Sometimes less is more. Nearly five years ago, Shell Chemicals, a conglomerate of more than 70 companies, developed a new operating model and has so far divested more than 40% of its assets, decreased its businesses by half and reduced its sites from 54 to 18 to create a better portfolio. The company also shed its workforce from 21,000 to 9,000 through downsizing and divestitures. Now, all that work is starting to pay off. “We need to get back and be a top player, but we still have a lot of w...