Case Study Description of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film
Eastman Kodak has suffered significant declines in film market share at the hands of lower priced branded producers and private label products. The case presents Kodak's proposal to launch a new economy brand of film to combat these rivals.
Swot Analysis of "Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film" written by Robert J. Dolan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Film Eastman facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Film Eastman, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Film Eastman operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Film Eastman
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Film Eastman
Strengths Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Film Eastman in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Film Eastman is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Film Eastman to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Film Eastman to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Film Eastman in the sector have low bargaining power. Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Film Eastman to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Film Eastman is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Film Eastman is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Film Eastman has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Film Eastman is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Film Eastman in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Film Eastman has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Film Eastman has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Film Eastman has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
High brand equity
– Film Eastman has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Film Eastman to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Film Eastman
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Film Eastman does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Film Eastman has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Film Eastman needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film HBR case study mentions - Film Eastman takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Film Eastman 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert J. Dolan suggests that, Film Eastman is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Film Eastman is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Film Eastman has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Film Eastman has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Film Eastman is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film, is just above the industry average. Film Eastman needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film are -
Loyalty marketing
– Film Eastman has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Film Eastman can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Film Eastman can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Film Eastman has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Film Eastman to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Film Eastman to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Film Eastman to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Film Eastman is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Film Eastman can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Film Eastman in the consumer business. Now Film Eastman can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Film Eastman in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Film Eastman has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Film Eastman to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film case study. Film Eastman can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Film Eastman can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Film Eastman to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Film Eastman can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Film Eastman to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film are -
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Film Eastman business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Film Eastman can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Film Eastman has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Film Eastman needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Film Eastman needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Film Eastman in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film, Film Eastman may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Film Eastman will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Film Eastman can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Film Eastman high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Film Eastman is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Film Eastman
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Film Eastman.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Eastman Kodak Co.: Funtime Film is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Film Eastman needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
