What is the similarity between Nokia and the Titanic? Separated by almost a century the cell phone manufacturer and the ‘unsinkable’ ship would seem to have little in common but they do indeed. When the Titanic hit an iceberg, her side shell was sliced open like a can of Sardines. This caused sea water to flood a few of her side tanks and from there flow to the other tanks on one side of the great ship. The flooding could not be contained and the ship eventually went down as her dead weight increased.
Naval architects the world over learnt from this tragedy. Ship design and construction changed for all time. Longitudinal and transverse bulkheads connected decks and hence if a tank was holed, flooding was contained to one or two tanks and the ship though crippled could still float.
The titanic story seems to be playing itself out on the economic stage with Nokia, today.
The Finnish behemoth contributed a quarter of that country’s growth from 1998 to 2007, according to figures from the Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA). Over the same period, the mobile-phone manufacturer’s spending on research and development made up 30% of the country’s total, and it generated nearly 20% of Finland’s exports. In the decade to 2007, Nokia was sometimes paying as much as 23% of all Finnish corporation tax. Nokia gradual descent as a mobile phone leader in the wake of the rise of Apple and Samsung has set alarm bells ringing in Finland and Europe. The Finnish economy can implode with just this one company going down, in what is nation that has not cared to diversify its economy and mitigate risk.The Netherlands tell a similar story with Royal Dutch Shell contributing about 56% to that country's revenue as percentage of GDP,last year.
One company national economies always face the risk of sinking like the Titanic unless they diversify and not solely depend on that one goose that lays the golden egg!
I feel particularly sad as my choice of mobile phone for close to fifteen years has always been Nokia, till my son thrust a Samsung on me a couple of months ago, forcing me to change brands. And that I guess sums it up..............
6 comments:
very nice !
Dear Sir
It has been a revelation of sorts. Will be rather tragic but its a common enough occurrence that men and nations tend to put their eggs in one basket. it can always fall apart. And diversity is a must. In a similar vein i read that mans pre eminence in evolution is due to the special pattern of teeth that allows him to subsist on varied diets. perhaps the lessons to be learnt from the finnish giants life can be employed to good effect although it will be a bit sad to see nokia vanish from the marketplace and taking its nation to the abyss in the process. and the comparison with the titanic was superb
Good One Sir, I was reminded of the Case Studies we did in your class.
Thank you folk!
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