Nokia plans new corporate structure

Nokia has announced that as of Jan.1, 2004, it is shifting its organizational shape into four business groups, and shuffling a number of executives—the most notable among those moves being the Finnish company’s naming of a U.S.-bred chief financial officer.

The new corporate structure, aligned into units covering mobile phones, multimedia, networks and enterprise, will strengthen the firm’s focus on network convergence and new mobile markets, such as data and content, according to Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of Nokia.

The Nokia Mobile Phones unit will be headed by Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo as executive vice president and general manager. Kallasvuo had been Nokia’s CFO. Replacing him in the CFO job will be Rick Simonson, who had been in charge of vendor financing of Nokia. In his new position, Simonson will become the first non-Finnish senior level executive in the company’s history. Simonson also will be a senior vice president, and will join the company’s executive board.

The former mobile phones executive, Matti Alahuhta, will become Nokia’s chief strategy officer.

In other moves, the multimedia and enterprise units will join the existing mobile phones and networks groups. Nokia Multimedia will focus on mobile multimedia developments for the consumer market. Anssi Vanjoki will be executive vice president and general manager of that unit. Nokia Enterprise Solutions will offer corporate-focused services and devices, as well as network architecture. The company has yet to name a general manager for the unit.

Sales and marketing, as well as manufacturing, logistics and sourcing will be organized globally and headed by Pekka Ala-Pietilä. He will also continue as president of Nokia Corp.

Elsewhere, Pertti Korhonen, senior vice president and chief technology officer of Nokia, will be in charge of the technology unit. This unit is responsible for company-wide technology management and development.

"Mobility is one of the world's megatrends with a great opportunity," Ollila said. "It will change how businesses are run and it is our ongoing ambition to help consumers and corporations in this transition. The industry and corporate structures that were established a decade ago at the dawn of mobile communications were very different from what is needed going ahead.”