Product Development. David V. Tennant. Читать онлайн. Newlib. NEWLIB.NET

Автор: David V. Tennant
Издательство: John Wiley & Sons Limited
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Жанр произведения: Техническая литература
Год издания: 0
isbn: 9781119780182
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$ 44.7 Exxon-Mobil $ 265.0 Berkshire Hathaway 4 Ford $ 43.5 Apple $ 260.0 Alphabet (Google) 5 Texaco $ 38.4 CVS Health $ 257.0 Intel 6 Chevron-Texaco $ 29.9 Berkshire Hathaway $ 255.0 Facebook 7 Gulf Oil $ 23.9 United Healthcare $ 242.0 Johnson and Johnson 8 IBM $ 22.8 McKesson $ 214.0 Verizon 9 Gen. Electric $ 22.4 AT&T $ 181.0 Pfizer 10 Amoco $ 18.6 Amerisource Bergen $ 180.0 Wal-Mart

      Table Developed by David Tennant.

      Numbers in billions of dollars

      Note that some of the companies that were on the list in 1980 are now absent. This is especially notable for the oil companies, and this will continue as the shift from petroleum (gasoline) to electric and alternative-fueled vehicles continues.

      New firms in the form of big tech, Facebook, Google, etc. have been displacing more “traditional” companies. By the 2060s we may find a whole new set of innovative companies on the list.

      At the turn of the last century (1900) the horse and carriage gave way to the automobile. There were most likely excellent buggy whips for sale, but no matter how excellent your product may be, innovation will ultimately replace it.

      If we consider Kodak, which had the lion’s share of the film market, this was completely made irrelevant by digital photography. The major camera producers: Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and others developed highly successful digital cameras which took excellent pictures and no longer required film. Apple’s iPhone further hastened the decline of film in that anyone could take very good pictures with their phone’s camera (including Android phones).

      The Eastman Kodak Company, founded by George Eastman, devised and marketed the first simple camera in 1888. As time went on, Eastman incorporated the name Kodak as part of his product line, which included various film products (Kodachrome, Ektachrome, etc.). Later, his company turned out 35 mm format slides, 8 mm and 16 mm movie film, and a variety of projectors and cameras, for both professional and personal use.

      Kodak continued in their attempts to be innovative with digital cameras and the CD format for pictures, but each camera sold lost $60. In 2004, it was ejected from the Dow Jones stock exchange. As a side note, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is a stock index of the top 30 US corporations. On this note, Kodak closed many manufacturing plants and cut thousands of jobs.

      Kodak worked to restructure its business, acquired several companies, and provided licensing which brought in much-needed revenue. In 2010, Kodak sued Apple over its iPhone technology, claiming a patent infringement, but did not prevail. By this point, employment was down to 18,000 employees. In 2012, the company filed for bankruptcy and sold its online photo business to Shutterfly.

      Kodak was somewhat reluctant to move into digital photography as it did not involve the use of film. The company today provides traditional and digital printing, hardware, and software services to the print, packaging, publishing, manufacturing, entertainment, and film industries. The company’s four primary segments include advanced materials and chemicals.

      Case 2.1 Discussion Questions

      1 As a large, successful US company, Kodak was once a “dogs of the Dow” firm listed on this stock exchange. It could be argued that Kodak’s management was unwilling to change or consider new ideas to displace or augment its line of film products. What does this tell us about the role of innovation in a company?

      2 With the advantage of twenty-twenty hindsight, it is easy to criticize Kodak’s lack of foresight or imagination. However, it is likely that past success blinded Kodak to the future of film. This might be categorized as a resistance to change, which is found in most large corporations; it becomes part of the corporate culture.If you are in a senior level position – at any company – how would you work to change the corporate culture?

      3 What role should the marketing department have played in this long-term decline?

      4 From a managerial standpoint, what are the challenges when a company is in decline?

      Marketing, Sales, and the Four Ps

      The sales group is first and foremost responsible for bringing in revenue. A second objective is to establish relationships with customers. It is always easier to sell to an existing customer than to find a new one. However, to increase sales, a sales representative must also be able to meet potential new customers. This can be done in a variety of ways. The traditional methods include attending trade shows, cold-calling (i.e., working the phone), attending local business meetings (city business chapters, chambers of commerce, etc.), and attending regional or local professional trade associations; for example, engineering chapters such as ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers), IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers), and other similar organizations. Beside technical groups, there are organized chapters of venture capitalists, human resources management, etc. Any professional group will be a source of potential customers.

      In today’s environment, where pandemics can disrupt traditional sales prospecting, most companies have a strong online presence. This is in addition