Internal Entrepreneurship at the Dow Chemical Co.
OVERVIEW
The Dow Chemical Company was a leader company in science and technology, offering plastic and agriculture products in 2002. However, from 1995, Dow Chemical Company had ever lost its profit for several years especially in 1998. Dow Chemical Company tried to stop the decreasing so that it launched an initiative ‘E-epoxy.com venture’ in 2000. The purpose of this project was earning more small customers and spot market customers to increase the market shares.
STRENGTH
1. Epoxy was a specialty, high margin business. The top 20% of its global customers have generated 80% of its revenue. Dow Chemical Company can take this advantage to expand the business oversea.
2. Epoxy was a creative online channel in the market. It was very convince for not only local customers but also global customers to purchase products online without calling or faxing.
3. Dow Chemical Company would be the first mover using online system to process the orders. Moreover, the cost of launching this online system was not expensive. Using this system could lead Dow Chemical Company to the head position in electronic marketplace and ahead of other traditional competitors.
4. It was more flexible for managers to use online system to attract more customers. For example, Telford can provide promotion code to some particular customers via E-mail. Some customers might feel interesting and order products on E-epoxy.com because of special price.
5. Telford is an experienced employee who has worked in Dow Chemical Company for many years. He has exceptional ability to understand stakeholders’ thought and was aggressive to operate Epoxy project.
WEAKNESS
1. Although customers can order products online, Dow Chemical Company still needed to contact with customers to clarify and confirm the order sometimes. It would increase the labor cost and decrease the order process efficiency.
2. Capacity utilization was a problem as well. The capacities of epoxy were in the range of 30 ktpa to over
The Dow Chemical Company was a leader company in science and technology, offering plastic and agriculture products in 2002. However, from 1995, Dow Chemical Company had ever lost its profit for several years especially in 1998. Dow Chemical Company tried to stop the decreasing so that it launched an initiative ‘E-epoxy.com venture’ in 2000. The purpose of this project was earning more small customers and spot market customers to increase the market shares.
STRENGTH
1. Epoxy was a specialty, high margin business. The top 20% of its global customers have generated 80% of its revenue. Dow Chemical Company can take this advantage to expand the business oversea.
2. Epoxy was a creative online channel in the market. It was very convince for not only local customers but also global customers to purchase products online without calling or faxing.
3. Dow Chemical Company would be the first mover using online system to process the orders. Moreover, the cost of launching this online system was not expensive. Using this system could lead Dow Chemical Company to the head position in electronic marketplace and ahead of other traditional competitors.
4. It was more flexible for managers to use online system to attract more customers. For example, Telford can provide promotion code to some particular customers via E-mail. Some customers might feel interesting and order products on E-epoxy.com because of special price.
5. Telford is an experienced employee who has worked in Dow Chemical Company for many years. He has exceptional ability to understand stakeholders’ thought and was aggressive to operate Epoxy project.
WEAKNESS
1. Although customers can order products online, Dow Chemical Company still needed to contact with customers to clarify and confirm the order sometimes. It would increase the labor cost and decrease the order process efficiency.
2. Capacity utilization was a problem as well. The capacities of epoxy were in the range of 30 ktpa to over