Another major factor in the transformation of the 1990s was the focus on reducing costs and improving productivity. This was necessary to give the company the flexibility for competitive pricing and to grow market share and earnings. The globalization trend continued vigorously in the 1990s, with new plants opening in Spain, Singapore, Korea, Taiwan, and China, and a major technical service center opening in Japan. This characterization is only partly appropriate, because while DuPont has changed, there are many things that remain the same. However, in many ways DuPont is new and different.
Jobs are less structured.
People on production lines plan and implement process improvements. People from DuPont manufacturing sites meet with their counterparts at customer plants to find out how to do a better job. DuPont people with ideas for new products and businesses are encouraged to commercialize these businesses, and then run them. That was true in 1802. And it is just as true today.