Reference no: EM131497865

Question: OD IN PRACTICE: HOW DUPONT SHORTENED ITS STOVE-PIPES 18 E. I. DuPont de Nemours and Company is a diversified chemical manufacturer. It produces, among other products, Freon for refrigerators and coal from West Virginia. Its chemical plants are located worldwide. OPERATING PROBLEMS AT THE INDUSTRIAL POLYMERS DIVISION The Industrial Polymers Division (IPD), gives an indication of how DuPont has been able to remain successful while other large corporations are faltering.When the IPD was created, it pulled together products that accounted for annual sales of $1 billion. The products placed in this division had been labeled "mature" or "outdated" by many employees.The division had problems from the beginning, including low morale, high costs, low productivity, and an old product line.The division's top and middle management understood the need to improve its operations, but those lower in the division did not understand. A SEA CHANGE The IPD head, Joe Miller, decided after much research that only a major change would turn the division around in the long run. In the first few months after the division's creation, Miller held a series of meetings, with the help of internal consultants, where IDP's mission statement was formulated.

The document was less than a page long. There were several things going for adoption of the document. People were aware of the commonplace performance of the products now located within the division, and they had a desire to turn things around.There was a widely held belief that the survival of the division and the jobs of the people who worked there hung in the balance. Personnel cutbacks through early retirement plans had already occurred. DEVELOPING A VISION About 300 employees, including managers and professionals of all levels, attended additional meetings to further develop the mission statement. A five-point vision statement was written based on the information compiled at the meetings. The vision statement was presented and discussed at a later meeting attended by 350 technicians, representatives from manufacturing, secretaries, supervisors, and professionals. Out of this meeting came ideas to implement team efforts, self-management, and partnerships with suppliers and customers. NO STOVE-PIPE HIERARCHY As an example of the changes, one of the plants IDP operates has only about 70 employees. This is a fraction of the number of workers required at a traditional facility of comparable size. The polymer specialists are also generalists at various tasks. Everyone does more than one job. Many employees change assignments daily, which gives the plant the ability to adapt quickly to changing needs. There is no customary "stove-pipe" hierarchy of supervisors and no formal departments.

1. What did IDP do to build acceptance within the lower ranks of the change program?

2. What were the driving forces to change?