The role of supportive linkages within the Nordic mobile telephone manufacturing industry : implications for Australian policy and management.

The Nordic countries, and most especially Finland and Sweden, have been international leaders in both mohile telephone penetration and mobile terminal and infrastructure manufacturing. Nokia and Ericsson are often discussed as world leaders in product design and innovation for both terminal and network infrastructure. Their success is the product of a long-term government focus on developing the mobile telecommunications industry as a whole, with a key policy aim of having an innovative manufacturing sector anchored within an advanced and demanding regional mobile telecommunications market. We examine here the policy and market environment in these countries that has supported the development of this highly vertically integrated and successful industry. To date, the literature has given some attention to the development of science parks, support of collaborative research that has supported both research and development and the development of a skilled labour market to assist the growth of firms. Less attention has been given to the success of government policies that have promoted the core technological competencies of firms in supranational forums (most notably the promotion of firm competencies in the GSM standard) and the positive impact of the deregulated competitive telecommunications market, especially in Finland. The Nordic industry is also quite vertically integrated in that a number of small, and medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute to its success. Two of these are examined in this paper. We draw conclusiom trom the policy environment of Finland and Sweden and develop recommendations for both the Commonwealth Government and state governments seeking to develop innovative and integrated national telecommunications industries. Further recommendations are drawn from successtul firms in the Nordic countries regarding the need for management to be responsive to a range of policy and market factors in their home markets should they wish to develop leading hardware and information services.