DuPont Rejiggers Business Operations

Preparing DuPont to come out of the recession as a more agile competitor, CEO Ellen J. Kullman is consolidating the firm’s 23 businesses into 14, eliminating five group vice president positions, and adding a new reporting segment, performance chemicals, to the five it has now. DuPont, she says, will focus on emerging markets and on growing demand for alternative energy, food, and products that ensure personal and environmental safety. The changes, which become effective on Oct. 1 and include a long list of executive reassignments, mark Kullman’s first major effort to put her stamp on the firm since becoming CEO in January.