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PLSC 270: Capitalism: Success, Crisis and Reform

Lecture 08 - Mortal Life Cycle of a Great Technology. Professor Rae uses the case of Polaroid cameras to highlight key features of the capitalist system. Polaroid's business model, corporate culture, and firm trajectory are discussed. Important firm decisions are analyzed, including product offerings and mergers. Professor Rae explores factors that led to Polaroid's demise, including the company's relentless focus on scientific innovation at the expense of market research and product development. Polaroid was unable to keep up with market changes, such as the advent of the one-hour photo processing and the revolution in digital photography. (from oyc.yale.edu)

Lecture 08 - Mortal Life Cycle of a Great Technology

Time Lecture Chapters
[00:00:00] 1. Video: Former CEOs of Polaroid
[00:07:24] 2. Case Discussion: Polaroid: Creation and Destruction Inside the Family Camera
[00:28:43] 3. Polaroid: Vertical Integration
[00:32:30] 4. Polaroid: Why Did the Company Fail?
[00:42:47] 5. Polaroid: What Could Have Been Done to Save the Company?

References
Lecture 8 - Mortal Life Cycle of a Great Technology
Instructor: Professor Douglas W. Rae. Transcript [html]. Audio [mp3]. Download Video [mov].

Go to the Course Home or watch other lectures:

Lecture 01 - Exploding Worlds and Course Introduction
Lecture 02 - Thomas Malthus and Inevitable Poverty
Lecture 03 - Counting the Fingers of Adam Smith's Invisible Hand
Lecture 04 - Karl Marx, Joseph Schumpeter, and an Economic System Incapable of Coming to Rest
Lecture 05 - Property, Freedom, and the Essential Job of Government
Lecture 06 - Rise of the Joint Stock Corporation
Lecture 07 - Can You Sell a Scheme for Operating on Beating Hearts and Make a Business of It?
Lecture 08 - Mortal Life Cycle of a Great Technology
Lecture 09 - Guest Lecture by Jim Alexander: Managing the Crooked E
Lecture 10
Lecture 11 - Institutions and Incentives in Mortgages and Mortgage-Backed Securities
Lecture 12 - Accountability and Greed in Investment Banking
Lecture 13 - The Mortgage Meltdown in Cleveland
Lecture 14 - The Political and Judicial Elements of American Capitalism
Lecture 15 - Mass Affluence Comes to the Western World
Lecture 16 - Braudel's Bell Jar
Lecture 17 - The Case of Mister Balram Halwai
Lecture 18 - Microfinance in South India
Lecture 19 - Plight of the Bottom Billion
Lecture 20 - Policy Targets for Capitalist Development
Lecture 21 - Guest Lecture by Paolo Zanonni, Part I
Lecture 22 - Guest Lecture by Paolo Zanonni, Part II
Lecture 23 - Marrying the Devil in Texas
Lecture 24 - Capitalist Enterprise and Clean Water for a Bolivian City