Kodak's little yellow film packages became one of the world's most recognized brands which was Founded

by inventor and philanthropist George Eastman in 1879. Indeed for much of the twentieth century Kodak was an American industrial icon. Since the turn of the century however, the fortunes of the once mighty photographic firm have plummeted. Kodak Strategy based on caseIn 2003, CEO Daniel carp revealed 4 pillars Strategy included managing the traditional film business, leading in distributed output, Growing the digital capture business and Expanding digital imaging services By early 2012 Kodak's shares were trading at around 40 cents, down from $40-45 just seven years earlier. The NYSE even went as far as to warn the company that it risked being delisted. So where did it go wrong? Reason for Failure of Kodak was; That its Core competency became core rigidities. Kodak had been short of market research Late mover of digital photography Innovation and transformation Unwillingness to change It missed the digital revolution or simply that the ubiquity of digital cameras made photographic film redundant. Even when digital cameras reached the consumer market in the mid- to late-1990s, some of Kodak's early models vied with models from Olympus and Sony for top-selling spots. In fact, the early cameras made by Canon, the current global leader in digital cameras lagged well behind those of Kodak in terms of consumer acceptance as well as critical reviews. Kodak's failure to adapt to the new technology stands in stark contrast to Fanuc's case because Kodak had greater resources in terms of its brand reputation, its finances and its technological prowess in digital imaging. Kodak's failure lay in its strongly inward focus. Although it was a pioneer in the technical aspects of digital imaging, it lacked skills in areas such as lens making and manufacturing (making efficient and reliable electronic devices) to successfully commercialize products based on its innovations in digital imaging. The question rises why did Kodak fail to achieve the integration of external and internal knowledge? After all, Kodak was for decades a greatly admired company which owned an iconic brand. It had mastered all aspects of the film business including R&D, manufacturing, marketing and worldwide distribution.

The answer lies in the quality of management. Unlike Fanuc which had the towering figure of Dr Inaba, a key scientist in his field of robotics and numerical controls; in its effort to provide the visions needed to adapt to the new technologies and then lead the world market, Kodak went through a number of CEOs it is on its fourth CEO since 1990. The short tenure of each CEO made working towards a distant goal of industry leadership in the fast evolving technology of digital imaging rather difficult. Very often, when CEOs change, they bring new priorities and the pursuit of a distant goal can be easily 'misplaced' in these reshuffles, or, worse yet, the goals themselves may be changed. Kodak also went through numerous restructurings which were traumatic for the employees and sometimes also taking it into unfamiliar and hypercompetitive markets such as printers, again diluting its focus. Current Strategy: Outsourcing Manufacturing Huge invest in digital technology Spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build up a high-margin printer ink business to replace shriveling film sales Aggressive patent litigation in order to generate revenue Expand current brand licensing program Recommendation Discontinue unprofitable products Change middle to high-level management Launch new and innovative product Move to another business segment such as movie and entertainment Focus on high potential products Kiosks and mini-lab Online services such as photo printing and sharing Emphasize on niche market i.e. medical market and professional Lessons we can learn: External environment can be deceiving Change happens Greatest strength can be weakness Innovation is not the perfect solution