Color film was an … Kodak is a giant pop-up shop which supplies film (and still does, e.g. The facts are dramatic. They hired CEOs from outside the company to fight complacency and ensure different thinking. At its peak in the 1990s Kodak employed 70,000 people and had revenues of 16 $B and profits of 2.5 $B. They kept listening to their customers and trying to build on their strengths – usually great things to do but not when you are facing disruptive innovation. Everyone is asking themselves the same question, now, after the fact. He has acted as host or MC at Awards Dinners. The company was founded by George Eastman in 1888. She describes a hypothetical conversation between a Kodak executive and an early digital evangelist: “I see. It is easy for the outside observer with the benefit of hindsight to be smug and critical of the Kodak board and its strategy. Rebecca Henderson who, ironically, was the Eastman Kodak Professor at MIT Sloan School put the problem well. So What Exactly Should Kodak Have Done? You can change your cookie choices and withdraw your consent in your settings at any time. Lv 7. These cookies enable us and third parties to track your Internet navigation behavior on our website and potentially off of our website. Maybe there was no smart way out. I have argued before that much of this decline was inevitable and that Kodak did more than many other film companies in order to meet the digital challenge (read more here). They hired CEOs from outside the company to fight complacency and ensure different thinking. It rose to a totally dominant position and was much admired as a technology and business leader. 5 Safe Platforms to Trade Your Cryptocurrency, Still Not Using A Payroll Software? Over the course of more than a century, Kodak and a small number of its competitors had developed and refined manufacturing processes that enabled consumers to capture and preserve images for a lifetime. So What Exactly Should Kodak Have Done? Like a “pop-up” shop, it should have popped back down. The answer is no. Between 1982 and 2001 Kodak spent more than $20 billion on R&D averaging about 6% of revenues. What should they have done differently? The contractor that built the solid fuel engines recommended not to launch after sub-freezing temps and they had no idea if the o-rings would hold up or not. Paul is a professional keynote conference speaker and expert facilitator on innovation and lateral thinking. Copyright © BBN TIMES. admin November 2, 2015 Success Stories Done, Exactly, Kodak, should admin. How to Actually Use Empathy To Be a Successful Leader, Sending the Signals of Leadership Presence, 5 Cost-Effective Branding Strategies for Small Businesses. We should have figured out if we could have made money with Modabound early on. As Kodak's troubles mounted, and it laid off almost 55,000 local workers, he saw its stock decline from almost $90 a share to $.20. By continuing your use of this website, you consent to this use of cookies and similar technologies. All rights reserved. You’re warning us that we’ll run into serious organizational problems as we make this investment, and our current business is screaming for resources. They kept listening to their customers and trying to build on their strengths – usually great things to do but not when you are facing disruptive innovation. The entire mindset of business is different, the business models are different, the history and culture of the companies is … The how's and why's and what's will hopefully be figured out in some sort of select task force that will provide recommendations for the next time around. Kodak CEO Perez talks about the IP and how valuable they are. 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