FY028 Inquiry Project: Why Kodak Failed - A Comprehensive Report

This report investigates the reasons behind Kodak's failure in the market, attributing it primarily to the company's inability to adapt to changing market conditions and technological advancements. It highlights Kodak's initial success as an innovator in photography but emphasizes its subsequent failure to capitalize on the digital revolution. The report discusses Kodak's investments in small companies as a misstep, contrasting it with the importance of research and development in meeting customer needs. It also examines the competitive landscape, SWOT analysis, and PESTLE analysis to provide a comprehensive understanding of Kodak's downfall. The report concludes with recommendations for businesses to prioritize innovation, customer focus, and adaptability to avoid similar failures, emphasizing the importance of understanding market trends and investing in research and development to maintain a competitive edge. Desklib offers a wide range of similar solved assignments and past papers for students.

Report research why Kodak
failed

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The present report is based on the study of How Kodak Failed within the market. The
present report has been able to determine that the major cause of failure of the Kodak was due to
the inability of the organization to adapt to change within the market. It also determines that the
in order to expand the business and diversify the business offerings of the company, the Kodak
planned to acquire the small business organizations. But, the Kodak failed to identify that if the
company will conduct the research and development within the same field and provide the
customers with effective products it will help the organization in increasing its profitability and
growth within the market.

Table of Contents
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................2
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
Significance of the chosen research.............................................................................................4
History of Kodak.........................................................................................................................4
Areas of Failure...........................................................................................................................5
Current trends and competition at that time................................................................................6
SWOT analysis of Kodak............................................................................................................7
PESTLE analysis of Kodak.........................................................................................................7
Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
The present report is based on the study of Why Kodak Failed. The present report aims to
determine the major reasons behind the failure of Kodak as a brand within the market. It aims to
determine the areas where the company was lacking and what led to its downfall within the
market. The Eastman Kodak Company is an American company which is headquartered in
Rochester, New York, United Stated. The Kodak was founded in the year 1888 by George
Eastman and Henry A. Strong. The Kodak used to offer a wide range of products to the
customers which includes consumer computer printers, commercial printers, cameras,
photographic film and many more. Earlier, the Kodak made a huge amount of profit but as the
use of technology rose within the market, the profits of the company begin to fall. Therefore, the
present report aims to determine the reasons leading to a downfall of the company.
MAIN BODY
Significance of the chosen research
The major reason behind conducting this research is to determine the due to which many
a times successful companies also fail within the market. The Kodak was one of the most
successful companies within the marketing during the time when it introduced its business within
the marketplace. It was the first company who launched cameras within the market. However,
the company failed in the coming years. Therefore, the present study has been conducted to
determine the reasons which leads to decline of profitability and growth of a successful company
(Satell, 2018). In order to conduct the study, the information available on websites, journals and
books with respect to the subject of the study has been used.
History of Kodak
The Kodak company launched its business in the year 1888 and was recognized as the
innovator of photography all over the world. The headquarters of the company were set up in the
New York, United States of America. The made effective use of innovative ideas during the year
1989 and invented the first transparent photographic film. The company launched the Kodak
cameras in the year 1988 (Karami, 2019). The Kodak cameras used to come with a preloaded roll
of paper film which was capable of filming at least 100 photographs from the same. The
company saw a huge success from the year 1900 to 1930. During this time, everyone wanted to
have a camera and click pictures accordingly. During this phase, there was a craze among the

audience all over the world with respect to the concept of clicking pictures as it provided the
public with an advantage of revisiting their old memories.
Since, the Kodak cameras were gaining popularity among the public across the globe but
the company wanted to enhance its profitability by innovating the product and enhancing the
customer experience with the company. Therefore, the Kodak launched Kodachrome cameras.
These were coloured cameras and these cameras proved themselves to the first successful
colourful camera within the market. These cameras were available to the general public within
various forms which included 8mm, 16 mm and 35 mm.
Over a period of time, the organization explored its business offerings and diversified the
business operations of the organization. The company made effective use of patent imaging
technology in order to in order to expand the business operations of the company and increased
their product offerings within the market by providing the customers with the modern x ray,
radiographic imaging which includes CT and MRI scans. The company also tried to provide the
customers with Digital cameras over a period of time as it has been determined that the
emergence of technology was taking place during those years. The company believed that it was
moving at fast pace in terms of technology but the company was wrong as it was lagging behind
a lot as compared to a lot of competitors within the market. The Sony and Cannon launched the
digital cameras way before, they were launched by the Kodak within the market.
Areas of Failure
It has been determined that initially when the Kodak launched the cameras within the
market, it was successful in grabbing the attention of a large audience within the market. this was
possible because, it was determined that the concept of taking pictures in those years was
completely new (Lange, and Kettani, 2019). People learned to know about a product within the
market which was different and it had the capability of capturing a memory and revisiting the
same as and when it was required. This helped in the organization in gaining a lot of popularity
during those years. However, it has been determined the Kodak failed to grab a number of
opportunities which were being developed in the market. The reasons which contributed to the
failure of the Kodak within the market has been explained below:
Not adapting to change
One of the major factor which led to the failure of the Kodak within the market was not adapting
to change. The market needs and demands of the consumers were changing rapidly at that time

and the use and need of technology in different was also rising rapidly. The Kodak company
failed to determine the needs of the market and did not provide the customers with digital
camera. The other brands took the advantage of the same, and started to launch digital cameras
and phones which has a wide range of features within themselves. This helped the competitors of
Kodak in attracting the customers of Kodak towards their business and affected the profitability
of the Kodak.
Investments in small companies
In order to expand the business operations of the organization, the Kodak decided to
invest its funds into small business organizations which could help the Kodak in increasing their
reach and diversify their offerings (Karami, 2019). But, the Kodak failed to realise that
determining to the needs of the customers within the market and providing them with what they
want will help the company much more as compared to acquiring the business of other
organizations within the market. This was another factor which contributed to the failure of
Kodak company within the market.
Late entry into digital offerings
The company provided the customers with the digital cameras but it was very late in
catering to the needs of the customers within the market. By the time when Kodak launched the
digital cameras, the companies such as canon and Sony already attracted the customers by
providing them with the same.
Current trends and competition at that time
The major competitors of Kodak during that time was founded to be Canon, Epson,
Fujifilm and Nikon.
During that time, the Kodak launched coloured cameras within the market in order to
attract the consumers towards the products offered by the Kodak. However, the customers of the
organization started to realise that the quality of the coloured cameras were inferior to the quality
which Kodak provided to the customers with black and white cameras within the market. This
affected the brand reputed of the Kodak within the market place (Dutta, ). Similarly, gradually
with time the use of technology began to rise and various brands such as canon and Nikon began
to provide their customers with enhanced cameras which had various features within themselves
such as filming with HD video quality, taking digital pictures and many more of such features
were provided by the competitors of the Kodak at that point of time. The competitors of Kodak

made effective use of technology in order to grab the attention of the customers towards their
brand and provide them with enhanced quality features within the marketplace. However, it has
been determined that the Kodak failed to grab these opportunities. The Kodak did not made use
of technology in order to enhance its current offerings to compete with other brands in the
market. This affected the profitability of the Kodak and by that time, the Kodak as a company
began to decline within the market.
SWOT analysis of Kodak
Strengths
 Wide product portfolio including cameras, medical and x ray films, graphic art and
microfilming equipment (Dutta, 2018).
 Trained workforce
 Effective after sales services
Weaknesses
 Lack of vision which led to the downfall of the company
 No online stores even when the company had good market reputation.
 Unable to determine the needs of the customers.
Opportunities
 Adapt to the use of innovative digital technology in order to make the business successful
once again.
 Determine the needs of the customers and cater to them accordingly.
Threats
 High competition.
 Product substitution.
PESTLE analysis of Kodak
Political factors
It has been noticed that within the last two decades, the taxes within the USA have been
decreased. This has resulted in the benefit of the Kodak company. This has helped the company
in retaining its existing profits and use the same for the purpose of conducting research and
development which could help the company in expanding globally.
Economic factors

The competencies and skills of the existing workforce within the USA is moderate. The
Kodak company can hire the employees and work with them on their skill development and use
that for the benefits of the organization within the country and enhance the growth and
development of the organization.
Social factors
The Kodak company should make effective use of the social factors and should consider
the needs and preference of the customers’ existing within the market (Ayres, 2021). The ability
to determine the needs of the customers and cater to their needs by providing them with effective
products within the market will help the organization in attracting them towards the brand.
Technological factors
The major reason which led to a decline of the company within the market was not
adapting to the technology during the time of emergence of technology. Therefore, the Kodak
should have made effective use of technology in order to provide the customers with what they
want rather than providing them with traditional cameras.
Legal factors
When the Kodak will expand its operations globally, it must ensure that the laws and
regulations of each and every nation is different and therefore, should comply to them before
entering the international market.
Environmental factors
The Kodak should understand the fact that in order to enhance its growth and
development, it must ensure that its business operations do not harm the environment and
therefore, should implement the use of sustainable technology (Atteridge, and Strambo, 2021).
Recommendations
Since, the company failed to cater to the needs of the public during that phase, however,
the organization should have taken into consideration the following.
 Focus on the research and development within the camera industry. This would have
helped the company in determining what the others are doing and what they are doing
within the market. If the Kodak would have provided the customers with effective
technology based products within the market, it would have helped them in expanding
their business.

 If the Kodak was able to determine the needs and wants of the customers in terms of
technology and provided them with their requirement, the organization would not have
failed within the market.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that the major reason which contributed to the
failure of the Kodak company from the markets was the inability of the organization to
determine to the needs of the customers and inability to adapt to the changing market conditions
in terms of technology. The present report discusses about the history of the Kodak and the
factors which led to its decline. The current report also discusses the macro environmental
factors of the organization in today’s world.

REFERENCES
Books and journals
Atteridge, A. and Strambo, C., 2021. Closure of the Kodak plant in Rochester, United States.
Ayres, R.U., 2021. Photography and Movies. In The History and Future of Technology (pp. 397-
423). Springer, Cham.
Dutta, S.K., 2018. Strategic Change and Transformation: managing renewal in organizations.
Routledge.
Dutta, S.K., Strategic Change and Transformation.
Hassan, H.A. and Galal-Edeen, G.H., 2018. A Business Enterprise Resilience Model to Address
Strategic Disruptions. Enterprise Risk Management. 4(1). pp.15-34.
Karami, N., 2019. Review of Kodak’s Strategic Management of Technology. Why Kodak
Failed?.
Lange, T. and Kettani, H., 2019. On Security Challenges of Future Technologies. J.
Commun.. 14(11). pp.1002-1008.
Satell, G., 2018. How Blockbuster, Kodak and Xerox Really Failed (It’s Not What You
Think). Inc. Recuperado de https://www. inc. com.
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