Kodak Downfall
Introduction:
Eastman Kodak Company- “You press the button, We do the rest”!!! Who could have missed the catchy advertising slogan of the company who pioneered in the fields of photography for more than130 years. The motto of the company had always been to develop and make simple products that are of good quality, long sustainability, easy accessibility and easy usage became the world’s archive for photographic images. It was responsible to have invented the very first handheld camera, introducing the common masses of America to the culture of capturing images and moments coined as the very famous “Kodak moments!”
Little was it known in 1880, that a small company that sold dry plates started by a high school dropout George Eastman would go on to become an iconic company known for its photographic images used in various scientific, medical, commercial and technical applications. It was Eastman’s goal not only to make photography a worthwhile leisurely experience for a common person in his daily life but also to give potentiality to the technical ease of communication of information and images within people and business, as he described that it should be “as convenient as the pencil”.
The company went on to dabble at new processes and products, soaring successfully at great heights and to mention a few inventions which would be pocket Kodak camera sold at $5 and brownie camera at $1in 1900, photographic chemicals, produced film for motion pictures which have said to have won 80 Best Picture awards, the iconic invention of digital camera in 1975, and further down the lane it sold digital printers, copiers, rolls, films, digital photo frames. Not to forget, Eastman Kodak takes sole creditability for the pictures from the moon on APOLLO 11 mission in 1969 was from a Kodak camera.
Backslide of Eastman Kodak Company:
The fall of the Eastman Kodak Company began slowly in the late 1990’s owing to financial struggle and cash drain at the demise of photographic films and
Eastman Kodak Company- “You press the button, We do the rest”!!! Who could have missed the catchy advertising slogan of the company who pioneered in the fields of photography for more than130 years. The motto of the company had always been to develop and make simple products that are of good quality, long sustainability, easy accessibility and easy usage became the world’s archive for photographic images. It was responsible to have invented the very first handheld camera, introducing the common masses of America to the culture of capturing images and moments coined as the very famous “Kodak moments!”
Little was it known in 1880, that a small company that sold dry plates started by a high school dropout George Eastman would go on to become an iconic company known for its photographic images used in various scientific, medical, commercial and technical applications. It was Eastman’s goal not only to make photography a worthwhile leisurely experience for a common person in his daily life but also to give potentiality to the technical ease of communication of information and images within people and business, as he described that it should be “as convenient as the pencil”.
The company went on to dabble at new processes and products, soaring successfully at great heights and to mention a few inventions which would be pocket Kodak camera sold at $5 and brownie camera at $1in 1900, photographic chemicals, produced film for motion pictures which have said to have won 80 Best Picture awards, the iconic invention of digital camera in 1975, and further down the lane it sold digital printers, copiers, rolls, films, digital photo frames. Not to forget, Eastman Kodak takes sole creditability for the pictures from the moon on APOLLO 11 mission in 1969 was from a Kodak camera.
Backslide of Eastman Kodak Company:
The fall of the Eastman Kodak Company began slowly in the late 1990’s owing to financial struggle and cash drain at the demise of photographic films and
Bibliography: Merced, Michael J. de.la,(2012)’Eastman Kodak Files for Bankruptcy’, New York Times, http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/01/19/eastman-kodak-files-for-bankruptcy/ Wall Street Journal(1985),“Kodak Facing Big Challenges in Bid to Change,” May 22, 1985. Williams,Sean(2011), ‘The Worst CEOs of 2011: Part 1’TheMotley Fool http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/12/09/the-worst-ceos-of-2011-part-1.aspx Christensen, C. 1997 The innovator 's dilemma: When new technologies cause great firms to fail. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Gavetti, G., Henderson, R., Giorgi, S., 2004. Kodak (A). HBS Publishing.