Question

Expert Q&A Done Choose one of the stories of change (Kodak, McDobald's, HP, IBM). Explain what happened in the story. What changed? Why did the company change? Was it a successful change? What are the key points about the story? What is your opinion about how the change was managed?

Answer 1

KODAK

The Eastman Kodak Company founded by George Eastman and Henry A Strong is an American company that deals with products related to camera/ photography. Though it is mostly known for its photographic film products it does business in segments like print systems, enterprise inkjet systems, micro 3D printing and packaging.

What happened in the story?

Kodak failed to see the change coming and when it realized and decided to change it was too late. They could not see the shift from the photographic film to digital photography and there was resistance to change from the management. This led to the fall of Kodak.

What changed?

It held the most dominant position in the photographic film market. In the late 1990's it began to wrestle financially. It lagged behind in the transitioning phase from film to digital photography. Low cost competitors like Fujifilms added to the struggle. Photographic films were getting outdated and digital photography was catching up. Kodak failed to keep up with the change in taste and demand from the consumers.

Why did the company change?

To stay strong and dominant Kodak entered the digital photography and digital printing market. In January 2005, they introduced the world's first Wi-Fi digital camera called The Kodak easy share- one digital camera which could send pictures by e-mail.

Many layoff occured during the whole period. In 2009 a large layoff of 3500-4500 workers happened and everyone was angry.

Was it a successful change?

Kodak faced losses after losses and in January 2012 it filed for bankruptcy. The change happened but it was a slow and resistant change so the company lagged behind and could not catch up. They even sold their patent to companies like Adobe, Apple, Amazon, Facebook Google, Fujifilms and many others at a much lower worth that its actual.

KEY POINTS ABOUT THE STORY:

1. Kodak was the market leader and stood strong for many years.
2. It was the market leader in photographic film products.
3. It did not change with time.
4. It lagged behind in the acceptance to bring in the change from film to digital.
5. Suffered losses due to slow movement into the digital photography world.
6. Finally moved into digital world but it was very late in doing so.
7. Filed for bankruptcy in 2012.

OPINION ABOUT HOW CHANGE WAS MANAGED

1. Its competencies were smashed by its inflexibilities.
2. change was bought in very late and slowly.
3. resistance to change led to its downfall.