Kodak was a household name. Everyone either knew of Kodak or owned one of their cameras. Their success was admired by brands worldwide. Their success didn’t last forever. Over the course of a few short months, the brand started to disappear. Other brands, like Sony and Canon, took center stage. It wasn’t too long before younger generations were asking, “What’s a Kodak?” Kodak failed. But how did such a successful company fall so hard in a very short period of time? The answer has a lot to do with their resistance to change. Resistance to Change Kodak invented the first digital camera in 1975. Most people don’t know this because it was kept secret. Why? They were afraid if they let anyone know about it, their film-based business would end. Unfortunately, not releasing that information ended up leading them to their fear. Sony and Canon jumped on the chance to [...]

The bookstore giant Borders at one time operated over 500 stores and employed 20,000 people.  From these highs, the company crashed quickly - so quickly that most people had no idea it was going under until it did. The debts were high, and the income wasn’t high enough. No one, including publishers, wanted the bookstore to die, but it couldn’t be resuscitated.   What Happened to Borders It started in the 1970s in Ann Arbor. Tom and Louis Borders created an inventory tracking system that was as intelligent as computer systems allowed at the time. In addition to their books, the Borders’ brothers licensed out their inventory system starting in the 1980s. This enabled them to expand their store into Michigan and Philadelphia.  From their they launched nationwide. In 1991, Borders was sold to KMart, who was interested in both their stores and their inventory system. This was the start [...]