The Leader - November/December 2008 - (Page 40)

I N SI D E NO K IA S I E M ENS N ETWOR KS’ J OI N T VEN TU R E: PETE R D O RAN BUI LDS THE ‘ ANYTIME , ANYW HERE ’ WO RK CULTURE FINLAND: THE ENTRANCE TO NSN’S FACILITY IN KARAPORTTI, FINLAND. anywhere’ workplace culture,” Doran points out. “Two years later, we’re living our values but still have a way to go to build the NSN culture.” A big part of the change initiative is being responsive to the CEO’s “Git ‘er done” or “Can-do” mandate based on the critical difference that “CRE is a supporter of the business more than CRE is a support function,” as Doran describes it. “Real estate has pledged to deliver synergies to the corporation.” Here’s how the workplace strategy is playing out: As an end-to-end high-tech business solutions provider, NSN depends on being agile and adapting to rapid change. Shorter lead times and development cycles demand more ﬂexibility and collaboration. High-quality project teams are often dispersed, underscoring the need for effective communication regardless of location. “That’s why our people need ﬂexible working environments that enable people to connect,” Doran explains, at the same time implying the leveraging of the company’s external brand and product line to improve internal operations. NSN’s new Modern Ofﬁce concept is the centerpiece of the company’s drive to increase collaboration, innovation and, ultimately, competitive positioning. Real estate and workplace at NSN are very much aligned with the business strategy. Instilling the Competitive Edge “Modern Ofﬁce provides a variety of work settings for speciﬁc activities, from informal collaborative areas to quiet rooms,” says Doran. “It’s designed to support interaction, networking and mobility.” In other words, it’s a “highly ﬂexible ofﬁce environment that gives you the opportunity to choose the most suitable work setting for any given task, whether it requires concentration or collaboration with other individuals,” Doran summarizes. The model must be making headway. That’s because as a largely business-tobusiness driven enterprise, NSN now serves 1,400 enterprise customers largely in the Mobile Virtual Network Operators, or MVNO, market niche. That accounts for about one-billion of the ﬁve-billion individuals the business is aiming to reach in the next seven years. That’s one reason why scalability of the business – and of CRE and workplace services – is also an important factor for future success. “Beyond our obvious focus on synergies, we are committed to an evolution in how agile and scalable our services are,” Doran adds. For the largely-outsourced CRE support platform Doran oversees, the ability to add to, or subtract from, the 400 – 450 full-time contracted staff is also crucial. So much, that he refers to service provider partners like Cushman & Wakeﬁeld, which handles NSN transactions, as “trusted advisors” and “collaborators.” The combined internal and external team takes a “business relationship management” perspective, instead of referring to the business interface as client relations management, he adds. “Everything we can do to increase our speed of delivery, our provision of inspiring and innovating work environments, our adoption of technology and our integration with other support functions like Security, Purchasing, IT and HR,” Doran insists, “we are doing.” It’s a commitment fueled by the continuous exchange of best practices across the NSN operating and client platform that includes corporate customers like T-Mobile and Vodafone. Couching everything that CRE and workplace are doing in business terms is one thing, but practicing that linkage requires a whole new skill set beyond CRE, he con- 2 0 0 8 TH E LE ADER 40 NOVEMBER / DECEMBER

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of The Leader - November/December 2008

The Leader - November/December 2008 Leadership Contents Message from the CEO Real Estate in the News Leveraging Business Geography My Work @ Bank of America Blending the Old with the New A Tool for Growth Creating Real Estate Value Nokia-Siemens Networks’ Peter Doran DTZ’s James Maddock Annual Economic Development Directory The Georgia Report Location Profile: Magdeburg, Germany Linking Corporate Real Estate to the Enterprise 3rd Quarter 2008 Adding Value in Challenging Times Australia and New York Shell’s Paul Huston Economic Development in the News A Look Ahead In our Next Issue Calendar of Seminars Index of Advertisers Chapter Learning: The Global Perspective

The Leader - November/December 2008

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