Is the culture influenced in some way by the Finnish culture?

Hi,

Nokia and Finland go way back together. In fact, Nokia was founded much earlier than the day Finland gained independence (52 years earlier, to be exact). The rapid growth of Nokia had an impact on the whole country - at its peak Nokia accounted for a large part of the whole economy (4% of GDP and 70& of Helsinki's stock exchange).

That cannot go unnoticed. Even now every Finnish citizen would still have someone in his circle who either worked at Nokia or still works in/for Nokia.

The Finnish business culture is both strict and relaxed at the same time. Finns tend to plan in advance and are diligent in completing tasks and following deadlines/schedules. At he same time, though, they are calm, protect their private time, put a high priority on work-life balance and, in general, don't like to waste time.

And you can really feel that across all Nokia organization - not only in Finland. Especially it's visible in the day-to-day communication, the flexibility colleagues enjoy (teleworking, 'relaxed' dress-code, etc.), the way objectives are set and how meetings are organized and led. That creates a very reliable atmosphere and motivates to deal with challenges head on. In fact, our values (respect, achievement, renewal, challenge) very well reflect that culture as well.

I work in Dallas, TX , but have visited our Finnish location in Oulu, and loved it! Interestingly, here in Dallas, we have a Finnish receptionist, a Finnish library, and Finnish snacks, as well as Finnish style breakout rooms that help to infuse into our location the spirit of the Finnish culture. It is not forgotten on me, and I love that they take time to promote the Finnish culture in varying and unique ways.

As a Finn I love this question! And the responses from Andrejs and Glenda. I totally agree what Andrejs said but would add just one more observation: The hierarchy in Finland is very flat and so it is in Nokia too. For example, our President and CEO is Pekka for us all. And the same goes with everyone else too: we call each other by the first names and we can easily approach anyone in the company.