Research Frontiers for the Chemical Industry: Report on the Third Annual CHF-SCI Innovation Day Warren G. Schlinger Symposium

Book excerpt: Competition is becoming ever fiercer in the chemical industry as new firms from such emerging economies as China and India enter the market and as technological advances, potential new regulations, and rising energy and feedstock costs shrink profit margins. Yet chemical firms are also discovering that cooperation, even between competitors, is necessary for meeting today¿s challenges. Today¿s market dilemmas and innovation systems are too complex for any one org. Successful networks must include competitors working in partnership. This report describes a variety of partnerships among chemical and materials firms that combine cooperation and competition in novel, forward-looking ways.