Kodak vs. Fujifilm
Kodak and Fujifilm
What causes a company to declare bankruptcy? This is what most business entrepreneurs fear the most something they work so hard for to fail. There are ways to mitigate the risk of starting a business and ways to save one that is failing. Eastman Kodak Company is a large multinational company that has recently filed for bankruptcy. Exploring what has gone wrong with their business plan and how their competitor Fuji Films has gotten that equation right can help larger corporations like them in the future. We can evaluate their performance by looking at all aspects of these companies from their history, approach to management in order to embrace innovation, management aspects that have differed within each corporation, and evaluate their approach’s to ethical and social responsibilities. This paper will also discuss how their managers adapted to changing market conditions, and recommend ways any company should build in flexibility to back up their decision-making processes to adapt to changes. George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak Co. in 1888. Mr. Eastman developed the first simple camera that could be used by consumers. Mr. Eastman was a high school dropout and came from a poor childhood background. His gift with business however lied within organization and management, and his inventive mind helped him become a successful entrepreneur while in his twenties. Mr. Eastman had changed the development of film from glass plates to a flexible film. He believed that most photography business’s would jump at the opportunity to use the lighter easier to use cameras and film but he soon found out that was not the case. In order to have his business grow he realized that he needed to reach the general public not just the large photography firms. George Eastman’s first slogan “You press the button, we do the rest.” Helped him become recognized with in a year (Eastman Kodak Company 2012). Fuji Films however was founded many years later in 1934. They
What causes a company to declare bankruptcy? This is what most business entrepreneurs fear the most something they work so hard for to fail. There are ways to mitigate the risk of starting a business and ways to save one that is failing. Eastman Kodak Company is a large multinational company that has recently filed for bankruptcy. Exploring what has gone wrong with their business plan and how their competitor Fuji Films has gotten that equation right can help larger corporations like them in the future. We can evaluate their performance by looking at all aspects of these companies from their history, approach to management in order to embrace innovation, management aspects that have differed within each corporation, and evaluate their approach’s to ethical and social responsibilities. This paper will also discuss how their managers adapted to changing market conditions, and recommend ways any company should build in flexibility to back up their decision-making processes to adapt to changes. George Eastman founded Eastman Kodak Co. in 1888. Mr. Eastman developed the first simple camera that could be used by consumers. Mr. Eastman was a high school dropout and came from a poor childhood background. His gift with business however lied within organization and management, and his inventive mind helped him become a successful entrepreneur while in his twenties. Mr. Eastman had changed the development of film from glass plates to a flexible film. He believed that most photography business’s would jump at the opportunity to use the lighter easier to use cameras and film but he soon found out that was not the case. In order to have his business grow he realized that he needed to reach the general public not just the large photography firms. George Eastman’s first slogan “You press the button, we do the rest.” Helped him become recognized with in a year (Eastman Kodak Company 2012). Fuji Films however was founded many years later in 1934. They