Nokia’s CEO is no longer ’made-in-Finland’. But if you take a look at the rest of the management team, you will see a lot of ä’s and ö’s. In other words, the company is still firmly in Finnish hands.

The Nokia Group Executive Board has nine members. There are three non-Finns (Elop, McDowell and Torres) and six Finns. Three of the Finns have ä’s and ö’s in their names. Tero Ojanperä is still ok for a non-Finnish speaker. But how do you pronounce Öistämö or Äkräs? I am sure quite a few Nokia customers have struggled with the right pronounciation.

The Board of Directors is more international. The majority (five out of nine members) is made up of non-Finns. And only one Finn has an ö in his name!