DuPont In this chapter, you were introduced to the DuPont framework. Let us take a moment and apply that framework to the DuPont Company. DuPont is a company made up of many business segments and has the challenge of how to manage the diverse set of businesses operating under the control of the DuPont management team. In its 2005 annual report, DuPont described its business segments as follows:

The company has six reporting segments. Five of the segments constitute the company’s growth platforms: Agriculture & Nutrition; Coatings & Color Technologies; Electronic & Communication Technologies; Performance Materials; and Safety & Protection. The Pharmaceuticals segment is limited to income from the company’s interest in two drugs, Cozaar and Hyzaar.

Summary segment results for 2005 are as follows:

1. Using segment pretax operating income as a substitute for total company net income, tell which segment has the highest return on sales? The lowest?
2. Which segment has the highest asset turnover? The lowest?

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Agriculture Coatings Electronic & 2005 & Nutrition & Color Technologies Communication Technologies Per- formance Pharma- Materials ceuticals Protection Others Safety & Total segment sales $6,394 $6,234 $3,506 $6,750 $ - $5,230 $ 52 Pretax operating income (loss) 862 564 532 523 751 980 (78) Segment net assets 6,084 3,633 2,189 3,563 169 2,686 148