NOKIA used to tell customers it was good at connecting people.

A new boss is dialling himself into the hot seat at the technology company, and he appears to be connecting people on his payroll with a version of shock and awe.

Quite how his tactics, first revealed a couple of weeks ago in an “all staff” email that was surely written to be leaked, will play out remains to be seen.

At the height of Nokia’s successful assault on the global mobile market, much was made of the culture of the company owing much to Finland, the country of its origin.

Innovation, entrepreneurship, corporate social responsibility – all featured pretty high in the corporation’s checklist as it grew to a position of some prominence around the world.

All that has now changed, and so too, it appears, is the way the business is being run.

Stephen Elop’s “outspoken” email said the firm is in crisis.

Having caught their attention with that lively intro, he got into his stride, describing Nokia as a company standing on a “burning platform” surrounded by innovative competitors grabbing market share. Nokia had been caught off guard by the success of Google’s Android operating system and Apple’s iPhone.

It may not go down as a textbook example of a motivational address. “The first iPhone shipped in 2007 and we still don’t have a product that is close to their experience. Android came on the scene just over two years ago, and now they have taken our leadership position in smartphone volumes. Unbelievable,” he wrote.

He has a point. But the jury may still be out on how he chose to make it.

Nokia’s share of the global smartphone market fell from 38% to 28% last year.

Meanwhile, rivals have seen their share increase or remain constant.

There’s more bad news at the lower end of the market, where Chinese products are squeezing Nokia.

“They are fast, they are cheap and they are challenging us,” wrote Mr Elop.

So, having arrived in his new job, had a look round and reached his initial conclusion, Nokia’s new man has told it as he sees it.

Whether he has connected with people like his investors and staff remains to be seen. And his analysis will have cheered up Nokia’s rivals.