...Kodak and Fujifilm: Leaders in Film Anita Annunziata Professor Fardanesh Business 302 May 1, 2013 Kodak and Fujifilm are both well-known companies in the households of the United States and across the world. These two companies are each other’s main competition in the film market. They have been competing with each other for years. George Eastman, who was the founder of Kodak, was a lover of the photo taking procedure and wanted to simplify the photography process. Eastman established the Kodak Company in 1880. The Kodak Company was built on four basic principles: mass production at low cost, international distribution, widespread advertising, and customer focus. Years later, he was able to add the following policies: growth and development through continuing research, human resources, and a profit reinvestment program. Mr. Eastman knew that he had to make the photo process easy for amateur photographers. The Kodak camera debuted in 1888. The slogan “you press the button, we do the rest” was born. Kodak made the process of taking and developing pictures easy and accessible to nearly everyone. Kodak has led the way with a abundance of new products and processes that makes photography simpler, more useful and enjoyable. Kodak is not just known to be the film for amateurs, many professionals use Kodak film for commercial, leisure, and entertainment purposes. The Kodak Company is continually researching the needs of the consumer to...
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...Kodak and Fujifilm Sue Hagler Professor Michael Curran Management Concepts November 6, 2012 Kodak and Fujifilm are well known companies in the households in the United States and across the world. Few people know the actual history of both companies and the competition they have been in over the years. It’s an interesting history on how both companies started and how they have developed and challenged each other over the years. George Eastman, who was the founder of Kodak, started his business career as a 14-year old boy when he had to quit school and work to support his mother and two sisters. Mr. Eastman had a gift for organization and management while his lively and inventive mind made him a successful entrepreneur by his mid-twenties. What sparked the idea of a simple camera was that his coworker suggested he make a record of his vacation to Santo Domingo. As a result, he became absorbed with photography and wanting to simplify the photography process. Eastman started Kodak in 1880 and built it on four basic principles: mass production at low cost, international distribution, extensive advertising, and a focus on the customer. Later on he added the following policies: foster growth and development through continuing research, treat employees in a fair, self-respecting way, and reinvest profits to build and extend the business. Mr. Eastman started the company by manufacturing dry plates for sale to photographers. One mishap almost shut down the company when...
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...Eastman accomplished this by starting the Eastman Dry Plate Company, which was a global leader in mass producing dry plates for many years. Within four years of of the commencement of research, negative paper was introduced and would be used for the next century. Film became so efficient and cheap, Eastman invented the first commercial camera called the “Kodak” which revolutionized the “point and shoot” concept as the world know its today. 1 The Kodak camera was so popular that Eastman decided to integrated Kodak into the company name. The newly founded and named Eastman Kodak Company in 1892 became so big they had to expand their facilities to New Jersey for access to new trade routes. This was the beginning of Kodak and the start of photography. Kodak’s history is mainly responsible for making the Kodak name what it is today. The initial products invented by Kodak like the camera and film opened doors and provided a foundation for innovation and success in the photography and developing industry. Furthermore, Kodak’s business model, although a failure, taught the world of business how to run a business. In today’s world, cameras range from expensive professional models to dollar store disposables. In the late 19th century there was only one kind of camera. It was called the Kodak and was marketed along side the slogan, “You press the button, We do the rest”. 1 Soon...
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...History of Kodak In 1880 George Eastman began inventing a single shot piece of paper that was covered in a photographic emulsion which was the beginning of Kodak. Three years later in 1883 he was joined by William Walker, working together they created a holder for photo plates two years later. In 1887 Hannibal Goodwin created a transparent nitrocellulose film base. In 1888 Emile Reynaud put perforations into nitrocellulose film. That same year Eastman trademarked the name Kodak and released the Kodak camera which came pre-loaded with a roll of paper film that could take up to 100 pictures and when finished the camera had to be sent back to Eastman to be developed and re-loaded with more film. In 1889, Eastman combined all of those inventions and created the first mass-produced rolls of transparent photographic film. T.he Kodak camera by folding collapsible Kodak cameras with nitrocellulose film, and by 1897 the invention of a folding, pocketable camera came. In 1892 Eastman began working with Thomas Edison to trim the 40mm film stock down to 35mm. Edison then perforated the film with four sprockets holes per frame which was a patented invention but was invalidated later on by the court. It also created the Kinetoscope which was a single person motion picture device which helped create the movie industry and give way to advances to create movies as we see them today. Eastman released a cardboard box camera called the Brownie and was very affordable at one dollar to operate...
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...Management Comparison of Kodak and Fujifilm BUS302 A Management Comparison of Kodak and Fujifilm Description of the History and Core Businesses Both Kodak and Fujifilm will be examined to identify the similarities and differences in their business successes and failures. Each business will be analyzed to develop a more complete understanding of how the businesses were formed and the paths each has followed to arrive at their current market positions. Kodak Eastman Kodak was started in 1888 when the first Kodak camera introduced and was available for sale to the public. The company was started by George Eastman in Rochester, NY, when Eastman was in his mid-twenties. George Eastman grew up poor and was a high school dropout, but that did not stop him from making money and supporting his widowed mother and two sisters by the time he was 14 years old (History of, 2013). When Eastman was 24 years old, he had planned a trip to Santo Domingo, and had an idea to record the trip. Eastman purchased a large, heavy camera that was as big as a microwave (History of, 2013). Eastman never made the trip to Santo Domingo, but he did become obsessed with photography, and how he could make it simpler to understand. Before Eastman Kodak was formed, George Eastman had started a company, making dry photographic plates, which later lead to the idea of a convenient, simple to use camera that would become known as the Kodak. After the Kodak camera was introduced...
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...The History and Core Business of Kodak The company we know today as Kodak was started by an American named George Eastman with his partner Henry Strong in 1881 by producing dry photographic plates. These dry gelatin plates were far superior to the messy wet plate counterpart of the day. The major advantage that dry gelatin plates gave photographers of the time was the fact that they did not require a wet coating right after exposure for them to be developed. Eastman invented and started producing his next evolution of dry plates by evolving his design from using a gelatin coating, to using an emulsion coating. The business evolved from a partnership to a $200,000 corporation with 14 shareholders in 1884. At that same time, the company name was changed to EASTMAN Negative Paper. The next evolutionary step for the company was one year later in 1885. This is when the first transparent photographic film came to market. With this groundbreaking and revolutionary product, EASTMAN Negative Paper opened a wholesale office in London England. The next few years were so good at EASTMAN Negative Paper that they were able to employ a full-time research scientist to help the company in the commercialization of a flexible, transparent film. A few years later in 1888 the name Kodak was born and they adopted and marketed the slogan “You press the button – we do the rest”. The next years for Kodak were filled with the growth of their film product and the cameras that used the film, while...
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...GallowayStrayer University08/05/2014 | | Eastman Kodak Company and Fujifilm are competing corporations in the photography industry. When the industry changed both companies were affected, but due to very different management styles and ability to adapt to change Fujifilm took a lead while Kodak fell behind. George Eastman founded Kodak, in 1888. The company’s early success was based on the new technology for cameras. The camera simplified the photo taking process (Williams, C. 2013) Kodak’s main focus was photography and imaging. They had an array of products that ranged from photography equipment, film, paper and color chemicals. In the1980’s, Kodak’s market share reached 90%. This was a very special moment in the company’s history. Kodak developed the first concept of the digital camera in 1975. Their executives could not imagine the world without traditional film; unfortunately, the idea was dropped because they feared it would threaten the company’s film business. Digital cameras would become common; the technology started to spread and film sales dropped considerably at the late 1990’s. Kodak made a slow transition to digital technology. Unfortunately, their competitors adapted to change. This lead to Kodak’s loss of market shares both in the United States and worldwide. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After one year of continuous battle to keep the company prosperous, the court approved financing for them. Kodak sold many of its patents to groups of companies...
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... Kodak and Fujifilm According to the Fujifilm Global, “Fujifilm was established in 1934 with the aim of producing photographic films.” Over decades they have diversified into new markets and built a very strong presence around the globe. Many people may ask who uses Fujifilm in there career or life, according to business products professionals from medicine to printing uses Fujifilm products to win satisfied customers and strengthen competiveness. Fujifilm originated as a cinematic film producer and has grown into a multidimensional manufacturer and marketer of imagining and informational products. According to Fuji photo films, Fujifilm is the second largest photographic film in the world. Fuji also makes motion pictures film, video tapes, audio tape, and floppy discs. Fuji first task was to build a reputation in the domestic market. Brand reliability proved critical in the photosensitive materials industry, since buyers were not willing to risk losing a desired imaged to inadequate materials, regardless of cost. According to the early history, Fuji continued to lose sales, increased debts, and struggled to meet research expense for the first three years. Another well-known photo company is the Kodak. According to ezine articles Kodak was started in the 1870’s, and also was born as a trademark. The first portable camera was introduced and signaled as the birth snapshot photography. The company name was changed to Eastman Kodak Company in the year of...
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...Business Failure This paper is about the company Kodak that recently filed for the bankruptcy. Kodak, once a very profitable organization is on the verge of another failure, like Enron, Tyco, etc. This paper will cover how the incorrect management decision lead to its failure. It will compare and contrast leadership, management, and organizational structure that contributed to this failure. History of Kodak and timeline George Eastman started Kodak in 1878. In 1888 Eastman presented a first simple camera to the world. He made the complex and complicated process of photography easy and simple enough to use by everyone. "you press the button, we do the rest," Eastman demonstrated his marketing ingenuity (History of Kodak, n.d.) . The success of Kodak continued and in 1895 Kodak introduced the first pocket camera. Later Eastman formed his companies guiding principle: volume production at affordable cost, global presence, creative marketing, satisfied customers with best customer service, and growth through uninterrupted research and development. Furthermore, he stressed on how important it is to value brand name and the quality it stands for. Eastman firmly believed in product quality and never compromised under any circumstances (Kodak, 2006). Introducing color photography, Kodak continued its growth and success by investing in R&D and by 1963 become standard in photography. Sales reached to 1 billion dollars and rose to 10 billion dollar by 1981 (Kodak, 2006). Kodak's...
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...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...
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... When companies begin they develop a business plan that details what they intend to specialize in. For some, once they have reached a goal in one market they make decisions to venture out into other markets. In the world of business, that venturing out is called diversifying the company. According to Merriam-Webster’s online dictionary, to diversify is “to increase the variety of the products of; or to engage in varied operations.” (Merriam-Webster, 2012) In a business, when you produce a variety of goods or invest in different markets it is a strategy that provides a back-up in the event that one good or investment goes south. Diversification strategies can be either beneficial or harmful to a company. Comcast Corporation and Eastman Kodak Company are two companies that made the decision to diversify themselves, but it led to different outcomes. Comcast Corporation was originally founded in the early 1960s under the name, American Cable Systems, Inc. Initially, the company only served Tupelo, Mississippi. The company was also one of only a few community antenna television (CATV) services in the nation. The “CATV business was predicated on the fact that rural areas were underserved by commercial television stations which catered to large metropolitan areas.” (Comcast Corporation, 1999) The CATVs used huge antennas that pulled in distant signals to display the shows on television. If a household did not have one of those antennas they had little use for television. Community...
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...EASTMAN KODAK[1] 1. The Beginning Eastman, a genius and high school dropout, invented a dry-plate process and established (1880) a factory at Rochester, N.Y., for making dry photographic plates. The Eastman Dry Plate Company became Eastman Kodak in 1892. George Eastman came up with the name Kodak himself, after experimenting with many names starting and ending in K, which he considered to be a “strong, incisive kind of letter”. Kodak is now a world renowned company, which ranks as a premier multinational corporation and one of the 25 largest companies in the United States. George Eastman was born in Waterville, New York on July 12, 1854 and moved with his family to Rochester, New York in 1859. He dropped out of school in 1868, at the death of his father. He was poor, but even as a young man, he took it upon himself to support his mother and two sisters, one of whom was severely handicapped. He began his business career as a 14-year old office boy in an insurance company and followed that with work as a clerk in a local bank at age 19. He studied accounting at night to be able to advance in his job. His passion for photography began with the purchase of his first camera in 1878. The invention of the dry-plate process took one year and many sleepless nights trying different formulas. According to his mother, sometimes he was too tired to undress and slept on the kitchen floor. In 1879 he filed first patent for a machine that coated dry photographic plates and founded...
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...Kodak and Fuji Film Running head: KODK and FUJI FILM 1 Kodak and Fuji Film BUS 302 February 2, 2013 Running head: KODAK and FUJIFILM 2 ABSTRACT Eastman Kodak Company and Fujifilm are competing corporations in the photography supply and equipment industry. When the industry changed both companies were impacted, but due to differing management practices and ability to adapt to change one Fujifilm excelled while Kodak faltered and eventually declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2012 Running head: KODAK and FUJIFILM 3 The Eastman Kodak Company, which is better known as Kodak was established in April 1880 by George Eastman in Rochester NY. The company got its start by first manufacturing dry plates for sale to various consumers. (Kodak Eastman, 2013). George Eastman was an innovator in the field of photography and was dedicated to making photography an everyday affair and was even quoted to say that he wanted to make the camera as convenient as the pencil, (Kodak Eastman, 2013) In September 2012 Kodak reorganized into three segments: Digital Printing and Enterprise (DP&E); Graphics, Entertainment, and Commercial Films (GECF); and Personalized Imaging and Document Imaging (to be sold), (Finance, 2013). Kodak has effectively ceased production of its Kodachrome color film line, digital cameras and pocket video cameras. This follows a decision in early 2012 to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Fuji Photo Film Co., Ltd (Fujifilm) is a Japanese based company and was established...
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...Assignment 1: Kodak and Fujifilm Denise A. Garrett-Cahill Dr. Valery Shumate BUS302 Management Concepts February 1, 2013 Abstract Kodak and Fujifilm shared the market of photographic films, digital cameras, supplying various products for the photography sector, and medical imaging equipment. Over time both companies had to come up with new and improved products that would keep the consumers wants and needs satisfied. Both companies had their very own style of management, which allowed them to advance with the innovation of new and improved technology. Kodak, until recently was the leader in the photographic and film market, with Fujifilm trailing by just a small margin. When it comes to ethics and social responsibility the companies are for the most part on the same level, but have some differences. Adapting to the changing market conditions affected each company’s management differently in many ways, and affected the growth and innovation process for both companies. After researching both companies the determination that all companies should be diversified in some way, in order to keep up in the changing market and economy, is crucial for growth and success. Since 1879 the world of photographic business has been growing and expanding across the world. Some of the most commonly heard photographic industry names include Kodak and Fujifilm. The founder of Kodak, George Eastman, went to England to try to get a patent on his plate-coating machine in order to make the...
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...Abstract Eastman Kodak Company and Fujifilm are competing corporations in the photography supply and equipment industry. When the industry changed both companies were impacted, but due to very unique management styles and ability to adapt to change one Fujifilm excelled while Kodak faltered and eventually declared Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in 2012. History of Kodak George Eastman founded Kodak, in 1888. The company’s early success was based on the new technology for cameras. The camera simplified the photo taking process (Williams, C. 2013) Kodak’s main focus was photography and imaging. They had an array of products that ranged from photography equipment, film, paper and color chemicals. In the1980’s, Kodak’s market share reached 90%. This was a very special moment in the company’s history. Kodak developed the first concept of the digital camera in 1975. Their executives could not imagine the world without traditional film; unfortunately, the idea was dropped because they feared it would threaten the company’s film business (Snyder, 2013). Digital cameras would become common; the technology started to spread and film sales dropped considerably at the late 1990’s. Kodak made a slow transition to digital technology. Unfortunately, their competitors adapted to change. This lead to Kodak’s loss of market shares both in the United States and worldwide. The company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. After one year of continuous battle to keep the company “alive”, the...
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