The Fall of Polariod

The Fall of Polariod

Polaroid Corporation was founded in 1937 by Edwin Land (Wikipedia 2011). Polaroid's first staple product was polarized sunglasses. The purpose of the eye wear was to reduce the glare in sunglasses. Shortly after World War II, Land had taken some family photos, and his daughter asked can she see the photos now, as opposed to waiting a week to have the film developed. Land then invented the instant camera, it produced photographs within minutes. The invention was a huge success. The instant camera was Polaroid's core product in the 70's and 80's. In the 90's, there was a huge shift in the optics industry and the Polaroid Corporation filed for bankruptcy in 2001 and 2008. In this essay, I will discuss the fall of Polaroid Corporation and how organizational behavior theories can explain the failure.

I.The Fall of Polaroid Corporation

In 1948, Polaroid introduced the world to the instant camera. The original camera weighed 5 pounds, sold for $89.75, the film was $1.75 for 8 exposures, with 1st year sales of $5 million (FundingUniverse 2011). Polaroid's name became synonymous with instant photography. Polaroid's theory was to sell cheap cameras and make money off of the expensive film. In the late 1950's, the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. The camera was used by consumers and businesses. By the 1970's Polaroid had sold more than 1 billion instant cameras (Roberts, 2008). It had a monopoly on the market in regards to instant photography. Kodak tried to enter the market but was forced out by Polaroid due to patent infringement. Polaroid was a household name.

In the 1980's sales began to decline. In order to try to keep up with the videocassette, Polaroid invented Polavison. Polavision was an instant movie system that included a camera, film, and a movie viewer; the movies lasted 2 ½ minutes and had no sound (FundingUniverse 2011). By this time, the videocassette was too popular and Polavision failed. The market also became saturated with 35 mm cameras. The 1980's also brought in the era of the 1 hour photo. Customers no longer had to wait longer periods of time to get film developed. The 1 hour photo also gave customers better quality photographs with the option of duplicating pictures with negatives.

In the 1990's the world was introduced to modern technology, including the digital camera and digital photographs. In 1996, Polaroid abandoned a venture into medical imaging, an area in which the company had invested in $800 million (FundingUniverse, 2011). That same year it was also one of the first manufacturers of the digital camera, the PDC-2000, they failed to capitalize on the market (Wikipedia, 2011). Digital cameras gave you higher quality photographs with the ability to see the picture right after it was taken. Sales of the Polaroid camera would continue to decline.

In 2001, Polaroid filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy. It was bought by Bank One and still goes on to exist as Polaroid Corporation. In 2008, the Polaroid Corporation filed bankruptcy again. The company was under criminal investigation of its parent company the Petters Group (Wikipedia, 2011). In the last few years, the company has stopped making instant cameras and selling Polaroid film period.

II.How Organizational Behavior Theories Can Explain the Failure

Organizational behavior is the field of study that investigates the impact that individuals, groups , and structures have on behavior within an organization, for the purpose of improving the organization's effectiveness. We must examine how managers and leaders in Polaroid contributed to the organization's failure.

The main reason that Polaroid failed is because management failed to adapt with technology. Management failed to understand the