Nokia (NYSE:NOK) Now Needs to Sell Employees

Peter Drucker would have applauded CEO Stephen Elop for moving in a new direction—but admonished him for not getting more buy-in from employees

Investors and technology watchers are trying to figure out whether Nokia (NYSE:NOK) has markedly improved, or furthered damaged, its position in the cutthroat mobile communications business. But it's the company's internal communications that Peter Drucker would have wondered most about.

Nokia announced last week that it planned to form an alliance under which it will use a Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) product as its primary operating system for smartphones. In going with Windows Phone 7, the Finnish company will largely leave behind its own Symbian operating system. By joining with Microsoft, Nokia also has elected to bypass other options, such as tapping Google's (NASDAQ:GOOG) Android software.

The partnership with Microsoft represents a dramatic shift for Nokia—and for good reason. The company's share of the smartphone market has deteriorated rapidly in the face of Android and Apple's (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone. In some crucial parts of the world, such as the U.S., Nokia is all but invisible.

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