Last week brought the sad news of the collapse of Kodak as it fails to keep up with the times.

The company which pioneered photography bringing us the very first pictures from the moon and making photography into both an industry and a past-time for millions of people worldwide, filed for bankruptcy protection. Founded in 1880 by inventor George Eastman, the company led the birth of amateur photography focusing on portability and affordability, producing the Kodak Box Brownie Camera in 1900 selling for only $1, using film costing 15 cents. George Eastman (1854-1932) was one of the world first entrepreneurs who began his career having dropped out of school in New York at the age of 14 following the death of his father. For 10 years he worked as an office clerk until a defining moment took place in his life. At the age of 24 he decided to plan a once in a lifetime holiday to Dominican Republic and save up to buy a camera to record the adventure. When he got it, it was as big as a microwave and required a heavy tripod, plus a tent to spread the pictures on glass plates before exposing them. With chemicals, glass tanks, a heavy plate folder and water canister, Eastman described the kit as a pack horse load. He never made it on holiday. Instead he grew obsessed with the idea of making photography simpler. The Kodak Box Brownie was a huge success and the company grew under Eastmans visionary leadership. In 1929, Eastman worked with Thomas Edison to invent the first motion picture film, leading the way into sound motion pictures, where Kodak still lead the way today, with 80 movies that have won Best Picture Oscars having been shot on Kodak film. Eastman also developed a high performance; high value culture within Kodak, paying out results based rewards to staff. He became one of the USs biggest philanthropists, giving away more than $100 million to charities, universities and medical clinics. Sadly, on 14th March 1932, after two years of suffering from a degenerative spinal disorder, Eastman committed suicide with a single gunshot to the heart. He left a note which read: To my friends, my work is done. Why wait? Since then, however, successive CEOs kept alive Eastmans vision, innovating and progressing cutting edge photography solutions in order to make photography accessible and pleasurable to everyone. In 1963, the company launched the Kodak Instamatic Camera featuring cartridge loaded film that recorded, developed and printed images from a slot in the front of the camera, capturing peoples memories in an instant. Kodak became a household name globally with over 50 million Instamatic Cameras sold within 4 years, earning the rightful place of market leader. By 1981 sales surpassed the $10 Billion mark. The lesson for all entrepreneurs and business leaders: The company wanted to remain at the forefront of advancements in camera technology and in 1975, at the same time Steve Jobs invented the first Apple (Apple II) Kodak invented the worlds first digital camera. However, bosses shelved the project as they saw it as a threat to the film making business. Kodaks success then became its biggest burden. Fear started to creep in. Fear of failure and in particular fear of letting go of the companys core product and acknowledging that the cash cow was fast becoming the old dog. In other words the company spent the last 2 decades failing to keep up with the digital revolution that has killed off Kodaks main market of film based photography. Its demise under the leadership of Chairman and Chief Executive Antonio Perez is sure to become a text

book case for future business students, of a company which could not keep up with the times. Having led the market, the board of directors became immersed in a fear of the new digital advancement, hanging on to and protecting the old ways; and forgetting its original journey to success was led by innovation, vision and heavy investment in Research and Development and marketing. Instead they spent far too much time watching the market like a hawk and the moment companies like Samsung, Fujifilm and Apple launched new products Kodak filed law suit after law suit over patent infringements. Successive management teams failed to deal with the growing crisis of being in a dramatically shifting marketplace. Where one-time rival Fujifilm moved into LCD screen technology and even adapting its chemicals for the pharmaceuticals industry, Kodak continued to keep film at the heart of its business in the mistaken belief that it should continue to base itself around its business heritage. During my career I spent four years in the debt recovery division of a major financial services institution. In my experience, businesses fail for two main reasons poor leadership and/or poor sales systems. In this case, the cause of the failure of one of the worlds greatest companies must be placed squarely at the door of poor leadership. The following two areas should be considered: Autocratic leadership: It is never really a good sign that the Chairman and CEO is one and the same person. This smacks of hierarchical, self-indulgent and autocratic leadership. This can create a culture where the talent within the organisation is no longer listened to and ultimately the best people leave, leaving behind a tired and old fashioned board of directors who fail make well informed decisions. Collaboration: Where companies fail to collaborate, they risk being excluded from developments in the marketplace and kept at arms length by their competitors. Theres a great saying by Sun-tzu the Chinese military strategist (circa 400 BC), that is so true in the world of todays global economy. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. Kodak became so fiercely protective of its patents that it completely took the eye off the ball that the world was moving on at such a pace. My hope is that every CEO and leader is a position of responsibility will have the foresight, vision and courage to question the strategy they have for their company. Have you or your organisation become a little stuck in your ways? When was the last time you gathered your teams together and really listened to their views on the direction of the business? How close are you to your competitors? Do you know what they are up to? What is your Hedgehog?.