IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-02276713.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Explanations of success and failure in management learning : What can we learn from Nokia's rise and fall

Author

Listed:
  • Tomi Laamanen

    (EM - EMLyon Business School)

  • Juha-Antti Lamberg
  • Eero Vaara

Abstract

In this paper, we study the changing explanations of success and failure over the course of a firm's history. We build on a discursive approach that highlights the role of narrative attributions in making sense of corporate performance. Specifically, we analyze how the Nokia Corporation was framed first as a success and later as a failure and how these dimensions of performance were explained in various actors' narrative accounts. In both the success and failure accounts, our analysis revealed a striking black-and-white picture that resulted in the institutionalization of Nokia's metanarratives of success and failure. Our findings also reveal a number of discursive attributional tendencies; and thus warn of the cognitive and politically motivated biases that are likely to characterize management literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Tomi Laamanen & Juha-Antti Lamberg & Eero Vaara, 2016. "Explanations of success and failure in management learning : What can we learn from Nokia's rise and fall," Post-Print hal-02276713, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02276713
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-02276713
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-02276713/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki & Hermans, Raine, 2002. "Nokia in the Finnish Innovation System," Discussion Papers 811, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    2. Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki & Kalm, Matias & Pajarinen, Mika & Rouvinen, Petri & Seppälä, Timo & Tahvanainen, Antti-Jussi, 2013. "Microsoft Acquires Nokia: Implications for the Two Companies and Finland," ETLA Brief 16, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Constantin Bratianu & Shahrazad Hadad & Ruxandra Bejinaru, 2020. "Paradigm Shift in Business Education: A Competence-Based Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Juha-Antti Lamberg, 2019. "Ringtone: Exploring the rise and fall of Nokia in mobile phones," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(2), pages 292-294, March.
    3. Constantin Bratianu & Dan Florin Stanescu & Rares Mocanu, 2021. "Exploring the Knowledge Management Impact on Business Education," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-16, February.
    4. Hui, Kent N. & Hult, G. Tomas M. & Ketchen, David J., 2020. "Causal attribution for peer performance and international joint venture divestment," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 26(2).
    5. Syed Tariq Anwar, 2017. "Alibaba: Entrepreneurial growth and global expansion in B2B/B2C markets," Journal of International Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 366-389, December.
    6. Vecchiato, Riccardo, 2020. "Analogical reasoning, cognition, and the response to technological change: Lessons from mobile communication," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(5).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Palmberg, Christopher & Martikainen, Olli, 2003. "Overcoming a Technological Discontinuity - The Case of the Finnish Telecom Industry and the GSM," Discussion Papers 855, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    2. Bouwman, Harry & Carlsson, Christer & Carlsson, Joanna & Nikou, Shahrokh & Sell, Anna & Walden, Pirkko, 2014. "How Nokia failed to nail the Smartphone market," 25th European Regional ITS Conference, Brussels 2014 101414, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    3. Carl J. Dahlman & Jorma Routti & Pekka Ylä-Anttila, 2006. "Finland as a Knowledge Economy : Elements of Success and Lessons Learned," World Bank Publications - Books, The World Bank Group, number 7138, December.
    4. Hyytinen, Ari & Kuosa, Ilkka & Takalo, Tuomas, 2001. "Law or Finance: Evidence from Finland (Revised version 25.09.2002))," Discussion Papers 775, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    5. Ari Hyytinen & Iikka Kuosa & Tuomas Takalo, 2003. "Law or Finance: Evidence from Finland," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 59-89, July.
    6. Luukkonen, Terttu, 2006. "Venture Capital Industry in Finland - Country Report for the Venture Fun Project," Discussion Papers 1003, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    7. Ali-Yrkkö, Jyrki & Kuusi, Tero, 2018. "Impacts of the Largest Export Guaranteed Operations in Finland," ETLA Brief 72, The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy.
    8. Ron A. Boschma & Markku Sotarauta, 2007. "Economic policy from an evolutionary perspective: the case of Finland," International Journal of Entrepreneurship and Innovation Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(2/3/4/5), pages 156-173.
    9. Malin Brännback & Alan Carsrud, 2008. "Do They See What We See?: A Critical Nordic Tale About Perceptions Of Entrepreneurial Opportunities, Goals And Growth," Journal of Enterprising Culture (JEC), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 16(01), pages 55-87.
    10. Karl Aiginger, 2003. "A Three Tier Strategy for Successful European Countries in the Nineties," WIFO Working Papers 205, WIFO.
    11. Mainela, Tuija & Puhakka, Vesa & Sipola, Sakari, 2018. "International entrepreneurship beyond individuals and firms: On the systemic nature of international opportunities," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 33(4), pages 534-550.
    12. Karl Aiginger, 2004. "The three tier strategy followed by successful European countries in the 1990s," International Review of Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(4), pages 399-422.
    13. Anderson, Thomas & Formica, Piero, 2010. "Building long term strategies and public-private alliances for export development: the Finnish case," Comercio Internacional 4328, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-02276713. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.