Future belongs to the real innovators: Rewards for long‐term thinking are clear

The idea that investors are only interested in short‐term results carries more than a grain of truth. It does, however, begin to look a little bit shaky when the fortunes of DuPont are examined. The US chemical company’s shares are underachievers compared to those of 3M. And it is 3M which can claim to have more successfully nurtured long‐term products: DuPont gets a quarter of its revenue from products introduced during the past five years. By contrast, 3M can point to a third of sales from lines introduced during the last four years.