Situation

 

• An $800+ M chemicals business was unprofitable, had structural cost disadvantage, and no feasible path to gaining cost advantage.  Products were semi-commodity.  Margin pressure
• No real new product introductions within last 4 years
• Desire to escape inevitable commoditization and asset sale if no action taken

 

Actions Taken

 

• Built and ran a New Ventures group
• Refined and implemented process and tools for conceiving of, refining, building, and scaling new ventures and breakthrough products/applications
• Staffed up New Venture organization of 6
• Filled new venture idea pipeline 
• Began development of specific new ventures

 

Results

 

• Several breakthrough new ventures entered the “Venture Start” phase
• # of Venture Plans and Venture Sketches met target
• Pipeline stoked with 20 later stage breakthrough product and business ideas and several hundred early stage ideas