BUILDING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE THROUGH FUNCTIONAL LEVEL STRATEGY AT KODAK
In the last several years, Kodak has adopted a growth-through-acquisition strategy at the same time that it has divested itself from products that do not fit its current core focus. There are three product lines on which the company concentrates: photographic equipment (including film and cameras), medical imaging and commercial printing. The company has acquired other companies in these fields to help it gain rapid entry to the markets, and it has also invested heavily in research and development to build its product lines. It eliminated long-term products that were no longer meeting revenue and profitability goalsùsuch as the slide projectorùand has streamlined its operations both in the United States and abroad (Arner & Tiplady 96).
The company has introduced quality practices into the organization that are designed to promote quality products and service. In 1997, the company introduced a lean production technique based on that used at Toyota. The success of that technique, which builds on continuous improvement principles, was spread across the entire company in 2003 with all employees expected to participate in finding ways to improve processes so that the company is able to meet customer requirements as well as company goals more efficiently and effectively. The company maintains a market lead in the digital camera market, partly as a result of its dedication to quality, and it is also recognized as a leader in medical imaging and commercial printing, again with the quality of its products and services often cited as key to its success (Kher B10).
The company's recent innovation record has been lackluster. Once recognized for innovationùindeed, with creating the popularity of photography for the average Americanùthe company has struggled to enter
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