Introduction
This paper explores major concepts in marketing and corporate strategy. Examples of the concepts include strategy, strategic planning, innovative culture, transformational leadership, effective leadership, effective decision making, strategic positioning, and diversification. The paper seeks to explain why two rival companies, Kodak and Fujifilm have performed differently in the dynamic business environment.
While Fujifilm has managed to remain relevant in the contemporary business world, Kodak has become obsolete. The major explanation is that Kodak has had a culture of complacency, which has made it not to anticipate challenges and put plans in place to deal with the challenges. Fujifilm, on the other hand, has been able to adapt to the new business environment through diversification and development of new business lines and products.
Background
Even though Kodak and Fujifilm have had different fortunes over time, they share a common background. One of the issues which are common to both is that they are old business rivals located on different continents. While Kodak dominated the American film industry for decades, Fujifilm did the same in Japan and Asia at large. The two companies enjoyed huge profits and minimal competition from their competitors. The other thing is that they both employed many people, thus making them be among the few companies which enjoyed global recognition in the film industry.
Corporate and Marketing Strategies
Strategy and Strategic Planning
A strategy is a set of objectives that enable an organization to interact with its competitors, markets, and other environmental factors in a manner that enables it to overcome challenges and realize its mission and vision. Strategic planning refers to the process of putting in place adequate plans, resources, and objectives to enable an organization to remain competitive (Harrigan, 2003).
One difference in strategy between the two companies is that while Fujifilm developed what it called ‘three-pronged strategy,’ Kodak failed to develop one. Fujifilm’s strategy entailed squeezing money from the nearly obsolete film industry, development of new business lines, and preparation to switch to a digital platform. This strategy enabled Fujifilm to slowly phase out its traditional business model and embrace changes that were inevitable. Kodak’s lack of strategy made it redundant.
Innovative Culture
Organizational culture has a direct impact on innovation in that it can either stimulate or inhibit innovation. Innovation refers to the ability to design, invent, and develop or initiate new services or product lines. It can also refer to the ability to come up with new ways of doing things in an organization (Mullins, Walker & Boyd, 2013). The main driving force of innovation is creativity, which has to do with using one’s reasoning and thinking capabilities to conceptualize an idea before actualizing it.
Through creativity, a person is able to build on an existing idea by identifying the gaps and coming up with a completely new idea. It is, therefore, important for organizations to put in place mechanisms to make sure that managers and leaders are encouraged and assisted in discovering their talents and potentials and using them positively for the benefit of their organizations (Keshavarzi, 2007).
Fujifilm embraced the culture of innovation by introducing new products such as cosmetics and optical films for LCD flat panel television screens. It also embraced the culture of ‘make it, launch it and fix it.’ On the other hand, Kodak maintained its complacent culture and did not bother to think and act in a proactive manner. While the leadership of Fujifilm was ready to change, the leadership of Kodak was obsessed with the production of perfect products without taking the risk of trying new ways of doing things. Kodak’s leadership was also of the view that things would remain the same, and nothing would shake its huge investments in research, marketing, and good relations with local communities. All these were enshrined in its complacent culture and played a big role in the downfall of the once giant company in the film industry.
Another shortfall by Kodak was the inability of the then boss Mr. George Fisher to outsource production and transform his idea of enabling shoppers to post and share pictures online into a social media product like Facebook. If he could have been brilliant enough and gone the extra mile to outsource production, Kodak could have invented a new product that would have increased its revenue by a big margin.
Strategic Positioning
All markets are influenced by the forces of demand, supply, and competition. It is, therefore paramount for any organization which aspires to remain competitive to come up with plans to enable it retain its customers and attract new ones. An example of such a strategy is strategic positioning which enables organizations to look for new markets and customers even at the door steps of their competitors. Fujifilm’s leadership was aware that Kodak had a culture of complacency and it took the opportunity to sponsor the 1984 Olympic Games held at Los Angeles. The sponsorship enabled Fujifilm to get new customers for its products in the United States. If Kodak could have sponsored the Olympic Games, it could have had an opportunity to widen its customer base by getting customers outside the United States.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership aims at enhancing the morale and performance of employees through a variety of mechanisms (Bolden, Hawkins & Gosling, 2011). The transformational leader connects with the employees, challenges them to take greater ownership for their work and understands their strengths and weaknesses Transformational leadership helps in realizing positive change. Leaders who use this philosophy are energetic, enthusiastic, and passionate about change (Bolden, Hawkins & Gosling, 2011).
Effective Leadership
This has to do with consolidation of resources by leaders of organizations. The idea behind consolidation of resources is to enable the leaders to attain organizational objectives efficiently with the use of minimum resources. It also has to do with realization of extra ordinary results by organizational leaders through processes which involve all the stakeholders (Bolden, Hawkins & Gosling, 2011).
Effective Decision Making
The decision making process is crucial because the success or failure of organizations greatly depends on the type of decisions made by organizational leaders and how the decisions are made. An effective decision making process is usually consultative, that is, the leaders consult their followers and other stakeholders. The consultations not only make the decisions effective but they also reduce resistance to organizational change or restructuring.
When stakeholders are consulted before a decision is made, they are able to own the changes which come as a result of that decision. Effective decisions are therefore acceptable to all the stakeholders of an organization and they have lasting impacts as opposed to decisions which are made without consultation and involvement of organizational stakeholders (Bolden, Hawkins & Gosling, 2011).
The two organizations have had two different types of leadership with Fujifilm having transformational leadership and Kodak having non transformational leadership. Under the leadership of Komori, Fujifilm was able to adequately prepare for the imminent digital onslaught. Through transformational leadership, Komori undertook radical measures such as slashing of some jobs and unnecessary costs, implementing serious restructuring programs in the organization, abandoning superfluous distributors and investing heavily in market research.
These measures coupled with effective decision making put the organization in a strategic position to remain competitive. On the other hand, Kodak’s leadership was inconsistent and each new leader came up with his or her own version of doing things but all of them failed to embrace change. The lack of new impetus in the leadership of Kodak played a major role in its downfall. For instance, the failure by Mr George Fisher to correctly understand the emerging market trends made Kodak not to invest in digital cameras but instead invested in films targeting the new Chinese middle class. The result was that the new Chinese middle class quickly switched to digital cameras and abandoned the films.
Conclusion
The concepts of strategy, strategic planning, strategic positioning, innovative culture, and transformational leadership are crucial in organizations’ corporate and marketing strategies. These concepts played a major role in the success of Fujifilm and the failure of Kodak. The major difference between the two is that while Fujifilm embraced an innovative organizational culture, Kodak embraced a culture of complacency. The leadership of the two organizations also shaped their fate. While Fujifilm’s leadership was focal, transformational and proactive, the leadership of Kodak was reactive, inconsistent, non focal and non transformational and these greatly contributed to the downfall of Kodak. If Kodak could have embraced change and developed good strategies, it would be one of the leading organizations in the field of telecommunication today.
References
Bolden, R., Hawkins, R., & Gosling, J. (2011). Exploring leadership: individual, organizational, and societal perspectives. Oxford: Oxford university press.
Harrigan, K.R. (2003). Vertical integration, outsourcing, and corporate strategy. Washington, D.C.: Beard Books.
Keshavarzi, H. A (2007). The effect of organizational culture on knowledge sharing behavior in the auto industry in Iran. London: Aston university press.
Mullins, J.W., Walker, C.O., & Boyd J. (2013). Marketing management: A strategic decision-making approach. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.