Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • December 2009 (Revised April 2012)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Neoprene

By: Tom Nicholas and Felipe Tamega Fernandes
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:20
ShareBar

Abstract

In 1931, during one of the worst economic crises in U.S. history, Du Pont announced the discovery of an innovative rubber synthetic product—neoprene. Yet at the time of the announcement, Du Pont did not have any neoprene to sell. Manufacturing facilities were still being erected and production remained at laboratory scale. Rubber synthetics had been developed in Russia, Germany, and even in the United States before, but large-scale production had never taken off. Would Du Pont's announcement and public disclosure of the basic science lift the barriers to commercialization? What made Du Pont so confident that it could succeed at this uncertain time?

Keywords

Financial Crisis; Business History; Innovation and Invention; Product Development; Risk and Uncertainty; Science-Based Business; Commercialization; Chemical Industry; United States

Citation

Nicholas, Tom, and Felipe Tamega Fernandes. "Neoprene." Harvard Business School Case 810-084, December 2009. (Revised April 2012.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Author

Tom Nicholas

Entrepreneurial Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States

    By: Tom Nicholas
    • August 2022
    • Faculty Research

    Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry

    By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber
    • July 2022
    • Faculty Research

    A Soul and a Service: North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance

    By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko
More from the Authors
  • Human Capital and the Managerial Revolution in the United States By: Tom Nicholas
  • Air Wars: Deregulating the U.S. Airline Industry By: Tom Nicholas and James Weber
  • A Soul and a Service: North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance By: Tom Nicholas and John Masko
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College