Finnish defence company Patria under fire
Following the murder of a Finnish businessman in Uganda the state-owned Finnish defence company Patria has fired three of its managers. The businessman had been given permission to market Patria products in Uganda. Finnish media take the company to task.
Company must be more transparent
Patria really needs to work on its strategy and communications, Savon Sanomat advises:
“Once again the state-owned company's management has said little on this awkward issue. ... Patria only admitted what was already known. The key question is still whether this was an isolated case of an independent businessman being allowed to explore a new market or an at least tacitly accepted regular practice. The fact that an export permit probably wouldn't have been granted for Uganda anyway makes it more likely that the whole thing was a mistake. ... Patria's CEO Olli Isotalo promised on Wednesday that the company would correct its procedures by transferring responsibility for country assessments from the sales division to the management level. That's good, but above all the company's activities need to be made more transparent.”
A lack of common sense
Patria can't afford to make such mistakes, Pohjalainen tut-tuts:
“One human life, at least three dismissals and a huge dent in the armour of the defence company Patria are a high price to pay for a mistake that could have been prevented right from the start. ... As the CEO admitted to the media, Patria is active in an 'extremely sensitive' sector. Practices and procedures must be given careful thought and correspond to the chosen strategy. That was not the case at Patria. ... Patria will now try to prevent further mistakes by scrutinising its operating procedures and improving communications and dialogue. ... What the CEO could not promise, however, is that no more mistakes will be made. He should though.”