Dow Chemical Corporation

Essay by popdaddy008University, Master's April 2004

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Dow Chemical Corporation

With annual sales of more than $20 billion, Dow Chemical provides more than 2,400 product families and services. Such corporate success can only mean that Dow Chemical has developed a corporate structure and strategy that has helped them succeed. Why else would they be the fifth largest chemical company in the world? In the past five years, Dow Chemical has been forced to make many decisions regarding their goods and services.

Dow CEO, William Stavropoulos, asserts that these are changes that must be made. He states that: "Because of globalization, technology, and deregulation, if you're not world competitive in everything you do, you're going to lose in the long term." The changes Dow Chemical Corporation has made in recent years are important to the success of their corporation. However, it is also the structure and decision-making style of the company's leaders that will determines how successful the changes will be.

Let's examine some of those decision-making styles, as well as their relationship to the corporate structure of Dow Chemical Corporation.

For the most part, Dow Chemical Corporations function within a collective-participative decision making style where people are educated and informed and then allowed to make decisions with regard for the company's values and goals. This style of decision making deliberately asks and encourages others to participate in the decision making process. William Stavropoulos explains part of Dow's strategy: "Our whole thought process was that the more information people have, the better the decisions that people will be able to make - and they will be able to make them on the spot...speed is critical in a globalized world."Furthermore, Dow Chemical Corporation asserts that they "will seek input and promote partnerships between industry, government, non-government organizations, communities and other key stakeholders to focus on responsible solutions to...