DuPont Business Strategy: Competitive Advantage and Comparative Advantage
Porter's Forces
PEST Analysis
Matching Company Capabilities and the External Environment
DuPont's Competitive Position
SWOT Analysis and Mann's Country Profile
Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations
Porter's Forces
PEST Analysis
Matching Company Capabilities and the External Environment
DuPont's Competitive Position
SWOT Analysis and Mann's Country Profile
Discussion, Conclusion, and Recommendations
The DuPont Company is renowned as one of the best known manufacturing facilities in the International community. It was started in 1802 by the French Immigrant Eleuthere Irenee du Pont de Nemours and later became known as the E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company1. The company has several brands that have become household named such as Teflon®, Sliverstone®, Kevlar® fiber, and Mylar® polyester films. DuPont is an International giant, operating in 70 countries with nearly 175 manufacturing and processing facilities. The facilities manufacture a number of products including 140 chemical and specialty plants, 27 natural gas processing plants, and 8 petroleum refineries. The product offerings of DuPont are diverse and serve a wide variety of markets.
It has not always been easy for the DuPont Company and at the beginning of the twentieth century the company fell on difficult times. DuPont then implemented an innovative management strategy that included backward and forward integration such as distribution and supply channels. This made DuPont the first vertically integrated business and soon the business was prosperous again.
In addition to this vertical integration, DuPont realized that with the number of remote divisions and global businesses that it operated a new strategy would be needed to make the vertical integration sustainable as well. DuPont maintains its strategic position by continuously implementing management plans and identifying how plans compare with actual performance, and analyzing results, rewarding performance and identifying problems. DuPont understands that this is the key to operating and maintaining the large international base that makes them the number one giant in specialty chemical products. DuPont's strategic management technique sets the standard for large international businesses and many others have developed strategic management plans based on the DuPont example.
Problem Statement
The difficulty in any strategic management plan is determining if it will be viable in response to current and future market trends. DuPont has implemented a plan that includes constant review and critique of the current strategic plan to evaluate the current and projected future needs of the company. This has given DuPont a key advantage over its competitors and if they continue, will be the key to retaining their top marketshare position in the future. The current strategic plan has served DuPont well in the past. However, global conditions are changing and the profile of the chemical industry is changing as well. The problem that will be the focus of the current research will be to determine if DuPont's strategic plan will be adequate to maintain their current position, and if it is not, what changes need to be made so that DuPont's strategic plan will tailor company goals and strategies to meet the needs of a changing marketplace.
Hypothesis
DuPont has managed each of its global enterprises as if it were its own micro company. This has been an effective management practice in the past and has allowed managers in the various locations to adjust to changing local conditions. Indications are that the chemical sector is moving towards a greater movement towards consolidation and that rising production costs are effecting all of the players, DuPont included. The key to remaining profitable will be to effectively manage costs while increasing sales and finding new and emerging markets. This research will support that hypothesis that DuPont has been employing a strategy that has effectively met its needs in the past and that this same strategy will accommodate them in the future as well.
Rationale
The rationale behind this study is that DuPont has developed a management strategy that is locally flexible. The market is constantly changing and strategic management cannot remain tied to a pet idea, no matter how well it worked when it was conceived. DuPont has remained flexible in its management plant and this has allowed them to adjust to changing market conditions. They constantly evaluate and re-evaluate current philosophies and implement the necessary changes to remain competitive. This research will support the current philosophy utilized by current DuPont management.
Data Collection
This research will be qualitative in nature and will rely on an analysis of the available information on DuPont's current strategic management plan as well as information available on the current market conditions. The...
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