In 1931, during one of the worst economic crisis in U.S. history, Du Pont announced the opening of an innovative synthetic rubber product - neoprene. However, at the time of the announcement, Du Pont had no neoprene for sale. Production capacity is still being built and production remained at the laboratory scale. Synthetic rubber was developed in Russia, Germany and even the United States before, but large-scale production has never taken off. Du Pont will be announcements and public disclosure of basic science to raise the barriers to commercialization? What made Du Pont so sure that he can succeed in this uncertain time? "Hide
by Tom Nicholas, Felipe Fernandez Tamega Source: Harvard Business School 20 pages. Publication Date: 01 December 2009. Prod. #: 810084-PDF-ENG
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