphone market.

Nokia's downfall can be attributed to its failure to analyze market trends and adjust its strategy accordingly. The company neglected the burgeoning smartphone market, ultimately missing a significant opportunity for growth. Rather than capitalizing on this evolving landscape, Nokia could have revitalized its position by enhancing its existing software, such as Symbian. Unfortunately, the lack of strategic foresight and adaptability led to a missed chance to stay competitive in the dynamic tech industry.

Moreover, the oversight in market analysis and strategic planning eroded Nokia's market share and diminished its relevance in the rapidly changing consumer electronics landscape. The company's reluctance to pivot and innovate in response to market dynamics ultimately contributed to its decline in the face of evolving consumer preferences and technological advancements.

The fall of Nokia can be attributed to a combination of factors that hindered its ability to adapt, innovate, and stay competitive in the mobile phone market. The resistance to smartphone evolution, missed opportunities, ineffective marketing strategies, and the deal with Microsoft all contributed to its downfall. Ultimately, Nokia's decline serves as a reminder of the importance of staying agile, embracing change, and continuously evolving to meet consumer demands.

Why did Nokia fail?

Not switching to Android, lack of innovation, not upgrading the software, and overestimating the brand value were some of the reasons that led to Nokia's failure.

What is Nokia?

Nokia is a consumer electronics company popular for its mobile phones. It is one of the largest mobile phone manufacturers in the world.

Is the Nokia company closed?

No, the company is still running, but it has shut down some of its plants.

What happened to Nokia?

Once a dominant force, Nokia clung to outdated software, allowing Android and iOS to surge ahead, leaving the brand lagging. Despite its focus on new technologies, Nokia's legacy now lives on in the realm of Android.

Why did Nokia fail to compete with Samsung and Apple?

Nokia didn't adopt Android and focused on its hardware more than its software, which is why it failed to compete against Samsung and Apple.

Are there any new Nokia smartphones coming in the near future?

Though Nokia might seem dominant on the phone front, the company occasionally comes up with some new phones/smartphone devices. Here are some of the Nokia smartphones that are likely to be launched in 2022:

• Nokia 2760 Flip 4G
• Nokia C21 Plus
• Nokia Suzume
• Nokia C2 2nd Edition

Who took over Nokia?

Nokia phones were robust and dependable companions of the pre-smartphone era. However, Nokia's Java and Windows phones failed to stand out in the market dominated by Apple and Android phones. The Android phone manufacturing companies like Samsung, LG, HTC, Sony, Motorola, and other Chinese smartphone developers like MI, Realme, Oppo, Vivo, and the Apple IOS devices took over Nokia in the mobile sector.

What lessons can other businesses learn from Nokia's failure?

Nokia's failure highlights the importance of embracing change, anticipating market trends, and continuously innovating to meet customer expectations. It underscores the need for effective marketing strategies, strategic partnerships, and an unwavering commitment to adaptation and innovation in today's rapidly evolving business landscape.

Was Nokia's lack of innovation a significant factor in its decline?

Yes, Nokia's lack of innovation in its product lineup played a significant role in its downfall. The company failed to keep pace with rivals who consistently introduced advanced devices and embraced evolving market demands, which resulted in Nokia losing its competitive edge.

Why did Nokia go out of business?

Nokia lost its phone industry dominance by sticking to outdated software, missing the smartphone revolution, and experiencing a significant sell-off. Despite not going out of business, Nokia's cautionary tale highlights the vital role of innovation in a rapidly evolving tech landscape, with the company still present in network tech and patents.

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Extensive Case-Study on the Business Model of Nokia | IIDE

By Aditya Shastri

According to the stats Nokia the multinational company itself was the best cell phone developer and seller in the market in the early 21st century and was recognized worldwide. Even after they fail in the smartphone era, Nokia keeps prevailing with new technologies in the market. They proved that they won’t give up and will get their name back in the technology world with other new technologies.

This blog highlights the business model of Nokia, Segments of the business, e-business strategy, target market, and other features. See also our other blog that describes Nokia’s, Marketing Mix .

Let’s start with additional corporate knowledge.

About Nokia

Founded in 1865, Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational firm providing telecoms, IT, and consumer electronics. The headquarters of Nokia are in the Espoo, Finland, metropolitan Helsinki region, although the original origins of the corporation are in the Pirkanmaa region near Tampere. In 2020 Nokia employed roughly 92,000 employees in more than 100 countries, operating in more than 130 countries, and generated a yearly income of approximately €23 billion. Nokia is a Helsinki Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange public limited business. The Fortune Global 500 is the world’s 415th largest corporation measured its sales by 2016 and its peak in 2009 was 85th. Over the last 150 years, the corporation has been active in several industries. It has been created and linked with rubber and cables for a considerable period, although since the 1990s it has been focusing on large-scale telecommunication infrastructure, development of technologies, and licensing. In the mobile telephony business, Nokia made substantial contributions, helping to design the GSM, 3G, and LTE standards. Nokia was the world’s largest mobile and smartphone provider for a decade starting in 1998.

Business Model of Nokia

A business model is a plan that identifies income streams, customer base and finance items, and specifics for the successful operation of a business. In essence, there are nine components for any business model, two of which are customers and value proposals. The segments of customers focus on which market part a business chooses to cater to, whereas value proposals are described as solutions for customer issues and the customer wants, providing value.

Let’s dive deeper into Nokia’s infra and core…

1. Business Segments

• Nokia Networks : This generates revenues from its portfolio of goods and services which include the infrastructure of access to mobile and fixed networks, IP and optical routing, mobile and convergent core networks, as well as platforms and applications.
• Nokia Licensing: This sector focuses on Nokia Intellectual Property Licensing, including Nokia Brand patents, technology.

2. Value Chain 

It is crucial to consider the value chain of the industry to better comprehend Nokia’s position in the mobile phone market. Total phone users do not buy from Nokia directly – instead, they regularly enrol with the service providers’ cellular call plans. After constructing each handset with several components supplied by other suppliers, Nokia sells its handset to the mobile service provider and/or distributor.

3. Operations and Resources

Managers in NokiaMobile87 were faced with challenges of component defects, product shortcomings, inefficient production, and the ensuing complaints from intelligent consumers and cost overflow in the proceedings to guarantee product quality and supply chain efficacy. These procedures have been developed and improved via investments. Furthermore, in particular, following the dispute with Motorola on the subject of patent matters in the U.S. at the end of the 1980s, processes in the management of intellectual property rights were underway. For NokiaCorp87’s leaders, these procedures – for any company unit – had not yet been of major concern; nevertheless, NokiaCorp95 was important to product design and quality and the effectiveness of the supply chain. NokiaCorp95 also inherited and further enhanced the importance placed on these processes from NokiaMobile87. The development of products and operations, much as it was in NokiaMobile87, became a fundamental part of the entire company. This was reflected in reducing product development lead times and increasing corporate R&D spending and university collaboration both in Finland and abroad, together with enhancing product quality and operational performance.

4. Connecting People

Nokia seeks to connect more people online by creating convincing, cheap, and localized mobile experiences. By developing assets like platforms, software, and applications Nokia will realize future investments, bringing their consumers a more advanced, more modern mobile experience and offer developers revenue opportunities. As well as looking for new ideas, Nokia wants to keep the company, customers, developers, and consumers in line with its traditional, respected, and beloved services such as touch screen, type, dual sim maps, maps, and browsers. Market research has shown that 200 million people are using Symbian worldwide and Nokia is modernizing the platform, including investments with new features and hardware advancements such as GHz+ processing capabilities.

5. The Partnership

They are planning to combine strength with Microsoft to recover supremacy in the smartphone market to achieve our objectives. The company aims to build a global ecosystem like no other by uniting forces. This ecosystem provides a unique and creative product portfolio with exceptional assets from both organizations. Nokia will assist drive and define the platform’s future with expertise in hardware optimization, software adaptation, and language support through Windows’s use as its principal platform. They combine service assets to facilitate applications for developers to impact Nokia’s worldwide scale; Nokia Maps will be integrated into Microsoft Marketplace as the core of important Microsoft assets, such as AdCenter, Bing, and the Nokia Application and content store. The advantage of Nokia’s partnering with Microsoft is that Nokia will have first access and an exclusive deal with Microsoft, allowing them to bring the new operating system to their competitors in Microsoft Windows.

6. Channels

• Online Market
• Social Network
• Different web pages
• Links from partners

7. Target Market of Nokia

The target segment for Nokia comprises a specific consumer group, which concentrates its marketing efforts like several ages of individuals. Two key factors may be the Nokia objective: firstly, profits, and secondly, consumers who need communication. Nokia aims at consumers. It is mostly targeted at consumers aged 19-39 looking for fun, for example. It is intended to attract them and promote themselves in the market by using this particular logo.

8. eBusiness Strategy of Nokia

For Nokia’s e-business, the presence of web users is not merely for quick sales. Nokia uses the Internet and IT’s collective power to vitally transform its strategic business and procedures. Nokia is one of the world’s most successful initiatives to develop a successful relationship with the target market through its e-commerce and e-business solutions. Nokia e-business was established in 2001 under the name Nokia Payment Solution (Nokia, 2010). The Nokia Payment solution is a unique program that allows payment services providers, including financial institutions, distributors, and consumers, to mediate the payments of three parts. This platform allows Nokia through a wide range of payment mechanisms including debit cards, credit cards, operators’ prepaid and post-payment systems to collect, manage and clear payments initiated through mobiles and other Web-enabled terminals. Nokia provides the Nokia Signet Server, which uses digital signatures to authenticate and pay non-repudiation transactions. Client and server connection verification and digital signature are complied with utilizing public key (PKI) wireless technology.

9. Organizational Structure at Nokia

The organizational structure of Nokia is horizontal and offers increased flexibility and rapid lines of communication across departments. The device unit monitors the development and management of the range of mobile devices for all main customer sectors. The solutions department continuously develops solutions ensuring that the integrated content and personalized services of a particular mobile device and the output of these three components contribute to a leading mobile phone for the end-user. The unit of solutions works closely with other departments to offer these solutions.

Overall, Nokia won the majority of the world with its tremendous technological expertise and return to society. It truly sets a precedent for paving this world’s new technology period, as well as for the future. It certainly revolutionized the organisational structure of Nokia, and split the organization into 4 business units, thanks to its fantastic business model and its great digital marketing strategy. The mobile telephone market has undergone great changes over the last two decades, with unforgettable products and quick market expansion. The market growth remains ongoing. Nokia employs creative marketing approaches to battle competition and maintains its market share through strong positioning and competitive strategies. In recent years, the company’s sales performance has risen considerably, however, they have lost some of their market share to new competitors. The company will further boost the possibilities of success in the market if the company continues to adjust its marketing policies according to the market’s needs and wishes.

Did you like what we did? Are you interested in learning more? Please visit our website for further information. You can also join Karan Shah’s Free Digital Marketing Masterclass if you want to learn more about digital marketing.

Author's Note: My name is Aditya Shastri and I have written this case study with the help of my students from IIDE's online digital marketing courses in India . Practical assignments, case studies & simulations helped the students from this course present this analysis. Building on this practical approach, we are now introducing a new dimension for our online digital marketing course learners - the Campus Immersion Experience. If you found this case study helpful, please feel free to leave a comment below.

Aditya Shastri

Lead Trainer & Head of Learning & Development at IIDE

Leads the Learning & Development segment at IIDE. He is a Content Marketing Expert and has trained 6000+ students and working professionals on various topics of Digital Marketing. He has been a guest speaker at prominent colleges in India including IIMs...... [Read full bio]

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• Harvard Business School →
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• April 2010 (Revised May 2011)
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Emerging Nokia?

• Format: Print
• | Language: English
• | Pages: 24

About The Authors

Juan Alcacer

Tarun Khanna

Related work.

• Faculty Research
• April 2012 (Revised February 2014)

Emerging Nokia? (TN)

• Emerging Nokia?  By: Juan Alcacer, Tarun Khanna, Mary Furey and Rakeen Mabud
• Emerging Nokia? (TN)  By: Juan Alcacer

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[2024] Top VAPT Case Studies Interview Questions

Explore comprehensive vapt case study interview questions and answers. learn how to tackle real-world scenarios, demonstrate expertise, and prepare effectively for your cybersecurity role..

Understanding VAPT Case Studies

What is a vapt case study.

• Initial Findings : Discovery of vulnerabilities through assessment.
• Testing Procedures : Methods used to exploit these vulnerabilities.
• Impact Analysis : Consequences of the vulnerabilities being exploited.
• Remediation Steps : Actions taken to address and fix the issues.
• Evaluate Expertise : Assess your ability to handle real-world security issues.
• Test Problem-Solving Skills : Understand how you approach and resolve complex security challenges.
• Demonstrate Knowledge : Showcase your understanding of VAPT methodologies and tools.

Common VAPT Case Study Interview Questions

1. describe a time when you identified a critical vulnerability in a system, approach to answering.

• Situation : Describe the system or network assessed.
• Scope : Explain the boundaries and objectives of the assessment.
• Methodology : Outline the techniques and tools used to identify the vulnerability.
• Tools : Mention specific tools (e.g., Nessus, Burp Suite).
• Consequences : Discuss the potential risks and impact of the vulnerability.
• Evidence : Provide examples or evidence of how it could be exploited.
• Actions Taken : Describe how you addressed the vulnerability.
• Outcome : Share the results of your remediation efforts.
• Can you describe a time when you identified a critical vulnerability in a system?

2. How Did You Handle a Situation Where the Client Disagreed with Your Findings?

• Issue : Identify the specific points of disagreement.
• Context : Understand the client's perspective and concerns.
• Explanation : Provide a detailed explanation of your findings.
• Evidence : Use data and examples to support your position.
• Discussion : Engage in open dialogue with the client.
• Adjustments : Be willing to re-evaluate findings if new information arises.
• Record : Keep detailed records of the disagreement and resolution process.
• Outcome : Ensure that the final report accurately reflects the agreed-upon findings.
• How did you handle a situation where the client disagreed with your findings?

3. Can You Explain a Scenario Where You Successfully Mitigated a Complex Vulnerability?

• Complexity : Explain why the vulnerability was complex or challenging.
• Discovery : Detail how you identified it.
• Approach : Describe the steps taken to address the vulnerability.
• Tools and Techniques : Mention any specific tools or techniques used.
• Impact : Explain how the mitigation improved security.
• Verification : Share how you verified that the vulnerability was resolved.
• Can you explain a scenario where you successfully mitigated a complex vulnerability?

4. How Would You Approach a VAPT for a Newly Developed Application?

• Preparation : Understand the application’s architecture and functionality.
• Scoping : Define the scope of the assessment.
• Techniques : Use a combination of automated and manual testing methods.
• Tools : Employ tools such as OWASP ZAP for automated scanning and manual techniques for in-depth testing.
• Findings : Document any vulnerabilities discovered.
• Suggestions : Provide actionable recommendations for improvement.
• Re-testing : Schedule follow-up assessments to ensure vulnerabilities are addressed.
• How would you approach a VAPT for a newly developed application?

5. Describe an Experience Where You Had to Adapt Your VAPT Approach Due to Changing Requirements

• Nature : Explain the changes in requirements or scope.
• Impact : Discuss how the changes affected the assessment.
• Adjustment : Describe how you adjusted your approach.
• Tools and Methods : Mention any changes in tools or methods used.
• Results : Explain the results of the adapted approach.
• Feedback : Share any feedback received from stakeholders.
• Describe an experience where you had to adapt your VAPT approach due to changing requirements.

Best Practices for Handling VAPT Case Studies

1. prepare thoroughly.

• Research : Familiarize yourself with common case studies and scenarios in VAPT.
• Practice : Review sample questions and practice articulating your experiences.

2. Structure Your Answers

• Framework : Use a clear framework (e.g., Situation, Task, Action, Result) to organize your responses.
• Detail : Provide specific details and examples to illustrate your points.

3. Be Prepared for Technical Deep-Dives

• Technical Knowledge : Be ready to discuss technical aspects of your VAPT experience in depth.
• Tools and Techniques : Demonstrate your proficiency with various VAPT tools and methodologies.

4. Communicate Effectively

• Clarity : Ensure your explanations are clear and concise.
• Evidence : Support your answers with evidence and examples.

5. Stay Updated

• Trends : Keep abreast of the latest developments and trends in VAPT.
• Continuous Learning : Engage in ongoing learning and professional development.
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Andrew Karolyi and John Tobin-de la Puente

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In June, the Colombian subsidiary of Spanish banking group BBVA announced that it was issuing what it described as the financial sector’s “first biodiversity bond”, in order to finance habitat conservation and restoration projects in the South American country. 

The $50mn initiative — backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private sector-focused arm of the World Bank, as structurer and investor — marks a turnaround for a nation recovering from half a century of violence and guerrilla activity. It also places Colombia among a select group of pioneers, including the Seychelles and Belize, that are using the financial markets to support the conservation of nature.

While the green bonds market has seen explosive growth in the past decade, the capital it has raised has overwhelmingly been invested in climate mitigation, alternative energy, and green transportation projects. Minimal amounts go to biodiversity conservation and habitat restoration projects. 

In financing nature, explicitly and directly, this Colombian bond breaks new ground, with metrics linked to objectives to benefit the environment. Invest ors will be repaid through a mix of funding sources including a carbon tax, the government budget and donors .

Test yourself

This is the sixth in a series of monthly business school-style teaching case studies devoted to responsible-business dilemmas faced by organisations. Read the piece and FT articles suggested at the end (and linked to within the piece) before considering the questions raised. 

About the authors: Andrew Karolyi is professor and dean, John Tobin-de la Puente is professor of practice and co-director of the Initiative on Responsible Finance, both at the Cornell SC Johnson College of Business.

The series forms part of a wide-ranging collection of FT ‘instant teaching case studies ’ that explore business challenges.

The question for those concerned about the destruction of the world’s natural habitats is whether this pioneering structured bond will be effective, and whether it could help to inspire a broader range of similar instruments aimed at countering loss of biodiversity around the world. 

Meanwhile, the question for investors is whether the vehicle is sufficiently attractive and robust to attract a new and growing class of funders that may share an interest in environmental issues but also seek competitive returns.

Located at the northern end of the Andes, Colombia straddles the Equator, the Pacific Ocean, the Caribbean, and the Amazon basin. It has the second-highest number of species on the planet after Brazil, and the highest species diversity when measured per square kilometre, according to the World Wildlife Fund . Colombia is home to more than 1,900 species of birds — on a par with Brazil and Peru.

Colombia will be on the frontline of biodiversity losses

But global warming threatens to cause dramatic harm to this biodiversity . Colombia will be on the frontline of these losses because it will be disproportionately affected by climate change compared to countries with fewer species that are more widespread.

Now, though, it could also be in the vanguard of new financial models to reverse the trend.

In 2016, a historic peace agreement between the government and leftist guerrilla group the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (Farc) marked the end of five decades of armed conflict. Despite continuing violence, the peace process has greatly improved the lives of citizens. However, it has also increased pressure on natural ecosystems. The political violence had meant large areas were shielded from illegal deforestation and degradation of the habitat.

Five years after the peace deal, Colombia became the first Latin American country to issue a green bond in its domestic market : a 10-year $200mn offering aiming to finance a variety of projects intended to benefit the environment — including water management, sustainable transport, biodiversity protection, and renewable energy. High investor demand meant the final amount had been increased by half again.

Finance minister José Manuel Restrepo described the structured bond as an “important step” in finding new ways to finance investment in environmental projects: it would help develop a domestic green bond market and attract a wider range of investors. His ministry identified another $500mn in eligible projects that could be financed through green bonds, including a $50mn Colombian “blue bond” — financing focused on marine habitats and ocean-based projects that generate environmental co-benefits. This was successfully placed in 2023 with the help of BBVA and the IFC as structurer.

Now, the announcement of BBVA Colombia’s biodiversity bond marks another step forward. It focuses on reforestation, regeneration of natural forests on degraded land, mangrove conservation, and wildlife habitat protection.

In the case of green bonds, only a minuscule share of the money raised is spent on nature conservation, in part because few such projects generate cash flows from which to repay investors. Another reason is that it is harder to measure how effectively deployed resources dedicated to conservation — such as for monitoring species population growth — are, or to track activities that help to reach certain conservation target goals over time, such as for restoring degraded ecosystems.  

Using private, financial return-seeking capital to finance the sustainable management and conservation of natural resources is viewed by many experts as the most realistic solution to the twin crises of biodiversity loss and climate change — given the magnitude of investment needed. 

Yet there is growing political pushback against environmental and social initiatives, most notably in the US. 

Regulators and consumer groups have also launched legal actions to challenge green objectives. Large corporations, including Unilever, Bank of America and Shell, have in the past year dropped or missed goals to cut carbon emissions. And there has been disillusion with the ability of sustainability-linked bonds to meet their objectives. 

By association, that raises fresh questions about continued progress on biodiversity.

In biodiversity finance, doing deals is inherently more difficult

In tackling the climate crisis, the trajectory seems clear: the set of solutions needed is more or less agreed, and a good part of it makes economic sense. But, in biodiversity finance, doing deals is inherently more difficult.

It is more complex to structure transactions that generate proceeds to protect wildlife, restore ecosystems and fund other activities that may not generate cash flows, all while ensuring investors are repaid. Early successes — such as Belize’s blue bond are encouraging — but the potential for real scale is still unclear.

Questions for discussion

How companies are starting to back away from green targets (ft.com)

Green bond issuance surges as investors hunt for yield (ft.com)

Sustainability-linked bonds falter amid credibility concerns (ft.com)

Consider these questions:

1. How critical is the role of the IFC as structurer of the BBVA Colombia biodiversity bond deal in validating its legitimacy and providing investors with assurance? How important is it that IFC is also a co-investor in the biodiversity bond issuance?  

2. What are the pros and cons of the fact that the $50mn BBVA Colombia biodiversity bond deal has been launched following Colombia’s successful placement three years earlier of its sovereign green bond, and following its newly announced “green taxonomy”?  

3. What does the Colombian experience say about the likelihood of rapid change in how countries manage their biodiversity and climate impacts? Does Colombia demonstrate that such change is possible, or is its experience unique and unlikely to represent a model of rapid action for other countries?

4. Can biodiversity bonds meaningfully help to address biodiversity loss? And is this transaction the start of a trend? If not, why would BBVA Colombia have executed this transaction? Is it a gesture of goodwill and a recognition of its own corporate responsibility, or a means to greenwash some of its other less appealing investments?

5. Considering the economic and social context following the peace agreement between Colombia and the Farc forces, how might the shift from conflict to peace affect the country’s ability to balance economic development with environmental conservation?   

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