DISCOVERY RESEARCH REEMERGES IN DUPONT

Alternative corporate strategies of growth and of consolidation result in a changing focus for research and development. Over the past 70 ye ars, the DuPont Company has passed through four recurring cycles, each lasting 15-20 years. Within each cycle, the emphasis shifts from a pe riod of discovery research to a later period of consolidation. It is t he interplay between these phases that has shaped today's DuPont Compa ny. The cause for this regularity in the cycles remains a puzzle. If h istory repeats itself, a new cycle is beginning and DuPont is on the v erge of another burst of discovery research.