Please summarize this, and try to make it short. USING YOUR OWN words Eastman Ko
ID: 3496083 • Letter: P
Question
Please summarize this, and try to make it short. USING YOUR OWN words
Eastman Kodak has changed dramatically to compete in a world of new technologies, emerging markets, and global customers. As a result, Kodak’s efforts in executive education have pushed the limits to create innovative “learning events” for senior management, which are designed to be as dynamic and future-oriented as the company’s business environment. For years, Kodak was the dominant player in its market. It enjoyed worldwide brand recognition, extraordinary customer loyalty, and enviable profits. Understandably, few employees (or managers) wanted to do anything to upset the status quo as most of them looked forward to a lifetime of employment and security. Then things changed. The company restructured in order to go head-to-head with competitors in a much tougher digital marketplace, and in the process, there has been a one-third reduction in executive positions. These events drove complacency far from the environs of Rochester, New York, Kodak’s headquarters city. Agility has replaced stability as the watchword of the future. As a consequence of Kodak’s transformation—not to mention the personnel changes—the majority of senior managers have been in their positions for far fewer years. Executive education is viewed as a critical tool for improving Kodak’s managerial ranks. But Kodak believed that the development programs needed to be as active, innovative, and future-oriented as the company. Off-the-shelf materials were out, as were case studies, lectures, and other passive learning approaches. A new approach meant inventing from scratch, letting go of control, and taking monumental risks. Skills in anticipating the business, pushing the culture, and networking were demanded. These objectives led to the creation of three new programs for the senior management team:
The Kodak Prosperity Game. This game teamed fifty Kodak executives with twentyfive peer executives from other companies. These “reality-based” teams worked on meaningful, implementable strategies, alliances, and deals.
The Digital Executive. This program consisted of a “scavenger hunt” exploring Kodak’s digital present and future. Using digital products and the Internet, small teams researched digital competitors and interacted with a consumer focus group via videoconferencing. One innovative feature of this program was the upward mentoring of the participants by technology “whiz kids.”
The Future of the Company. This was a two-part program, developed in partnership with the Global Business Network and focused on learning about possible futures for the industry and the company. Part I was a two-day “conversation” about Kodak and its environment in the coming years. Industry scenarios for growth were developed in small team discussions involving Kodak executives and customers, alliance partners, and futurists. The resulting scenarios launched Part II, in which additional outsiders and provocative thinkers mixed ideas with the participants. The outcomes were a set of new ideas and potential strategies for the Kodak businesses.
After Kodak’s executives committed to an all-out digital strategy, the company’s revenues climbed. In 2004, Kodak surpassed Sony, the market leader, in the number of digital cameras shipped in the United States. The firm’s executives say Kodak is well-positioned in the consumer digital imaging and graphic communications markets. For example, during 2010, it grew its share of the pocket video camera market by 10 percentage points and today is the number two player. However, it still faces a very tough competitive environment. Profits in 2010 were negative, and a New Jersey investment-management firm is pushing the company’s top shareholders to take the lead in either turning around or selling it.
(ch.7)
Explanation / Answer
Kodak was a world leader at a time and has maintained its status as a dominant business leader for a much longer time, which came to be threatened at a time where digitisation grew, technologies evolved and the market became less constricted becoming heavily global. The employees wanted to maintain their jobs due to the security offered by Kodak. There had been a shortage in the number of executives in Kodak, which reduced to 1/3 of its original number. This mass reduction resulted in major reduction of complacency through the employees and lowered agility amongst most of the employees to maintain a safer future. As a result, most of the managerial ranks were held by employees that were comparatively newer. Because of this, new methods required to be devised that would help in learning of these employees and the or ways such as the case studies and passive learning approaches were removed in order to promote active learning. It was important to develop skills that would push the business and bring about more networking than the earlier times. For this Kodak evolved and introduced newer programs that would train the executives. Kodak evolved with the evolving times. They announced Executive education, which would improve the managerial ranks. These programs included The Kodak Prosperity Game; The Digital Executive and The Future of the Company, which helped the senior managers to let go off the control complacency, be more realistic in their attitude, globalisation and obtaining an idea of the global trends and development of new ideas by interactions and discussions. These employment training programs pushed the revenues of Kodak to the other half of the quadrant making it more positive such that it would even surpass Sony. It came to be known in the graphic communications markets and consumer digital imaging markets. Today, due to its constant evolution, Kodak has come to be the second largest company in the market, coming up from sheer scratch. Though the challenges are tougher now with a constantly evolving technical age, a New Jersey investment-management firm pushes to company to take lead.