Kodak Driving Forces, Implications and Critical Success Factors of Business Environment

Read Strategic Management in Action Cases: Case #1 Out of Focus

a. Explain Kodak's driving forces, implications, and critical success factors of the business environments.

b. Discuss two organizational elements that guide Kodak's strategic decision makers in managing strategically in today's context.

c. Discuss the roles of ethics and social responsibility in Kodak's strategic management.

d. Describe the different perspectives on competitive advantage relative to Kodak. Present I/O view, RBV, and guerilla view.

1.Explain Kodak's driving forces, implications, and critical success factors of the business environments.

Kodak one of the famous imaging company, which provides and concentrate on imaging products with its historic basis on photography. The company provides packaging, functional printing, graphic communication and professional services for business around the world. Its main business segments are digital printing, graphics, and entertainment commercial films.

The driving forces, implication and critical success factor of the business environment, is that the company is facing an information revolution where customer want instant photographs and don't want to wait to develop as they are more excited to share the image in social media. The company technology is rapidly going back ward as cell phone camera are producing a high quality picture which can be instantly used and can be access, which it is way not possible in traditional method. Also the globalization factor was affecting the company, where everyone was better off with their cellphone which was very ease and ready to use. The implication for Kodak Company is that it should bring up with different new innovation and technologies by which it can continue its market, where Kodak has faced and become more vulnerable to advance technologies and competitors. However if the company retain the ability to embrace change and devote funds to change, seek creative and innovation ways to develop new product and service and regain their status as a world class organization, they can turn their struggle into a path of success.      

2.Discuss two organizational elements that guide Kodak's strategic decision makers in managing strategically in today's context.

The main organizational elements that guide Kodak's strategic decision making is that the company should more focus on bringing new technologies and idea where it can prospect with the challenging market trend, also the company to retain the ability to embrace the change in its organization culture where market value can increase according to the requirement of market trend. The company should seek creative and innovative ways to bring up new product and service which can help the company to sustain in the market and gain their status as a world class organization.

3.Discuss the roles of ethics and social responsibility in Kodak's strategic management.

Roles of ethics and social responsibility in Kodak's strategic management is creating a task force to ensure compliance with social and ethical responsibility issues and integrating this into the culture of the company and ensuring top level maintain a strong stance on ethics and social responsibility.

4.Describe the different perspectives on competitive advantage relative to Kodak. Present I/O view, RBV, and guerilla view.

I/O View:  Kodak failed to fully understand its evolving industry.  Strategic decisions were not made to ensure competitive advantage as the industry changed and new technologies were introduced.

RBV:  Kodak had the necessary resources - even inventing an early digital camera in the 1970s - however, those resources were not adequately utilized to acquire and maintain competitive advantage.   

Guerrilla View:  Kodak was reluctant to recognize the sudden advance of new technologies and the quick acceptance by consumers.  First, Kodak didn't attempt to disrupt the market with an introduction of a digital camera.  Second, as cell phone cameras began to displace digital cameras, Kodak was again slow to react to the technological evolution.