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Ldr 531 Business Failure

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Examining A Business Failure
LDR/531
June 25, 2011
Dr. Catherine Garcia

Examining a 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 performance today
Kodak is facing a difficult time: first nine month of 2005, Kodak’s revenue increased by 3% and net-loss from ongoing operational loss totaled to $1.3 billion, versus net income of 139 million dollars (Kodak, 2006). This year the film sales for Kodak dropped by 37% and the sale

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