Case Study Of Kodak

Though Kodak has mostly been known for its historic role in photography, the company has served imaging needs of numerous industries since the early 1900s. Kodak’s current portfolio is based on deep technological expertise developed over the years in materials science, deposition (e.g., precisely depositing thin coatings onto substrates or backings), and digital imaging science. Using this expertise, the company that delivered the first roll film, the first electronic color separation scanner to prepare images for printing, the first cameras to go to the moon, and the first digital camera, is now delivering leading solutions for today’s business customers.

The initial success story of Kodak came from its internal culture, guiding principles the company was based on: mass production at low cost, international distribution, extensive advertising, customer focus and growth through continuous research. Also, Kodak was focused on the quality of its products and made it as a fighting argument. They focused on marketing and advertising and even thought competitors could offer better products, there was no need for customers to pay for enhanced products. Company set industry standards in terms of photo finishing process and became benchmark for other players on the market. They used razor-blade strategy, which enabled to get more profit by film sales; cameras were sold at low costs but growth of the company was mainly stipulated by film sales. Therefore the fact that digital photography will replace traditional photography in the future was not at all good for Kodak, since it was making most of its sales on films.

From the beginning Kodak used sustaining innovation strategy. Innovations were incremental. Kodak issued new products, but t...

... middle of paper ...

...me point come true. Digital photography has cannibalized film photography. Digital photography is at the era of dominant design nowadays, deigns are standardized and only incremental innovations are made. Lots of innovations are made in mobile phone business and photo cameras are at some degree already replaced by mobile phones. Cell phones themselves were disruptive innovation. Mobile phone producers are making innovations and adding new features every 6 months on average. So the pace of technological changes are really fast. Mobile phones will not completely substitute cameras, but still the cause and effect would be high. I guess in the future cameras will be attractive only for niche markets and it will not catch the mainstream. In order to avoid this, companies like Kodak should initiate new innovation strategies in order to create value for its consumers.