Analyzing 3M's Innovation Strategy: Commercialization and Application

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of 3M's innovation strategy, highlighting the key factors that contribute to its innovative organizational culture, such as competitiveness, customer-based production, and a supportive internal culture that fosters creativity and freedom among employees. It emphasizes the importance of the commercialization process for innovative organizations like 3M, detailing how it facilitates product improvement, quality maintenance, and effective marketing. Furthermore, the essay explores the application of similar innovative strategies in other organizations, using Samsung and LG's curved screen 4K ultra HDTVs as an example, illustrating how innovation enhances consumer satisfaction and market competitiveness. The analysis underscores the continuous need for research and development to maintain a competitive edge and meet evolving customer demands in the technology market. Desklib provides access to this essay and many more resources for students.

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3M Innovation Strategy
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1. Main factors that make the 3M innovative organization
The 3M has been compelled by various issues to become innovative in its ways to
success. The innovative organization measures are meant to win the market and to ensure that
such actions place the organization in a better position. The main factor that has led the company
to adopt its innovative strategy is because of the level of competitiveness. The company wants to
retain its position in the market and to ensure that it remains competitive (Bogers and West,
2012). The competitive advantage of the company can only be achieved by making innovation
and venturing into new ways of doing things.
Various issues make 3M to be regarded as an innovative organization. The firm has
engaged in customer-based production an innovative technique that many organizations have
entirely failed to succeed in adopting. Therefore, through the adoption, this has made it the first
organization to use such technology thus making it innovative than its rival organizations. The
organization has been involved in accomplishing product innovation ways that are prioritization,
trials, failures, and risks. The organization has prioritized its customers and have engaged in
producing products that satisfy their demands by trying all the means possible. The organization
can try and failure but pushes harder until they achieve (van Hemert, Nijkamp, and Masurel,
2013). The organization engages in taking such risk but in the knowledge that if they succeed
they will win the hearts of the customers and that is their highest level of satisfaction.
Therefore, customer satisfaction is another factor that has led the 3M organization to
become innovative in their undertaking. The organization is geared towards meeting their
customers’ demands, and such has made them engage in doing thorough research before
producing what the customer requires. In the event of research, the organization innovates new
ways of doing things and solving the problems they possess. Therefore, the research leads them

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to become innovative in one way or the other. It is the role of the management of the
organization to ensure that they perform their roles in the right manner to satisfy their customer
demands (West and Bogers, 2014). The customers’ demands must first be analyzed and the
research roles assigned to various teams in the organization who are required to provide long-
lasting solutions to such problems.
The 3M organization has engaged in becoming innovative, and its marketing department
has also geared this. The marketing department is the one that deals with the customers and
understands the demands of the customers and will pressure the production function to become
innovative to satisfy their customers’ demands since the customers have the most significant
priority in the organization (Bucherer, Eisert and Gassmann, 2012). The third factor that makes
the organization to become creative is its culture.
In conclusion, it is evident that the culture of the 3M organization is based on creativity
and freedom of employees. The employees of the 3M organization have the privilege of
exercising creativity in that they are allowed to bring new ideas to the organization. The
organization enables the employees to make mistakes while improving their concept day after
the other.
2. Importance of the commercialization process for the innovative organization
Commercialization has been throughout the lifetime of the 3M organization over the past
100 years, and this has provided more significant opportunity for the organization to expand and
venture into new activities. Commercialization ensures that the product produced is first taken to
the hands of the customers and that they are made to purchase the commodity and understand
that it is the original work of that company before other companies buy the idea. The issue of

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prioritizing the ideas during commercialization ensures that the company gets the best idea that
will bring them more significant benefits in the organization (Aarikka-Stenroos, Sandberg and
Lehtimäki, 2014). The prioritization allows the organization to select the best idea that has the
most significant potential for growth and high levels of profitability.
The company is also able to make various changes during the commercialization process.
The product is not fully evolved unless the customer accepts them fully to being satisfying their
demands. Therefore, the organization engages in research by making prototypes and through
trials. The commercialization process allows the product to undergo the necessary modifications
before becoming a well-accepted product in the market (Berchicci, 2013). When the product has
been commercialized in the market, the organization has the obligation of maintaining quality for
customers while balancing it with costs.
Through the commercialization process, the 3M organization is under continuous improvement
of their product and enables them to apply sophisticated tools which help the organization to
maintain the quality of the products (Dmitriev et al., 2014). The commercialization also helps in
marketing of the organization products.
In summary, the organization has maintained consistency in quality, whereby the product can
create its brand and position the product in the market. The sales are known to increase since the
marketing function of 3M organization researches to understand the market with the highest
number of final consumers and ensures that the products are supplied to such areas on a timely
basis.
3. Innovative application in another organization and reason for the product to be innovative

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Innovative application has brought success in the 3M organization, and most of the
organization are coping such strategy to ensure that they gain competitive advantage and that
they pursue and achieve their respective goals. One of the organizations that have engaged in the
innovative application is Samsung and LG. the two organizations have participated in producing
a curved screen 4K ultra HDTVs. The launch of the ultra HDTV devices has provided a more
immersive and exciting viewing experience (Carlson, 2012). The use of such a screen has
enabled the viewers to have a clear view of the content even from a long view. The development
of such devices was prompted by the issue of competitiveness amounting from heightened
consumer demands and complains.
The consumers have had an increased desire of having high-quality content. The
consumers have been straining in viewing the content from the television. Therefore, the two
company had to conduct thorough research to find a solution on such product, and they ended up
with the ultra HDTVs. The use of the product has enhanced consumer satisfaction, and this has
promoted the company’s consumer loyalty since they feel honored by the company (Autio et al.,
2014). The emergence of the ultra HDTV product has rejuvenated the consumer electronics
market since it has created a new world of consumers. Such innovation has increased the
evolvement of innovation and creative products in the market. The consumers are glaring for a
more advanced product (Frishammar, Lichtenthaler, and Rundquist, 2012). Most companies have
increased their spending on research and development, and this will see the evolvement of
another innovative product in the market.
In conclusion, it is the role of the innovators in every organization to ensure that they
conduct thorough research that is required to keep them on top. The effort used to gain the
competitive advantage of a company is less than the one used to retain such a position in the

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market. With the increased access to technology and the daily advancement experienced in the
technology, it is possible to make innovative products that will make a significant impact to the
customers as well as gain high profits for the company.

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References
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West, J., Bogers, M., 2014. Leveraging external sources of innovation: a review of research on
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