Reply to Industry evolution and change Discussion 1

Reply to Industry evolution and change Discussion 1

Q – Please read the discussion below and prepare a Reply to this discussion post with comments that further and advance the discussion topic.

Discussion

In the early 20th century, Kodak was consider a titan in the photography industry, it turned a professional only craft to a common craft with their slogan “you push the button, we will do the rest” (Grant, 2016). However, by the end of the 20th century, the photography industry has evolved with new competition and innovation breakthroughs, some of these evolutions in the phtography industry were film advancement and digital revolution. in terms of film advancement, Kodak failed to adapt to the new cameras that involved smaller cameras, faster processing time, which led to better ways to capture images. A few years later, the digital revolution began with the invention of digital sensors and memory cards which offered significant advantages (Lucan et al. 2009). Digital cameras allowed for instant image preview, eliminated film costs, and enabled easier sharing and editing. This fundamentally changed how pictures were taken, viewed, and stored. Kodak failed to adapt to the new evolving market, they have made bets by focusing on films and missed the opportunity to become a leader in the digital photography, by the time Kodak entered the market, the competition was way a head of them.

Kodak’s struggle to transition to digital photography aligns with a period of maturity or stagnation in the traditional film photography industry life cycle. Kodak recognized the digital revolution but remained heavily invested in film, their core business. They didn’t fully commit to digital development early enough, fearing it would cannibalize their film profits (Yuzawa, 2018). This hesitation allowed competitors to dominate the digital market during a crucial stage the growth phase of digital photography. In essence, Kodak was stuck in a mature film market while the future of photography was blossoming in the growth stage of digital technology. Their inability to adapt to this external disruption ultimately led to their decline. 

The strategies employed by Kodak to the changing environment are based on incremental approach, which is a step-by-step approach to transition the company from analogue to digtal technologies, along with focusing on rapid prototyping, flexible manufacturing processes, and puting value based on solutions. In the beginning of the 21st century Kodak focused on emphasizing simplicity and ease of use to consumers, calling back to their founding slogan “you push the button, we do the rest”, Kodak produced the EasyShare gallary which is a one stop shop for all consumer photography needs which proved successful (Vinokurova, 2022). However, by the end of the 2000s, the competition has innovated new products which made the EasyShare obsolete. The strategy worked for the early 2000s, but failed to evolve with the chaning needs of consumers in the late 2000s.

In my opinion, Kodak should have evolved their incremental approach strategy to meet the needs of their customers, with a focus on new and emerging technologies, such as cloud computing and services, calling back their slogan “you push the button, we will do the rest”, which would have been perfect for this industry. However, I recognize that this big of a shift in core business would cause major changes, but with the incremental approach strategy, which proved successful before, the shift is possible in my opinion.

Kodak’s lack of organizational ambidexterity significantly hampered its ability to manage strategic change and respond to disruptive technologies. Organizational ambidexterity refers to a company’s ability to excel at both exploration, developing new products, technologies, exploitation, and optimizing existing products and processes (Gershon, 2013). This allows them to balance short-term profitability with long-term innovation. Kodak’s lack of ambidexterity meant they were stuck in a cycle of exploiting a mature technology. They failed to explore and develop digital technology effectively, ultimately leading to their decline in the face of disruption. 

References:

Grant, S. (2016). Case 8 Eastman Kodak’s Quest for a Digital Future. In book. Contemporary Strategy Analysis. Wiley.

Lucas Jr, H. C., & Goh, J. M. (2009). Disruptive technology: How Kodak missed the digital photography revolution. The Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 18(1), 46-55.

Yuzawa, T. (2018). The digital revolution and business behaviour: the case of Kodak versus Fujifilm. Entreprises et histoire, (1), 37-50.

Vinokurova, N., & Kapoor, R. (2022). Kodak’s Surprisingly Long Journey Towards Strategic Renewal: A Half Century of Exploring Digital Transformation in the Face of Uncertainty and Inertia.

Gershon, R. A. (2013). Innovation Failure: A Case Study Analysis of Eastman Kodak and Blockbuster Inc. In Media management and economics research in a transmedia environment (pp. 62-84). Routledge.