Dupont Case Study Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Dupont Case Study - Research Paper Example The prospect of a company-wide decline in revenues was made even more palpable with the lead decline in revenues in a business segment involved in the production and sale of titanium dioxide. That initial prudence paid off somewhat, as the case notes, with ready plans for laying off 6500 employees when the scenario of revenues tanking by 20 percent became reality, even as the need to further trim the workforce by 2,000 employees more also became clear. Moreover, it also became clear that staff needed to take time off without pay, in order to realize cost savings of one billion dollars. Meanwhile, as the new CEO, there was the seen need to preserve the R&D budget at 1.4 billion dollars (Reuters; Case Facts). The case also notes that the company has fared poorly compared to competition in terms of returns on stock investments over the past 25 years, ranking in the last third, and the overriding concern is to come up with an appropriate strategy to change this dismal state of affairs. T here are several options, one being either to continue with the current focus on chemistry and chemicals, another being diversifying focus from a few grand plans to many smaller bets and plans and then later on focusing on those plans and bets that â€Å"pop† so to speak. From an operational point of view, strategic options include putting emphasis on either people, the development of products, or the state of the company's finances and financial standing. Finally, as discussed above, the strategic direction dilemma involves either going on with focusing on one chief goal and one strategy for the whole firm, or diversifying the focus, so to speak, and substituting many different goals for different aspects of the organization in place of that one laser-focused goal, as is currently the case (Case Facts; Reuters; Google; Lewis; DuPont). II. Strategic Options As discussed above, the strategic options include retaining the company's focus on chemicals and on its current lines of businesses, or diversifying and splitting the bets so to speak, directionally and in terms of investments and focus, expanding the focus areas and being in a sense opportunistic and on the watch for new revenue streams and sources of revenue growth and profits. There is not much sense it seems in staying the course. First, compared to competition, the company has not fared well in terms of returns over the past 25 years. Moreover, the financial crisis has just made it clearer that staying where they are would not get them out of the steep revenue drop hole that they found themselves in. In other words, keeping the focus on chemicals and the current lines of business would mean jeopardizing the very existence of the firm. The crisis brought to the surface the need for change. Diversification into many other areas seemed a wiser course of action. On the other hand, this does not come without risks. There needed to be prioritization in terms of research and development focus. Moreover , the compromised revenue position of the firm meant that they could not possibly go