Ch.6: Cost Leadership

Cost leadership means leveraging you advantages to decrease your costs of doing business below those of the competition. One of those advantages for Dupont is its sheer size and diversity. It is capable of leaveraging its economies of scale to influence large scale purchasing and supply chain management. So what does the major division and restructuring Dupont mean for the power that comes from its size and influence? In late December, Dupont announced that it would be splitting into two individual corporations, one dedicated to agriculture and the other dedicated chemicals. The new chemical company is to be called Chemours, while Dupont will keep its historic name and brand for the agriculture business. The greater impact is yet unknown, but many questions are left on the table. It was not long ago that such a stunt of separation occurred with Netflix. How will this limit Dupont's ability to leverage a diverse product portfolio between chemicals and agriculture?