Nokia’s Ollila calls for more financial risk-taking in Finland
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Nokia’s outgoing President and CEO Jorma Ollila says that Finns should be more willing to take financial risks. Speaking at a lunch for financial journalists on Thursday, Ollila said that Finnish politicians, corporations, and ordinary people are far too focused on security.
"Looking at Finland from outside, there is not the kind of success-oriented spirit that there was in the 1990s. We would need that mentality. There is an overwhelming trend toward security here", Ollila said.
He feels that greater risk-taking is necessary if Finland is to achieve long-term growth above the "boring" 1.5 percent level.
"We need to seek out enterprise and support it, but existing companies also need to be in the front line of change, so that we do not just wait for what Asia and the United States come up with", Ollila said.
Society also needs to adapt to changes quickly, in Ollila’s view.
"In Finland of the 1990s, if a law was bad, it was changed."
He nevertheless praises the policy of tax cuts undertaken by the present government, which he feels have contributed significantly to Finland’s present economic strength and positive atmosphere.
However, he also feels that there is room to cut taxes for both middle, and high-income earners.
"The marginal taxation of an ordinary middle-income family is very tough, when we look at the joint impact of taxes and various supports. It needs to be brought down again. It is morally questionable for society to take away more than half of anyone’s income", Ollila said.
Ollila leaves his post as CEO of Nokia at the beginning of June. He will remain the company’s part-time Chairman of the Board. He is confident that the new generation of Nokia managers has sufficient courage to deal with tasks that lie ahead.
"I have not seen any sign that our people who are in their thirties and forties would be a soft or pampered generation. They are very aggressive and courageous. There is a fairly old tradition in this company of anticipating changes and reacting quickly. There is no need to worry about that", Ollila said.
Ollila feels that now is the right time for a generational change in Nokia. The inclusion of the Internet as part of mobile telephones is only the beginning, and the field is undergoing a great change.
He notes that board members who are now in their forties have worked with the Internet from its very beginning. "For them, the creation of new business models comes naturally."
In addition to the Internet, another major change in mobile telephony is the boom in mobile phones in developing countries, which will have a great influence on their possibilities for economic growth.
Ollila, who has headed Nokia for 14 years, does not want to make too far-reaching predictions. He notes that five years ago growth in the market for traditional mobile phones was thought to have been over. At that time, nobody predicted the boom that was about to happen in the Third World. Also, just a few years ago nobody believed that mobile phones would be used for e-mail.
"I would warn against too far-reaching predictions. People have a tendency to commit themselves to forecasts, and not to see changes", Ollila said.
In June Ollila will start as Chairman of the Board of the world’s third-largest oil company Shell. Having filled the world with mobile phones, he is now eager to look for solutions to the world’s energy problems.
"It is fantastic to be part of solving such a bundle of problems. It has a great significance for world economic growth, the poverty problem, and environmental matters", Ollila said, enthusiastically.
"Looking at Finland from outside, there is not the kind of success-oriented spirit that there was in the 1990s. We would need that mentality. There is an overwhelming trend toward security here", Ollila said.
He feels that greater risk-taking is necessary if Finland is to achieve long-term growth above the "boring" 1.5 percent level.
"We need to seek out enterprise and support it, but existing companies also need to be in the front line of change, so that we do not just wait for what Asia and the United States come up with", Ollila said.
Society also needs to adapt to changes quickly, in Ollila’s view.
"In Finland of the 1990s, if a law was bad, it was changed."
He nevertheless praises the policy of tax cuts undertaken by the present government, which he feels have contributed significantly to Finland’s present economic strength and positive atmosphere.
However, he also feels that there is room to cut taxes for both middle, and high-income earners.
"The marginal taxation of an ordinary middle-income family is very tough, when we look at the joint impact of taxes and various supports. It needs to be brought down again. It is morally questionable for society to take away more than half of anyone’s income", Ollila said.
Ollila leaves his post as CEO of Nokia at the beginning of June. He will remain the company’s part-time Chairman of the Board. He is confident that the new generation of Nokia managers has sufficient courage to deal with tasks that lie ahead.
"I have not seen any sign that our people who are in their thirties and forties would be a soft or pampered generation. They are very aggressive and courageous. There is a fairly old tradition in this company of anticipating changes and reacting quickly. There is no need to worry about that", Ollila said.
Ollila feels that now is the right time for a generational change in Nokia. The inclusion of the Internet as part of mobile telephones is only the beginning, and the field is undergoing a great change.
He notes that board members who are now in their forties have worked with the Internet from its very beginning. "For them, the creation of new business models comes naturally."
In addition to the Internet, another major change in mobile telephony is the boom in mobile phones in developing countries, which will have a great influence on their possibilities for economic growth.
Ollila, who has headed Nokia for 14 years, does not want to make too far-reaching predictions. He notes that five years ago growth in the market for traditional mobile phones was thought to have been over. At that time, nobody predicted the boom that was about to happen in the Third World. Also, just a few years ago nobody believed that mobile phones would be used for e-mail.
"I would warn against too far-reaching predictions. People have a tendency to commit themselves to forecasts, and not to see changes", Ollila said.
In June Ollila will start as Chairman of the Board of the world’s third-largest oil company Shell. Having filled the world with mobile phones, he is now eager to look for solutions to the world’s energy problems.
"It is fantastic to be part of solving such a bundle of problems. It has a great significance for world economic growth, the poverty problem, and environmental matters", Ollila said, enthusiastically.
Helsingin Sanomat