Kodak and Fujifilm
David Ingle
BUS 302
November 3, 2014
Troy Hudgins

Kodak and Fujifilm
There have been two major players in the photographic film industry since the early twentieth century, Kodak and Fujifilm. This writing will look at the history of each company and what their respective core business is. This writing will also compare and contrast the management style of each company to embrace innovation. Management’s approach to ethics and social responsibility is important to look at when comparing companies because of the potential affect on profitability. Finally, this writing will discuss the extent to which management of both companies has been able to adapt to market changes, as well as recommend three ways any company should build flexibility into its decision-making process to make adaptation to market changes smoother.
History of Kodak Kodak began its journey in 1878 when, a man by the name of George Eastman, demonstrated the convenience of dry plates for photography. One year later, in 1879, Eastman was the first person to invent a machine allowing for the mass-production of dry plates. Ten years after George Eastman demonstrates the convenience of dry plates over the wet plates used during his time, the name Kodak is born and the company placed the Kodak camera on the market. Fast-forward forty years, to 1929, when Kodak introduced the then new motion picture film designed specifically for sound motion pictures. From here, the company has released a variety of new films, from color to the first disposable cameras, with the company’s current core business consisting of retail systems solutions, document scanners and digital plates.
History of Fujifilm Fujifilm began in 1934 when the government of the United States established a plan to start a domestic photographic film manufacturing industry, and one month later the newly formed company began operating its first plant where it produced photographic film, print paper, dry plates and other photosensitive materials. Since the founding of the company, it has made several strategic acquisitions and new products to establish itself as more than just a photographic film company. Fujifilm’s current core businesses consist of medical equipment, which is about twelve percent of the company’s revenue, and materials for flat-panel displays, which contributes about ten percent of revenue.
Management Approach at Kodak One major management approach Kodak made was to focus on the marketing of their products rather than spend some of the marketing capital on developing new products. This caught up with the company because in 2012 Kodak filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Since then Kodak has realized it needs to focus more on a strategy to promote growth for businesses and to accelerate its global expansion by concentrating its management resources in healthcare, functional materials and document solutions. It developed a plan to create and market products that were designed to match the needs of emerging markets and to put goals into place to boost sales and reduce cost. Another management approach at Kodak was to promote a person to the role of Chief Executive Officer who was partial to the traditional film business, which was the opposite of where the market and consumers were headed. Shortly after they hired this Chief Executive he was shown the door, and there has been a revolving door installed in the CEO’s office, with the current CEO deciding litigation against its current competitors is the way to turn Kodak around.
Management Approach at Fujifilm Management’s approach at Fujifilm was almost the exact opposite from the approach taken by management at Kodak. Fujifilm’s management has acted, rather than reacted, to the advance of digital photography by venturing into new businesses. Currently, management at Fujifilm has decided to focus more of its energy into producing the chemicals used in the development of films for liquid crystal displays for computers, television sets and other electronic devices. The management of the company has also decided to use its chemical expertise to develop new drugs, which are more effectively absorbed into the bodies, with an influenza vaccine currently in its pipeline. With the company’s new focus on new business ventures, revenue from photographic film has fallen to just one percent of its revenue, down from twenty percent about ten years ago.
Ethics and Social Responsibility at Kodak Kodak is taking an ethical and social stand against poor working conditions at manufacturer plants, which is becoming a rather large problem as many corporations ship jobs overseas to save money. Many of the countries where manufacturers are located do not have the strict worker welfare laws the United States has. Kodak is combatting this by participating in the Electronic Industry Citizenship Coalition to do their part to change the poor working conditions in their manufacturers’ plants. Another part of their push to ensure workers have good working conditions is the standards Kodak forces potential vendors to meet before Kodak will commit to any partnerships. Kodak, for the moment, has suspended all of its corporate contributions. This can be viewed as negative social responsibility for such a large corporation because most employees feel the companies they work for should give back to the communities and charities in their communities. Fujifilm has also made an effort to eliminate slavery and human trafficking in their supply chain, in part due to a California law passed in 2010 and took effect in January 2012, requiring all companies with sales over one hundred million dollars to be transparent in their proactive steps to help end any slavery and human trafficking. Fujifilm also has a plan in place to ensure their corporate social responsibility activities are up-to-date with the demands of society.
Adaptation of Management The management teams at both companies have done a good job at evolving over time to the changing needs of their industry. Kodak was not as fast as Fujifilm to recognize the need for a change within the company and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2012. Since their bankruptcy filing, the company has turned the business around and began to post profits. Fujifilm, on the other hand, realized the need for photographic film was waning and decided to focus its energy into entering new markets and applying its expertise with chemicals to the new business ventures. Since the management of Fujifilm had recognized the need to diversify the business, Fujifilm has been and will continue to post profits for the foreseeable future.
Recommendations
One recommendation I would make to both companies is to implement a plan to use social media to advertise their products and new research. Informing people through social media will help to spread the word around the world about what the companies are doing. Since both companies have entered into new business ventures and markets, it is important to let people know these companies do more than make film for cameras. Aside from using social media to inform the world of what the company is up to, both companies also need to constantly do research to ensure the companies are providing products and services consumers want. Both companies, Kodak and Fujifilm, have been around for a very long time and have transformed their business to suit the needs of consumers. Both companies have some similarities to the way management has handled their companies, but there have also been differences, in particular Kodak’s filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Both management teams have shown they are capable of adapting to change, and if they continue this trend both companies will be around for many more years to come.
References
Fujifilm Corporation. (N.D.). FUJIFILM Value from Innovation. Retrieved November 3, 2014, from Corporate History: http://www.fujifilm.com/about/history/corporate_history/
Kodak. (N.D.). About Kodak. Retrieved November 3, 2014, from http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/About_Kodak_Top/Our_Company.htm
Kodak. (n.d.). Retrieved November 3, 2014, from http://www.kodak.com/ek/US/en/Our_Company/History_of_Kodak/Milestones_-_chronology/1878-1929.htm