ABSTRACT
Between 1902 and 1929, Pierre du Pont took over and restructured two failing companies, the gunpowder maker E.I.Du Pont de Nemours and the car maker General Motors. In each case, he put into place a management system and organisation that turned the firms into competitive giants that dominated their respective industries. Often overshadowed at General Motors by his friend and successor Alfred P. Sloan, du Pont played an important role in establishing the organisation and systems that were to be so successful under Sloan’s leadership.
