Group+Status+Report+Final

Spencer Biery, Katie Michniak, Danae Stout, Cailin Tacktor, Emily Yurgaites Team Name: Team Lazer  NOKIA: Group Status Report    The first part of our research was learning about the company and in doing this we turned to their extensive website ( [|www.nokia.com] ). It was interesting to see that there is a lot more to Nokia than just the production of cell phones. In looking at Nokia’s website, we also took some time to check out the websites of competitors. In our research so far we have been looking into the different market shares that Nokia has throughout Europe and the rest of the World. Nokia has a much stronger foothold in Europe than they do in the United States and we’re researching why. We have also been looking into why Nokia is so financially successful abroad and why Nokia seems to be less of a competitor in the United States. A lot of our research has focused on the external analysis for Nokia. The first part of this research is based on Porter’s Five Forces. We were able to find an industry summary using Zahnow Library’s online databases. The group also found a consumer report that discusses major cell phone manufacturers as well as major wireless carriers. We would like to continue this research to understand how mobile phone manufactures and software developers complement each other, such as the development tools provided, licensing fees, etc. In looking at completing the industry life cycle, we have focused some time on putting together a sort of timeline for the cell phone industry. Even though Nokia has been extremely successful, we have also been looking into possible threats or opportunities they may be facing currently or perhaps in the future.   __1st anticipated key finding __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Nokia currently is the world's largest mobile phone manufacturing company, yet they have below a 10% market share in the United States. Researchers feel that this is because the majority of individuals still have a vision of Nokia as it once was, the simple green back lit phone that didn't have many options. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2nd anticipated key finding __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: A quick look at the websites of some of the major manufacturers: of the manufacturers with an easy to find developer page, (Motorola, Apple, and Nokia, Research in Motion), only Nokia advertises its development libraries as being cross platform. This would lower switching costs for consumers if applications developed using Nokia's tools could be used on another smart phone, but would give developers a larger market and reduced development costs. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3rd anticipated key finding __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Nokia's competitive advantage comes mainly from their scale-based assets and capabilities (efficiency), leading brand (quality/responsiveness to customers), and differentiating their offering through services (innovation, responsiveness to customers). Nokia offers many different types of services that make them unique from their competitors. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">1st Recommendation __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Nokia needs to spend more money on advertising to get their new products out there. Many people still envision Nokia as the creator of their first cell phone with the snake game on it, not a technologically advanced handheld computer. Nokia should also continue to do extensive R&D to keep up with the innovation being done in other cell phone manufacturing companies. __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">2nd Recommendation __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Nokia should market its development tools to more third-party developers. Nokia could target Android and iPhone developers by pointing to the combined market share of Nokia as well as competitor smartphones with compatible operating systems (Embedded Linux, Windows CE/Mobile, and Symbian, the last being a joint venture between Nokia, Motorola, and Ericsson). __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">3rd ____<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> Recommendation __<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">: Nokia is working in the right direction to become more environmentally friendly. Many companies simply say they are working towards being more “green”, however it is important to continue to act on the promise already made. Perhaps Nokia can create future devices that are more environmentally friendly or package their products with materials which also recyclable.
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt;">Brief description of the analysis conducted/in progress: **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Anticipated key findings from your analysis (3-4 of the most important points): **
 * <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Some likely recommendations to respond to your findings: **