Final project

1

Eastman Kodak

China Brown

SNHU

6/15/2021

Eastman Kodak

Kodak is an American public company. It produces many products related to its historical basis in analog photography. In addition, the company provides packaging, functional printing, graphic communication, and professional services globally. The company’s central print systems are Software and Solutions, Print Systems, Enterprise Inkjet Systems, Micro 3D Printing and Packaging, and Consumer and Film (Jordan). The company’s brand is famous because of its photographic film products. The company was founded in 1892 by George Eastman and Henry Strong. This paper will analyze the culture, organizational behavior, vision, mission statements, decision-making process, and the factors that contributed to the company’s struggles.

Kodak was one of the heavyweight champions of the profession and consumer-grade photography at some time in history. Instamatic and Brownie camera featured made the company the most popular company for photography and camera productions. The use of photographic films and papers made from these features also made the company impact the market in European, American, Asian, and African countries. However, with the rise of companies such as Fujifilm, the company started to lose its impact in the market, and it also lost its dominance in American markets (Singh, 2021). The Fujifilm created a shift competition for the company making it less preferable by customers, especially those demanding digital cameras. Kodak also experienced delayed entry into digital photography, which significantly affected its success. The Rochester, New York-based company has entered digital photography many years after its rivals dominated the digital photography market. In 2012, the company was rendered bankrupt, leading to the selling-off of most of its intellectual properties. Kodak is currently struggling to remain afloat by adopting multiple strategies, including launching a cryptocurrency.

The company's success in the 19th and 20th centuries was linked to its strategic plans and the mission and vision statement of the company. The effective leadership and management of the company also helped align the company’s values with the behavior and the attitude of its employees. The organizational culture of Kodak was based on ethical concerns and the influential roles of the company's Human Resource Manager. Kodak is reported to have been the first company in the United States to had expanded its operations globally, with most of its customers being Africans and Asians. The company also succeeded in employing about 20 percent of women as its employees during the 18th century. It is reported that Kodak had between 3000 to 5000 employees between 1880 and 2000 (Singh, 2021). In addition, the company succeeded in hiring over one thousand black, red, and brown employees. Despite most of the company being whites, it was still leading with diverse employees. The company currently has about 1200 employees, which shows that the company is struggling to remain afloat. Most of the company employees are male, and they are of ages between 35 and 60. The company has received several awards for excellent customer service. The company has also appeared on the American Fortune 500 list for over ten years.

The ethical concerns that have contributed to the company’s success include its compensation philosophy, employee empowerment, healthy working conditions, the confidentiality of the employee and company’s data, retaining and promoting employees, training, developing and educating employees as well as engaging employees and all stakeholders in the decision-making process. In addition, the company’s objectives and goals are aligned with its mission and vision statement as well as its core values.

The corporate vision statement represents the company's position as the leading supplier of photographic film products. The company objectives and purpose in business are well explained through its vision statement. The company's vision is to promote livelihood and create memories in people's lives by ensuring that their stories are captured in films and their memories are shared for the future. The company has been considered a major photographic film for many years. The company had a presence in over 500 countries globally. The company targeted families, schools, churches, recreational centers, hotels, restaurants, colleges, and sports. The company had a vast network, and it controlled a significant market share. The company targeted all adults with its products regardless of gender (Mirvis et al., 2010). The company's vision mainly focuses on strengthening the company's brand. The company supports its brand by advocating for leadership in the international market while counteracting competition. The company's vision also propels its strategic management to develop policies to ensure competitiveness against its rivals, such as Fujifilm.

The mission statement of Kodak prompts it to meet and exceed the expectations of photographers. The mission statement of Kodak guides it for the evolution of its business. Implementing the company's mission helps it support its market position as the leading producer of photographic film products. The company's mission is to bring inspiration and innovation to every photographer in the world (Vecchiato & Roveda, 2010). The company's mission is to share memories with its clients through inspiring their ambitions and providing a conducive environment that allows for interaction with clients and collecting their needs and listening to their feedback as well as their desire and identifying strategic approaches to their claims.

Kodak has experienced challenges with its strategic development process and its approach to technological transformations. The current photographic film industry is faced with technological changes. The change in consumer's taste and preference and the existence of many companies in the market has significantly affected technology changes in the film industry. With the emergence of digital photographic film products, many customers shifted to digital films making Kodak lose most of its customers to its rivals. The delays in transforming the company's operations to digital have affected the company's sales, reduced its investments, and even made the company sell off most of its assets (Vecchiato & Roveda, 2010). This failure can be attached to poor leadership, which was caused by a flawed decision-making process.

Decision-making is a key managerial role, and it determines the success and progress of a company. The ability of the management to engage its stakeholders in making decisions and develop sustainable strategic plans is practical for the success of a company. However, studies have revealed that the company's top-level management failed in engaging its stakeholders in the decision-making process, leading to a lack of proper strategies that could be implemented to create an advantage over the company's rivals (Vecchiato & Roveda, 2010). In addition, the failure to adopt new production techniques indicates that the company failed to align its vision and mission statement to its culture. The company also failed to create a culture that aligns with the behavior and attitude of its employees as it used to do before.

Conclusion

From the analysis of the vision, mission, ethical concerns, and the company's decision-making process, it is evident that the management of the company and slow response to change contributed to the company's failure. It is also apparent that the company lacks strategic decisions that can act as an advantage over its competitors. The challenges the company s facing currently align with the weak culture and lack of a goal-oriented, committed, and competitive workforce.

References

Jordan, R. Environmental Scan for Eastman Kodak.

Mirvis, P., Googins, B., & Kinnicutt, S. (2010). Vision, mission, values. Organizational Dynamics, 39(4), 316.

Singh, G. (2021). Product Management and Strategy: The Ultimate Guide That Creates Real Value. Notion Press.

Vecchiato, R., & Roveda, C. (2010). Strategic foresight in corporate organizations: Handling the effect and response uncertainty of technology and social drivers of change. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 77(9), 1527-1539.