24/7 Wall Street ran a piece this afternoon highlighting some- in their opinion- some of the worst business blunders of all times. The entire article is a good read. However, a few of the cases jumped out at me as good examples of companies who were at the receiving end of disruptive innovation, and felt the ill affects accordingly. A few notables include....
4. Digital Equipment Corp.
> Years on Fortune 500: 25
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 27 (1990, 1993)
> Peak revenue: $14.6 billion (1996)
> Current status: Bought out
The fortunes of Digital Equipment Corp., maker of commercial electronics known as minicomputers, began to decline in the 1990s. DEC was successful because its products were priced below mainframes, which were made primarily by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). DEC controlled the minicomputer market from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s but failed to enter the workstation and personal computer markets quickly. When DEC finally decided to get into PCs, it tried to use its own operating platform, VMS, without success. Meanwhile, companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Sun Microsystems were able to gain market share in workstations by using UNIX operating system, which allowed for many more software applications than VMS. Meanwhile, computers from Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which were based on the Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) blueprint and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) OS, began to dominate the PC market in the late 1980s. Between 1991 and 1996, DEC lost money every year except for one, including more than $2 billion in 1992 and 1994. After joining the Fortune 500 in 1974, the company peaked in 1993 at 27th. In just six years, it fell to 118th place before Compaq bought it out in 1998.
5. Kmart
> Years on Fortune 500: 11
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 15 (1995)
> Peak revenue: $37.0 billion (2000)
> Current status: Merged
Kmart’s big mistake in the mid-to-late 1990s was to try to compete with Walmart on price. Walmart had a supply chain system known as “just-in-time” inventory, which allowed the retailer to restock shelves efficiently. Kmart failed to implement a similar system, which meant consumers became frustrated when stores ran out of goods. Between June 1998 and June 2000, Walmart’s stock price rose 82% as Kmart’s fell 63%. While new management at the turn of the decade worked to improve efficiency, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and shut hundreds of stores. Kmart merged with Sears Roebuck in 2005.
8. Kodak
> Years on Fortune 500: 58
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 18 (1989, 1990, 1992)
> Peak revenue: $20.6 billion (1992)
> Status: In bankruptcy
Eastman Kodak developed the digital camera in 1975 but did not invest in the technology for fear it would undercut sales of its film business — Kodak’s executives did not foresee the eventual decline of film. Only when film’s popularity began to wane in the mid-1990s in favor of digital photography did the company push into the digital market. But competitors such as Fuji and Sony entered the market faster and Kodak was never able to fully capitalize on the product it actually invented. By 2001, the company was in second-place to Sony in the digital camera market, but it lost $60 on every camera sold. By 2010, it ranked sixth in the digital camera space, which itself began to dwindle with the advent of smartphones and tablets. Eastman Kodak shares peaked in 1997 at more than $94 per share, proof that it often takes a number of years for poor decisions to destroy huge corporations. By 2011, the stock had dropped to 65 cents per share, and the company filed for bankruptcy in December of that year. Kodak, always one the Fortune 500 companies, might not even make the 2013 list.
Each of these companies failed, in part, because they were entrenched competitors who ignored up-and-coming disruptive innovators and innovations. However, when the disruptors became large enough for the companies to take notice, it was already too late to react.
4. Digital Equipment Corp.
> Years on Fortune 500: 25
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 27 (1990, 1993)
> Peak revenue: $14.6 billion (1996)
> Current status: Bought out
The fortunes of Digital Equipment Corp., maker of commercial electronics known as minicomputers, began to decline in the 1990s. DEC was successful because its products were priced below mainframes, which were made primarily by International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM). DEC controlled the minicomputer market from the mid-1960s until the early 1990s but failed to enter the workstation and personal computer markets quickly. When DEC finally decided to get into PCs, it tried to use its own operating platform, VMS, without success. Meanwhile, companies such as Hewlett-Packard Co. (NYSE: HPQ) and Sun Microsystems were able to gain market share in workstations by using UNIX operating system, which allowed for many more software applications than VMS. Meanwhile, computers from Hewlett-Packard and IBM, which were based on the Intel Corp. (NASDAQ: INTC) blueprint and Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) OS, began to dominate the PC market in the late 1980s. Between 1991 and 1996, DEC lost money every year except for one, including more than $2 billion in 1992 and 1994. After joining the Fortune 500 in 1974, the company peaked in 1993 at 27th. In just six years, it fell to 118th place before Compaq bought it out in 1998.
5. Kmart
> Years on Fortune 500: 11
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 15 (1995)
> Peak revenue: $37.0 billion (2000)
> Current status: Merged
Kmart’s big mistake in the mid-to-late 1990s was to try to compete with Walmart on price. Walmart had a supply chain system known as “just-in-time” inventory, which allowed the retailer to restock shelves efficiently. Kmart failed to implement a similar system, which meant consumers became frustrated when stores ran out of goods. Between June 1998 and June 2000, Walmart’s stock price rose 82% as Kmart’s fell 63%. While new management at the turn of the decade worked to improve efficiency, the company filed for bankruptcy in 2002 and shut hundreds of stores. Kmart merged with Sears Roebuck in 2005.
8. Kodak
> Years on Fortune 500: 58
> Peak Fortune 500 rank: 18 (1989, 1990, 1992)
> Peak revenue: $20.6 billion (1992)
> Status: In bankruptcy
Eastman Kodak developed the digital camera in 1975 but did not invest in the technology for fear it would undercut sales of its film business — Kodak’s executives did not foresee the eventual decline of film. Only when film’s popularity began to wane in the mid-1990s in favor of digital photography did the company push into the digital market. But competitors such as Fuji and Sony entered the market faster and Kodak was never able to fully capitalize on the product it actually invented. By 2001, the company was in second-place to Sony in the digital camera market, but it lost $60 on every camera sold. By 2010, it ranked sixth in the digital camera space, which itself began to dwindle with the advent of smartphones and tablets. Eastman Kodak shares peaked in 1997 at more than $94 per share, proof that it often takes a number of years for poor decisions to destroy huge corporations. By 2011, the stock had dropped to 65 cents per share, and the company filed for bankruptcy in December of that year. Kodak, always one the Fortune 500 companies, might not even make the 2013 list.
Each of these companies failed, in part, because they were entrenched competitors who ignored up-and-coming disruptive innovators and innovations. However, when the disruptors became large enough for the companies to take notice, it was already too late to react.
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