Polaroid’s steady decline illustrates how once-vibrant value can ossify.
Founded by inventor Edwin Land, Polaroid rose to prominence by pioneering a series of exciting technologies like instant photography, and its employees prided themselves on the company’s R&D leadership.
But over time, Polaroid’s devotion to excellent research turned into a disdain for other business activities.
Marketing and finance, in particular, were considered relatively unimportant so long as the company had cutting-edge technology.
Valuing technological breakthroughs above all else, Polaroid’s managers continued to invest heavily in research without adequately considering how customers would respond.
Not surprisingly, sales stagnated.
Today the company is worth only one-third of what a bidder offered in an acquisition attempt in 1989.