Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm Company
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Access articles about the history, business approaches, management, and marketing of Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm. Eastman Kodak has been a developer and pioneer of photographic films for over 130 years. Although it invented the digital camera, the company was unprepared for the rapid changes in new technologies and filed for bankruptcy protection in January 2012. Fujifilm, a Japanese competitor, on the other hand, has been successful in the U.S. and global markets.
Write a six to eight (6-8) page paper in which you:
1. Describe the history and core business of each company.
2. Compare and contrast the approach to management that each company has pursued in order to embrace innovation.
3. Determine what other management differences have impacted the relative success of Kodak and Fujifilm. Provide specific examples to support your response.
4. Evaluate each company's approach to ethics and social responsibility and the impact those approaches have had on each company's profitability.
5. Discuss the extent to which management of both companies adapted to changing market conditions.
6. Recommend three (3) ways any company should build in flexibility to back up its decision-making process in order to adapt to changing market conditions.
7. Use at least three (3) quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other Websites do not qualify as academic resources.
Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:
· Be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides; citations and references must follow APA or school-specific format. Check with your professor for any additional instructions.
· Include a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the professor's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page and the reference page are not included in the required assignment page length.
The specific course learning outcomes associated with this assignment are:
· Describe the primary functions of management (planning, organizing, leading, controlling) and the associated skills, tools, and theoretical approaches that can be used to accomplish these functions.
· Explain the principal theories and the various approaches to management that have evolved over time and their application to current management situations.
· Explain the decision-making process management uses to develop viable courses of action to a variety of management situations.
· Use technology and information resources to research issues in management concepts.
·
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Solution Summary
A comparison on the success of Eastman Kodak and Fujifilm Company. Successes, failures, changes. References included.
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Eastman Kodak:
The company began in 1878 as a company that invented an emulsion coating machine that lead to mass produced dry plates for photographers. These photographers were professionals, but in 1888 Kodak provided the first simple to use camera for all consumers. George Eastman took a complicated process and made it simple enough for everyone to use. In 1881, the company became a partnership and in 1884 with more shareholders, a corporation. The company produced the first transparent film as we now know it. Over the years, Kodak lead the market with photographic innovations and designs for film that helped photography gain in popularity. One advancement, the first commercial transparent roll film, allowed Edison the possibility of developing the first motion picture camera in 1891. Also that year, Kodak marketed the first camera that allowed people to load film without going to a darkroom. The first Brownie camera was sold in 1900 and it was $1. The film was 15 cents and meant that people could afford to take photographs, even those with limited means. This was followed by inventions such as the Kodak developing machine for processing roll film without a darkroom, Kodak non-curling film, and the safe film marketed using a cellulose acetate base rather than cellulose nitrate based film, which is flammable.
By 1907 the company was a worldwide company, employing more than 5,000 people. The company ventured into the optics field in 1912. Portrait film that used sheets film rather than plates were marketed to professional photographers in 1913 and the company expanded to manufacturing the wood alcohol for film base. In the 1920, amateur motion pictures were practical and home movies became more popular. The company also continued to work on film and cameras for the movie industry, including the KODASCOPE projector and 16mm Kodacolor film, making it possible to have movies in color.
The company also innovated the benefits beyond wages for employees. Wage dividends were first released in 1912, after the company began an accident, benefit, and pension fund for employees in 1911. The company also established a safety committee to study accident prevention in 1911. The company continued to innovate with such products as microfiche, carousel projectors, Kodachrome film, and instamatic cameras. The instamatic cameras were ...
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