Expert answer:attached is answer file.
Answer & Explanation:attached is answer file. You have to edit it so it will not be caught in plagiarismResearch a specific company of your choice and identify some of the managerial decisions that were made over time and in response to changes in its market or competitive environment. Use the Ashford University Library and web-based sources for your research. At least three external scholarly sources must be used in addition to the textbook.Address all of the following areas:Describe the company and provide a brief history of its operations. Find or use graphs to illustrate its financial performance over the years.Describe any sources of risk or uncertainty in its operations. Do the financial reports indicate risky or uncertain activities or changes to the economic environment that ultimately appear to have affected the company’s financial outcomes? Be specific.Are there any government regulations that have affected this company’s operations domestically or abroad? Explain.Describe the inputs that are used in this company’s production function and identify any challenges to securing these inputs.Determine if the company has introduced new products in existing markets or created new markets over time. What is the impact on its finances?Determine if the price of its products increased or declined over time and analyze the reasons for price fluctuations. Study the demand elasticity for its products and discuss the availability of close substitutes for its products. How does that affect pricing decisions?Analyze the company’s profitability. Identify the economy or industry influences on its costs, operations, and profitability.Describe the competitive environment in which the firm operates, the distribution of market power, and the strategic behavior of the firm and its competitors. Apply your knowledge of the theory of this company’s market structure. How does the company make pricing and production decisions? Is your observation supported by the theoretical models? Refer to the financial reports for illustration.Describe any non-price competitive strategies that the company might be engaging in. Provide specific examples.Evaluate if the company made any mistakes in its decisions over time, and recommend any changes or improvements for future operations. Refer to the financial reports when making specific observations or recommendations..Use economic language and demonstrate your understanding of the concepts and theories of this course.Writing the Final PaperThe Final Paper:Must be 8 to 10 double-spaced pages in length (excluding including the title and reference pages), and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.Must include a title page with the following:Title of paperStudent’s nameCourse name and numberInstructor’s nameDate submittedMust begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement which identifies the focus of the paper.Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.Must use at least three scholarly sources, in addition to the text.Must document all sources in APA style, as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.Must include a separate reference page, formatted according to APA style as outlined in the Ashford Writing Center.answer.docx
answer.docx
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Introduction:
Kodak was the market leader of photography films for years together. Suddenly out of the blue
came the bankruptcy filing. It was shocking to note that a market leader had failed. The lessons
learnt from Kodak’s failure is a lesson for all market leaders that new product development
should always go in stages and to never defy the cycle .
The company its brief history of its operation with financials :
Kodak which is said to be rich in photographic history is known to be one of a global company
with an exciting digital future. Kodak is the American corporate photo giant whose film and
imaging products are been recognized worldwide. The Eastman Kodak Company headquartered
in Rochester, New York, was incorporated in 1901. The Kodak camera was the first camera
which was used by large numbers of amateur photographers which is uncomplicated, affordable,
and portable to use, and which was also introduced with the slogan “You Push the Button, We
Do the Rest”. The resulting word “Kodak,” trademarked in 1888 is the company’s most valued
assets. Kodak is known not only for its photography, but also for leisure purposes, commercial,
1|Page
entertainment
and
other
scientific
applications.
By the end of the twentieth century, Kodak, one of industry’s most readily identifiable
trademarks, had operations in Canada, Mexico, Brazil, France, Germany, and Australia, the
United Kingdom. In more than 150 countries the Kodak products were marketed by subsidiary
companies to people. Kodak one of a leading imaging company in India has also established a
strong market presence with extremely high brand recognition and recall. Kodak cameras, newly
discovered x-ray process produced in the first film are coated for motion pictures. Even today,
over 90% of all motion pictures are shot on Kodak film. Kodak has made it easy to enjoy the
pictures and thus it continues to expand the ways by touching people’s daily lives.
Sources of risk and uncertainty
2|Page
Kodak started facing difficulties in 1984, when the Japanese firm Fuji Photo Film Co. invaded
on Kodak’s market share as customers switched to their products after launching a 400-speed
color film that was 20% cheaper than Kodak’s. Secondly, during 1980s the company failed to
recognize the change in the environment and instead followed and to a business model that was
no longer valid for the post-digital age. After the management realized the change and react
accordingly it was too late. However over the time, the situation has started changing for Kodak,
as it has underestimated the changes on the market. There has been a significant shift from the
use of traditional film cameras to a market fully fledged and saturated with modern and updated
digital cameras and digital photographic tools. The age of digital technologies were emerging.
The core business of Kodak the film business, started to decline and some areas of the business
started to be less profitable and filled with many competitors. Also, the prices of the digital
cameras were falling. The main issue behind this case is the problems faced by the Eastman
Kodak Company in the process of changing to Digital technology in printing. It failed to
establish market share and market leadership in the Digital sector. It is threatened with either
immediate or rapid diversification in technology. It had to file for chapter 11.
3|Page
Government regulations:
The too aggressive expansion program and introduction of one innovation after another in digital
photography and equipment brought about the crash of this photographic giant. The Securities
regulation of US, the SEC bankruptcy regulations governed the operation failures of Kodak .
The heavy expenses in R and D killed its core business. The high flowing pension funds which it
had put in for employees left it with little money to diversify into new areas that could have
saved this. The credit facility of $950 million which is secured from Citigroup was supervised by
the debt repayment officer of chapter 11 proceedings.
Describe the inputs that are used in this company’s production function and identify any
challenges to securing these inputs.
The organization has enough capabilities to handle the running of an organization that are
required and, the organization is staffed to meet the different challenges of the operating
environment and further necessities in terms of skilled and management personnel if expansion
is to take place. This analysis also deals with the barriers and influence that many strategic
decisions inclined towards automation of Kodak strategies and shifts in styles and demands of
people and industry demands. The product is now globally available and competes very intensely
for being the leader in the mobile instrument market. The new segmentation strategy that Kodak
has adopted is clearly based on applications that it has developed and can be used by people for
learning photography and cinematography.
Kodak continued its process of expansion with a view to prove result oriented product to
consumers which was not only superior in terms of quality but also in communicating images
4|Page
and pictures into any form of digital convenience. This ease prompted many forms to accept
Kodak ‘mastery in technique and give very cost effective solutions though flawless quality and
superior delivery and a whole lot of motivated employees. Therefore, the fundamental objective
was the customer satisfaction which can be achieved. Kodak’s position in the emerging markets
where demand, growing for traditional products and services. The company thus continues to
improve its competitiveness in traditional and international markets, and it is committed to
success in digital markets, which are been characterized by faster growth, tighter profit margins,
aggressive pricing and swift product turnover. Kodak has brought out further innovation in the
form of sustainability to environment. Thus Kodak ranked No. 1 in the U.S. in digital camera
sales, and sales of digital cameras increased by 40% though its sales of film business fell by
18%.
The opportunities were promoting the development of personal qualities that are relevant to
innovation, such as creativity, spirit of initiative, risk taking and responsibility have to be taken
up in by Kodak to pull up its revenues and sustain on it. Kodak had encouraged entrepreneurship
and services entrepreneurs with single minded devotion by offering early knowledge and product
efforts undertaken in the form of research and development and the role of technical experts in
understanding the applications of Kodak, by providing specific training by Kodak to companies
who sell Kodak products on how to further use the new innovations.
Determine if the company has introduced new products in existing markets or created new
markets over time. What is the impact on its finances?
The new products introduced by Kodak were digital photography films and equipment. The new
product development was a detour from traditional photography films was seen to be revolution
5|Page
of sorts. The traditional film making earned almost 70% of revenues for Kodak. When digital
film and equipment were introduced the margins fell to almost 30% signifying the beginning of
dropping revenues The shift was seen as to gain the market share, the most essential thing that
the company should do is repetitively appraising their actions and procedures to make sure that
they are on the right way. With the help of values and commitment, the firm has gained a strong
position in the global market. Many aspects like, political, economical, technological and cultural
factors acts as a threat and challenges for the organization. So, it is important for Kodak to adopt
strategies according to the market trends. It is also necessary that the strategies are timely
formulated,
implemented
and
processed
forward
with
research,
development,
and
implementation of new products. The organizational structure at Kodak is undergoing
fundamental change in order to facilitate access to the digital revolution. This change must be
managed under the framework of the strategic alignment process which Eastman Kodak has
accepted very successfully. This will ensure that regardless of the degree of change that is
initiated in order to maintain the company’s competitive advantage, alignment with the strategic
focus is maintained.
Price fluctuations and demand elasticity for Kodak:
As more and more firms entered the market, the market tendency became perfectly elastic.
Though Kodak was a market leader in photography films, the digital photography film and
equipment was still to be ascertained. The price of Kodak’s products has increased keeping in
with the nature of the market and competition. The demand is perfectly elastic signifying a
slight change in price will ensure changes in quantity demanded and supplied. The market
structure is the cause for this. There are many close substitutes for Kodak’s products chief being
Nikon. Pricing decisions have to be taken very carefully because of the perfectly competitive
6|Page
marketing. Kodak uses the skimmed pricing strategy to penetrate the market through price
differentials.
7|Page
Analyze the company’s profitability. Identify the economy or industry influences on its
costs, operations, and profitability
The company’s profitability has been hampered by aggressive expansion and new product
development and this has led to huge sunk costs in the form of heavy research and development
costs . This has taken a huge toll on operational profits and revenues and Kodak was unable to
recover. This led to the bankruptcy petition.
The competitive environment, the distribution of market power, and the strategic behavior
To sustain competitive advantage, Kodak needs to strategically transform its entire business
model around to capture new and unique growth opportunities. It is recommended that Kodak,
take the BPR and organizational learning approach, to improve efficiency and simplify the
organization; leadership to communicate and influence vision and change to capture new
business models and better match user needs and economic value. It is also important for Kodak
8|Page
to focus on innovation or advanced technology driven strategy. In the global market, due to
additional features and picture quality, the firm is facing high competition, so to deal with these
issues; innovation and advanced technology will be beneficial strategy for Kodak. If the firm
wants to attain competitive advantage and maintain its good position in the market, it is
recommended to follow this strategy. It will support the probability of the success of the
organization’s product through exploring new sources.
The organizational structure at Kodak is undergoing fundamental change in order to facilitate
access to the digital revolution. This change must be managed under the framework of the
strategic alignment process as described earlier. This will ensure that regardless of the degree of
change that is initiated in order to maintain the company’s competitive advantage, alignment
with the strategic focus is maintained.
To implement an innovation driven strategy, Eastman Kodak management needs to adopt high
commitment, leadership, and higher managerial skills. Strategy must be communicated into
actions that can be attained on a daily basis. For a successful implementation of selected strategy,
it is vital that the strategy is communicated to all employees and their responsibilities and duties
are clearly defined to them. In addition to this, for a successful implementation, adequate amount
of research is also essential, so that consumers’ altering needs are defined and understood clearly.
It will assist in developing products that will be according to the consumers needs. Therefore, the
management has to ensure that it is targeting the right target segment, and the company’s
spending has to be carefully aimed at the target market in order to ensure that its products and
services maintain high awareness.
Identify any non-price competitive strategies that the company might be engaging in?
Provide specific examples.
9|Page
The organizational culture at Kodak is changing fundamentally in order to facilitate entry into
the digital revolution. Therefore this is an issue of business process reengineering that the
company has to deal with at the moment. In this respect, the management must ensure that the
strategic alignment process is maintained. This alignment process takes place between four areas:
IT strategy, business strategy, organizational issues, and information systems issues (Hitt et al.,
2007). IT strategy is the process of selecting the best hardware platform and software solutions.
Business strategy is the process of justifying the expenditures that must be made in order to
finance IT strategy. Organizational issues refer the current skills sets of the employees. The
organizational issues are attended to in order to ensure that the employees have the necessary
skills with which to operate the new system. Information systems issues refer to the knowledge
management system that facilitates the process of informal learning.
Recommendations:
Kodak has to reinvent its traditional business in the wake of the brand which it is associated with.
Theta market for digital equipment is highly competitive and Kodak cannot hope to achieve the
position of the market leader. Hence , instead of being one among the many number of firms
especially with the Chinese and Japanese opening up huge markets, it is better that Kodak sticks
on to its traditional film making researching more on different kinds of digital films and leaves
equipment altogether . (Appendix 1)
References
Ackerman, Carl W. George Eastman. Boston, Houghton-Mifflin, 1930
Grant, R.M. (2010). Contemporary strategy analysis. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/schumpeter/2012/01/kodak-files-bankruptcy-protection-1
10 | P a g e
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/pressReleases/pr20040122-02.shtml
www.kodak.com/…/Global_Sustainability_Reports_2.ht… – United States
http://money.cnn.com/2011/09/28/technology/thebuzz/index.htm
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/19/us-kodak-idUSTRE80I08G20120119
http://www.sdo.nihr.ac.uk/files/adhoc/change-management-review.pdf
http://www.takacslearningcenter.com/the-kodak-study/
Appendix 1
Kodak’s case study revealed the following and very interestingly Kodak is applying this strategy
now .
Using this 25% profit assumption, here’s what the study determined:
11 | P a g e
• A 3% price decrease requires a 13.6% increase in sales to make the same profit as before the
price
was
lowered
• A 5% price cut requires a 25% increase in sales to achieve the same profit
• A 10% price cut requires a 67% increase in sales to achieve the same profit
• A 15% price cut requires a 150% increase in sales to achieve the same profit
• A 20% price cut requires a 400% increase in sales to achieve the same profit
Now, let’s reverse the process and compute how an increase in price would affect profit:
•
A
3%
price
increase
•
A
5%
•
A
10%
increase
•
A
15%
increase
increase
means
means
the
same
profit
on
of
sales
volume
the
same
profit
on
83.5%
of
sales
volume
means
the
same
profit
on
71.5%
of
sales
volume
means
the
same
profit
on
62.5%
of
sales
volume
• A 20% increase means the same profit on 55.5% of sales volume
12 | P a g e
90%
…
Purchase answer to see full
attachment
How it works
- Paste your instructions in the instructions box. You can also attach an instructions file
- Select the writer category, deadline, education level and review the instructions
- Make a payment for the order to be assignment to a writer
- Download the paper after the writer uploads it
Will the writer plagiarize my essay?
You will get a plagiarism-free paper and you can get an originality report upon request.
Is this service safe?
All the personal information is confidential and we have 100% safe payment methods. We also guarantee good grades