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Kodak Facing Bankruptcy And What You Can Learn From It

By on January 5, 2012 in News

Kodak may not fall under the category of small business, but they do face a similar probably: the possibility of failure. Once considered one of the largest companies, they are mere weeks away from filing for bankruptcy protection. What can lead such a big company to fall so far?

That Kodak is even contemplating a bankruptcy filing represents a final reversal of fortune for a company that once dominated its industry, drawing engineering talent from around the country to its Rochester, N.Y., headquarters and plowing money into research that produced thousands of breakthroughs in imaging and other technologies.

The company, for instance, invented the digital camera—in 1975—but never managed to capitalize on the new technology.

Casting about for alternatives to its lucrative but shrinking film business, Kodak toyed with chemicals, bathroom cleaners and medical-testing devices in the 1980s and 1990s, before deciding to focus on consumer and commercial printers in the past half-decade under Chief Executive Antonio Perez.

None of the new pursuits generated the cash needed to fund the change in course and cover the company’s big obligations to its retirees. A Chapter 11 filing could help Kodak shed some of those obligations, but the viability of the company’s printer strategy has yet to be demonstrated, raising questions about the fate of the company’s 19,000 employees.

What are some lessons you can take from Kodak’s misfortunes?

Patent image from Google Patents

failure kodak

Angela Shupe has added 5,783 posts to Business Opportunities Weblog.

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  • http://www.5thavenuedigital.com elizabeth Beskin

    Unfortunately, Having witnessed this from inside the industry-there are many lessons to learn.
    The biggest is to never loose the ability to be nimble. No matter how big your company is. Don’t believe in one fate so much that you cast all other ideas aside. keep the core business going as long as possible- but never stop looking out the window for the next biggest innovation.

  • http://wahm.business-opportunities.biz Angela Shupe

    Great advice Elizabeth. I was thinking something similar. Kodak was huge when cameras still used film. They innovated, and tried to come up with new products of the future. Unfortunately, I think they lost sight of the next great thing. I imagine there was also some poor money management, etc. They really need another great product to bounce back with.

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