Resumen de The real lessons from Kodak's decline
After decades of being an undisputed world leader in film photography, Eastman Kodak Co built the first digital camera back in 1975. But then, the story goes, the company couldn't see the fundamental shift (in its particular case, from analog to digital technology) that was happening right under its nose. The big problem with this version of events is that its wrong. Moreover, it obscures some important lessons that other companies can learn from. To begin with, senior leaders at Kodak were acutely aware of the approaching storm. But several factors made it exceedingly difficult for Kodak to shift gears and emerge with a consumer franchise that would be sustainable over the long term. Ultimately, refocusing the business with so many forces in motion proved to be impossible. Every situation is different, but the experiences of Kodak suggest some sobering questions for managers in industries undergoing substantial technology-driven change. For example, one issue to consider is whether the company's core technology is converging to the point of being replaced by a general-purpose technology platform. If so, the company could lose manufacturing scale and early-mover advantages such as being far down the legacy manufacturing learning curve.
