MIKKO POUTANEN Business Meets Politics MIKKO POUTANEN Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2359 MIKKO POUTANEN Business Meets Politics Intertwined economic and political discursive structures in the case of Nokia in Finland AUT 2359 AUT MIKKO POUTANEN Business Meets Politics Intertwined economic and political discursive structures in the case of Nokia in Finland AKATEEMINEN VÄITÖSKIRJA Esitetään Tampereen yliopiston johtamiskorkeakoulun tiedekuntaneuvoston suostumuksella julkisesti tarkastettavaksi Tampereen yliopiston Linna-rakennuksen Väinö Linna -salissa, Kalevantie 5, Tampere, 6. päivänä huhtikuuta 2018 klo 12. UNIVERSITY OF TAMPERE MIKKO POUTANEN Business Meets Politics Intertwined economic and political discursive structures in the case of Nokia in Finland Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2359 Tampere University Press Tampere 2018 ACADEMIC DISSERTATION University of Tampere Faculty of Management Finland The originality of this thesis has been checked using the Turnitin OriginalityCheck service in accordance with the quality management system of the University of Tampere. Copyright ©2018 Tampere University Press and the author Cover design by Mikko Reinikka Acta Universitatis Tamperensis 2359 Acta Electronica Universitatis Tamperensis 1865 ISBN 978-952-03-0682-3 (print) ISBN 978-952-03-0683-0 (pdf) ISSN-L 1455-1616 ISSN 1456-954X ISSN 1455-1616 http://tampub.uta.fi Suomen Yliopistopaino Oy – Juvenes Print 441 729 Tampere 2018 Painotuote ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS As my career at Nokia drew to an end in 2012, it was time for a change. This was true for many ex-Nokians. In my case, however, that change included a plan that would take me back academia, six years after graduating. Rationally speaking the choice was not at all obvious: the funding structures of Finnish academia had become tight – today they are tighter still! – and after a six year break I would be competing for jobs and grants with younger scholars whose connection with the University had never been broken. This is not to say I hadn’t flirted with academia persistently during my Nokia career. I had presented a few papers at conferences at my own expense because it was fun. Working at Nokia had sparked an increasingly pressing interest in the combination of language and society, and the relationship of business and politics in particular. In that sense my experience in Nokia motivated me to think deeper and more critically about what was being said, why, and by whom. When I got a chance to reconnect with the academic community via the Sustainable Transformation (SUSTRA) project at Aalto University, it seemed clear enough that I would return to the University of Tampere. There was more for me yet to learn, and I also had a burning desire to talk about what I had learned – as many of my friends have found out, some to their pleasure and others to their chagrin. Going back to academia to pursue a PhD could be equated with what some would describe as a calling. It is not guided by rationality as much as it is guided by feeling. A feeling that this is the right thing to do, and that I have arrived at the right place, for me. While research and teaching are often endless time-sinks and sure- fire ways to develop crippling anxieties and inferiority-complexes, they are also immensely rewarding and enjoyable. Wanting to make academia a better place for everyone also channelled into me getting involved in trade union affairs and taking up a position as a shop steward at the University. Higher education deserves to be defended vigorously. However, I want to keep this positive and not tumble into a rant on education policy. So, instead, I wish to thank everyone who has been a part of this journey, the end-result of which you now hold in your hands. 3 I was lucky enough to be funded nearly throughout my PhD studies by the School of Management Doctoral School at the University of Tampere. This was a rare privilege. First and foremost, professor Tapio Raunio deserves my deepest thanks not only for being my supervisor throughout this process, but also for meeting with a prospective PhD student that had more enthusiasm than concrete plans. Tapio was also willing to trust me to handle my work and my studies my own way. Extremely averse to being micro-managed, this way of working suited me well. Thank you for all your support, Tapio. I also wish to offer my sincere thanks to Riku Ruotsalainen and Jouni Virtaharju, who took me on the SUSTRA project even though I was already leaving Nokia at the time. They saw some potential in me that gave me the confidence to seek an academic career. You guys pointed me in the right direction! The unique work community that is the degree programme for politics at the University of Tampere cannot be thanked enough for their support. Many colleagues are also good friends, and should be acknowledged accordingly. My roommates Hyeon Su and Michael Herman kept up an impressive range of office banter. Saara Särmä, Tiina Vaittinen, Mikko Lahtinen, Anni Kangas, Johanna Peltoniemi, Aki Luoto, Mikko Räkköläinen and so many more of my academic colleagues are an absolute pleasure to chat with – even if for my part I was too often venting my frustrations about the structural issues in Finnish academia. Tarja Seppä is still my go-to person when I have questions about teaching or pedagogy. Tapio Juntunen comes in as a close second, and teaching together with Tapio was a blast. Thank you all! I want to thank Aino Tiihonen and Josefina Sipinen for countless lunches over which various bones have been picked. Thank you to Maria Bäck and Elina Kestilä-Kekkonen for being the great colleagues you are. Elina also deserves special thanks for being instrumental in introducing me to my roommate at home, PhDoge Sixten Woofman. Maija Mattila deserves to be recognized as a colleague who has led by example, meaning that I became a shop steward after her at the University, and then the second vice-chair under Maija’s term as chairperson at Tatte, the local chapter of the Finnish Union of University Researchers and Teachers. Maija’s integrity is exceptional and her passion for social justice something I also aspire for. Thank you, Maija! I also want to thank Jarkko Toikkanen, the chairperson of Tatte in 2018 and my co-vice-chair in 2017. We keep on fighting the good fight! 4 Professor Katri Sieberg was among the first to welcome me back to the University, and I have enjoyed working with Katri ever since. Thank you, Katri! I am also grateful to Olli Herranen for stimulating discussions and for being a true comrade-in-arms in the trenches of Finnish academia. Katja Kontturi, we still have a paper to get published! I want to thank Michael Farrelly and Isabela Fairclough for being my pre- examiners. Their insightful comments improved on this research considerably. I look forward to any possibilities of working with them and many other international colleagues in the interpretative policy analysis field in the future. Michael also kindly agreed to be my opponent in the defence, and I am confident we will have an interesting discussion and a lively debate. Thanks to my other academic friends in different nations, but never that far away for an amusing or informative exchange. Peter Miller and Martin Lund, looking forward to seeing you again! Straddling between England and Finland, Timo Uotinen and Anna Rajala have provided camaraderie, challenging debates, and true, lasting friendship. Thank you. A massive collective thank you to my friends in Tampere who have tried to drag me out and have a life even when I locked myself up, writing. I have known many of you since I moved to Tampere, which has without a doubt become my home. Karita Kuosmanen, Elina Koivisto, and Sami Kuivasaari, we still have one more season of Game of Thrones to watch together! Thank you to the people at (or associated with) salsakoulu Vanha Havanna for keeping an aging academic spry! Thank you to Lauri Lunnikivi, Heli Seppälä, Tuomo Leinonen, Tatu Peistola and the rest of the MPT crew back in Hämeenlinna for always welcoming me back. Friendship does not require everyone to agree on all – or indeed, any – political issues. Thanks also to my friend and author Pasi Pekkola for being my friend for over thirty years. Finally, I want to thank my closest family. PhDoge Sixten Woofman’s positive influence on my spirits supersedes the occasional drawbacks of his… er… lively character. My brother, Pekka Poutanen had the unfortunate privilege of becoming my one-man call center when I walk the PhDoge late at night and need to vent about my day. Pekka is my brother and my best friend. Despite being an engineer, he has been nothing but supportive of my quest for academic glory in the social sciences. An incorrigible bibliophile, Pekka more than once tempted me with piles of quality fiction “to take my mind off the PhD” when I really needed to focus on work. A week spent vegetating at our summer cabin has become a thing I look forward to now every summer. Thank you, Pekka. 5 My mother, Ulla Poutanen has been there for me all my life. She has shown nothing but dedication to both of her sons since our father passed away in 2002. It is a warm feeling to know that I am always welcomed back home – for Christmas or just to unwind for a weekend. Even if we sometimes argue, we always make up soon afterwards. The deep appreciation I have for her goes unsaid far too often, as she kindly took over watching the PhDoge when I was nearing exhaustion at various points of the writing process.