Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R and D, 1902-1980

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Cambridge University Press, 1988 M10 28 - 756 pages
Based on voluminous corporate records and extensive interviews with key employees, Science and Corporate Strategy: Du Pont R and D, 1902-1980 provides a comprehensive, critical study of research and development in a large US corporation. Du Pont was among a handful of US corporations that established formal research and development laboratories at the turn of the century to improve competitive positions in their respective industries. Initially, Du Pont's executives viewed R&D as an important though not central part of the corporations strategy. However the gains made by the company's laboratories soon demonstrated that R&D would be a critical ingredient in the firm's success. The industrial research and development laboratory became a major part of corporate structure; science became a central part of corporate strategy.
 

Contents

Introduction I
1
19021921 II
11
Reorganization and Diversification
56
World War I and the Venture into Dyestuffs
76
Decentralization
98
Creating a Chemical Empire
119
The Ammonia Department
183
The Case of Titanium Dioxide
210
Du Pont and Synthetic Fibers
384
New Directions in Fibers RD
423
Biological Chemicals
445
Du Pont
474
Challenge and Response
503
The New Venture Era
509
The Photo Products
541
Toxicological and Environmental Research
555

Better Things for Better Living through Chemistry
221
The Development of Neoprene
249
Chemical Engineering
275
The Conduct of Research
286
Chemistry Enshrined
327
The Pursuit of Science at Du Pont
365
The 1970s
573
Science and Corporate Strategy at Du Pont
593
Appendixes
602
Major Acquisitions of the Du Pont Company
608
Essay on Sources
729
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