The Kodak moment after 132 years.

Assalamualaikum.

I bet most of us who were raised in the year of 70’s until late 90’s knew Kodak’s brand. Even when i was a kid, i called the negative film as Kodak. Well, i guess u guys did the same. Don’t you? ;p Anyways, Kodak is a very well known product during its day. It’s like Google or Apple during that day. But it is a big disappointment not only for me, but to most of the Kodak’s lover since Kodak is no longer exist in the market. They can’t sustain in the market which is full of competition. As we all know, in business there will always be a competition. And competition in business will always be cruel. Mm, ok,ok. Most of it is cruel, not all.*sigh. But have you ever wondered why does this such gigantic company that was regularly rated one of the world’s five most valuable brands in the 1990’s has safely rest in peace? And why does Fujifilm, their nearest competitor can still sustain in the market eventhough their sales is estimated as average compared to Kodak?

Let us see this as a lesson to be learn. Shall we? Many of us didn’t know that Kodak was the first company that produce digital camera. They launched their first digital camera in 1975, if i am not mistaken. That was nearly 37 years ago! To be clear, they’re the one who pioneer the invention of camera digital. Technology has raised them to the highest peak, but it is also technology that brought them to the down fall. “You press the button, we do the rest,” was their slogan back in 1888. How irony if we read it now, when Kodak is no longer exist. I know.

Why oh why this happened? After reading some articles about this, there are 2 reasons that i found interesting. First, Kodak had this mentality of producing only the perfect products. I know some or most of you might not agree with this, but it’s happening guys. It’s good to produce only the finest and perfect products. But for how long does it takes for your loyal customers to wait for your new products? By the time you came out with your super innovation, it’s already too late. So how it’s going to work in this market? Simply have the mindset of make it, launch it, fix it –as told by Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School. It is true! Take Sony as an example. I bought a handphone from Sony, which is Satio. Frankly, it’s the worst phone i’ve ever had. Too many problems ; hang, slow, touch screen didn’t sensitive, etc. Then, after Sony produce other similar phones like that, i found they managed to cope with the problems. Belajar dari pengalaman orang kata. Ahah.

Second, is because of fear to expand to other different field. It might be high in risk, but in business u’ll always hear this, high risk = high return. If you want to be moderate, it’s fine. But if new technology and new competitor come, you have to struggle a lot more. For me, it is better to be a risk taker, before you risk your company to downfall by doing nothing. At least, you’re trying. Isn’t it? As for example, Fujifilm diversified more successfully. They had launched a line of cosmetics, called Astalift. It is sold in Asia and currently is being launched in Europe this year. Not bad for an old company huh?

I like to write more about this but i don’t know whether you found my writing is quite serious than other previous entry. Huhu.. sorry. will stop here, i need to have enough rest. Having my practical at Petronas is really challenging. To be frank, today is the first day i had my lunch at kuantan. For the past days i’m having my practical, i had to go for outstation. And there is a lot of meetings, discussion with the Dato’s, etc. Since i’m the only girl, i tried to be tough. But then, today i’ve got my fever. Haha. Kuat gile org2 laki nih bekerja sebenarnye. Respect you guys. Might be away next week for outstation. So i need to recover this fever very fasssst. Haih. But seriously, i love my work! :D

Till then, gudnite people. ZzZz.