Kodak and Fujifilm - Essay Example

KODAK AND FUJIFILM Abstract The Kodak and the Fujifilm companies carry great reputation not only with households in US but also across the borders and in the whole world. Despite being rival companies, the companies carry rich histories especially on how each was established, challenges in development and competition for market share. Kodak took the lead in the industry and dominated the entire world and specialized in camera market as well as the photographic film. Fujifilm Company was established after the Kodak in Japan and rose to become a global competitor to the Kodak Company. The main threat posed to Kodak and which was and has been the strength with Fujifilm is the innovation and supply of digital camera as has been the main strength with the Fujifilm. This paper therefore focuses on evaluating and comparing the success or failure footage of the two rival companies in the world of photography and filming. Discussion Question 1: George Eastman created the Kodak Company whose headquarters are in New York in the late 1880s. Ever since, the company has specialized in production of imaging and photographic equipments, imaging services as well as such other materials as are used in the photography industry. The popularity of the company has been in photographic film products, and such consumables as chemicals and films. Over years, Kodak commanded the larger film and photography industry with its success being associated with such principles as low cost mass production, international distribution, customer focus as well as extensive advertising. Although the company started with such products as dry photography plates, the company easily embraced innovation and this led to introduction of Kodak camera and later on in the early years of 20th century, the company invented the motion camera (Reklaitis, 2010). Great success followed the operations of the company but were halted by technological advancement and the rise of Fujifilm; the main rival in the industry. The Fujifilm Company on the other hand has risen to command a global reputation in the industry of photography and films. Fujifilm has had its core operations focused in development and production, digital camera sales and servicing, color paper, photographic film, materials for graphic arts, photofinishing materials, optical devises as well as photocopiers and printers among other areas of specialization. Besides, penetrating in an already monopolized industry, the company was able to embrace effective marketing procedures and innovation to introduce new products and technologies in the market and this has contributed greatly towards the overall success of the company (Inagaki & Osawa, 2012). Question 2: Kodak Company has had great strength in management and innovations which has enabled the company rise to become the market leader in the industry. Effective management has enabled the company develop high brand recognition and awareness, global distribution network, expertise in chemistry and diversification of the portfolio through research and development. Kodak kiosks are available globally and have embraced technological advancement to establish services through online galleries. Through the extensive and quality research foundation, the company increasingly wins the global market which is characterized of great advances in technology (Tsurumi & Tsurumi, 1999). It is therefore evident that the company has strong management capability that has made and maintained a strong consumer brand under the foundation of technology. Fujifilm on the other hand has had great interest in diversification and therefore commanded influence on a wide array of products. This would therefore be interpreted as strength in distributing risks although it can be critiqued as a threat to good performance as concentration is shared between the different lines of specialization. The company therefore embraced management practices that would not wholly concentrate in meeting customer needs in one area of specialization especially while undertaking and or managing innovations. This is why the company launched the ‘Fujifilm’ brand name (without photo) in 2006. However, it is to be appreciated that the company has had great success in the operations despite embracing different managerial frameworks from what the rival Kodak has had. Question 3: In retail market, there are various approaches that would be pointed that make players within the market stand distinct from the other players (competitors) and which are often initiated though management decisions. In often times, logistics in quality products as well as fair pricing mechanisms have been embraced. This has been one main way that the Fujifilm has embraced to destabilize the operations of Kodak Company, not only within US but also globally. While Kodak would fail to reevaluate prices relative to market forces, Fujifilm would lower prices and invest in quality production thereby attracting many customers. Effective marketing strategies enable retailers and competing producers establish and maintain market share in a competitive market. The Fujifilm understood pretty well this in the formative years and this enabled the company move at a higher pace to threaten the operations of Kodak which failed to acknowledge the threat the Fujifilm posed though market segmentation, intensive marketing and price mechanisms. The main weaknesses that would have led to poor performances for the Kodak and possibly good performance by Fujifilm has been together with lack of clear and strategic development direction, poor cost and pricing structure, lack of high standards in innovation and slow assumption of technology. The Kodak is criticized of having been growth oriented but without a specific direction while Fujifilm rose to be strategic in growth (Tsurumi & Tsurumi, 1999). Question 4: Eastman established and ran Kodak Company under such principles as respect and fair treatment of employees, respect for customers and dignity to suppliers. This led to great growth as the company raised the margin of employees to over 75,000 employees in less than a century of its operations. The more the company extended its services and scope of operations beyond the boundaries and added to employee base, this translated to increased profit margins. Besides, in order to contribute towards academic advancement, the Kodak Company has been donating academic materials especially regarding history and development of photography to universities. However, the company has received much criticism on environmental pollution and has been condemned for disposing chemicals into the environment hence causing large-scale chemical pollution to the environment (Ochsner, 2001). On the other hand, Fujifilm has been leading in corporate social responsibilities and in ethical trading behavior just as has been with Kodak. Much of this has been in involving the communities and societies within which it operates in employment and fostering education. However, similar criticisms as have been leveled against Kodak have been leveled against Fujifilm on basis of environmental pollution through chemical disposal in the environment. There is therefore then need that the two companies responds through embracing environmental management practices. Question 5: The main observable features of market change that have characterized the film industry over past years have been technological advancement and change. The traditional manual (analogue) technology in film industry characterized the operations within these two companies but innovation brought about great changes. Advancement in technology brought about digital technology in the industry and this caused changes in the operations of the players here. However, the managements differed in their way of responding to the market changes and Fujifilm was seen to embrace the technology more quickly than was the case with Kodak Company (Inagaki & Osawa, 2012). Delayed and slowed response to this changing market feature by Kodak Company led to loss of greater market share to the rival company the Fujifilm which therefore rose to be more influential in the industry, both in US and across the borders. In genera therefore, the management of Kodak Company has been blamed a lot on slow response to changing market conditions while compared to Fujifilm. Question 6: Recommendations Transform teams of management: As much as the company would like to show loyalty to the management executives and members, improvement in performance is dependent on the competence of these people and therefore, through objective evaluation of individual performance, non performing people should be replaced by performing people. Performance based procedure in promoting people to management positions should never the compromised. Restructure decision making for decentralized system: the companies should be well structured in divisions and departments. This would facilitate ease of decision making as this would enable all employees to actively participate in decision making processes. Besides, such a system would enable decision making processes to be effective in addressing specific departmental needs as against generalization of such decisions as would be through centralize systems. Invest in research and development: For the success of players within the film and photography industry, research and higher innovation is inevitable. Technological advancement is facilitating change n industry environment as indicated through the transition from analogue cameras to the modern digital types. The companies must therefore be strategic in embracing technology and invest in higher research for increased efficiencies and effectiveness in innovation. Conclusion The foregoing analysis and discussion concerning Kodak Company and Fujifilm Company shows great comparisons between these rival companies. Kodak is shown to have been formed before Fujifilm was but with time, the Fujifilm is overtaking Kodak in industrial performances. Kodak was natively US based but grew become a global company while Fujifilm was Japan based although it equally grew to become global. Variations in management practices and effectiveness have been pointed out as main differentiating factors towards general performance of these companies. Technological advancement has also played a major role while influencing the market performance of the two companies. References Inagaki, K., & Osawa, J. (2012). Corporate news: Fujifilm thrived by changing focus --- CEO says firm, kodak saw digital age coming, 'the question was, what to do about it'. Wall Street Journal Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/916834898?accountid=45049 Reklaitis, V. (2010). George eastman's snap moves shoot for the top: His innovations led to kodak cameras for the common man. Investor's Business Daily Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1002679487 Ochsner, M. (2001). Case study: Chemical screening at Eastman Kodak Company. Environmental Quality Management, 10(3), 23-34. Tsurumi, Y., & Tsurumi, H. (1999). Fujifilm-kodak duopolistic competition in Japan and the United States. Journal of International Business Studies, 30(4), 813-830.  Read More