How Decision Science Can Help You Make Better Choices
When I was a teenager, my father would unfailingly surprise me with a Kodak disposable camera on special occasions. Jittery with anticipation, I would rip open the cardboard box and stick the camera in my pocket, ready at the drop of a hat to immortalize the day’s events on film. Once the film was finished, I would run to the store where I would carefully fill out the details on the paper envelope before dropping my entire camera into its contents. I would wait, with bated breath, until I could finally flip through my assortment of images, reliving the moment with each new and exciting photo.
Kodak was a ubiquitous part of my childhood, its complete market dominance reflected in my many photos with the company watermark carefully stored in an assortment of shoe boxes and photo albums. Suddenly, and shockingly, the company seemed to disappear. What happened to this once-monumental photo industry giant?
The answer, it turns out, boils down to a few ill-fated decisions. Despite the fact that Kodak built the first digital SRL camera in 1989 and patented the technology, the company grossly underestimated the impending digital revolution. By not fully embracing the digital camera and choosing to stick to its classical core film and developing business, Kodak lost big. The company declared bankruptcy in 2012 and, although they were…
