Unlikely Victory: How General Electric Succeeded in the Chemical Industry

Acknowledgments ix

1. What's General Electric Doing in the Chemical Business? 1

2. Early Years of GE Chemistry 1900 - 1948 9
Electrical Insulation; Silicones; GE Forms a Chemical Division

3. GE Silicones: 1940 - 1964 27
Forms Shaky Start to Successful Business

4. Loctite 45
An Invention that Got Away

5. Synthetic Diamond 49
GE Break-Through Caps Two Centuries of Research

6. Lexan Polycarbonate: 1953 - 1968 69
The "Unbreakable" Thermoplastic

7. Noryl Thermoplastic: 1956 - 1968 83
Victory Snatched from Jaws of Defeat

8. GE Engineering Plastics: 1968 - 1987 91
Headlong Growth to World Leadership

9. Growth by Means of a Major Acquisition: 1988 - 1991 113
ABS Plastics Up for Bid; A New Polycarbonate Process

10. Laminates and Insulating Materials 123
GE Core-businesses Decline in Importance

11. GE Silicones: 1965 - 1998 139
Sealants Leadership; Word Participation

12. GE Engineering Plastics: 1992 - 1998 139
After Recession, Growth Resumes

13. People Make the Difference 159
Four Scientist: Eugene G. Rochow, H. Tracy Hill and the GE Diamond Research Team, Daniel W. Fox, Allan S. Hay.
Five Managers: Abraham L. Marshall, Charles E. Reed, John F. Wells, Jr., Glen H. Hiner, Gary L. Rogers

14. Summation 178
How Big an Achievement? How Attained? Nine Strategies

Glossary 195

A. Thermoplastic Polymers, Compounds, and Blends 195

B. Trade-names, Companies, and Chemical Terms 196

C. GE Organization Notes 199

Chapter References 201

Names Index 211

Subject Index 215