Nokia Case

I feel that the US would have a similar reaction to that of Germany. However, I feel that there would be considerably higher government intervention in the US. Although labor laws in the US may not be as strict as in Germany, labor unions are still powerful and I feel that the unions and the government would have intervened and negotiated on behalf of the workers. However, if Nokia went along with the closure by the book, they would have used the proper channels and I feel that if the US was involved, the government or the unions would have ensured the proper path be taken. I would definitely support the US approach as it is professional and is the correct way, as it takes into consideration the workers well being.

1. Most companies in the mobile handset industry is following the same trend as Nokia and outsourcing its operations to markets with lower costs and a cheaper workforce. In most cases, the operations are outsourced to emerging markets like India and China. Leaders in the industry like Apple and Motorola have the majority of their manufacturing in China, if Nokia is to stay competitive in this diverse market; it too has to follow these trends. Nokia's current strategy is to move one of its plants from Germany to Romania; although the move would be quite costly in the short-run, it will definitely reap the benefits of lower costs and higher subsidies that Romania offers in the long run. Further, with most of the developed markets like the US and Europe being saturated, Nokia, like other mobile manufacturers have turned to emerging markets like Southeast Asia, Middle East, Africa, India and China. Globalization has permitted the majority of Nokia manufacturing plants to be set up in low cost economies like China, Brazil, Mexico, India and South Korea and these factories supply the Nokia users in their respective countries, with Mexico and Brazil also supplying the US. A similar approach should be taken with the German market and production should be moved to Romania. With the evolving of globalization and Romania joining the EU, supplying of Nokia products to Germany and neighboring nations will be relatively low cost operation.

2. In many aspects the German backlash against Nokia is justified on the grounds that Nokia made