AOU B203A - 3M's Business Functions: Fostering Innovation & Growth

This report explores the factors driving innovation at 3M, including its organizational culture, idea generation techniques, customer focus, and proactive management. It emphasizes the importance of commercialization for innovative organizations like 3M, highlighting its role in increasing profits, fostering partnerships, attracting talent, and delivering societal benefits. The report also examines Google Assistant as an example of innovative software, attributing its success to heavy investment in research and development, the 20 percent rule, the creation of self-sufficient startup teams, and a collaborative approach. The analysis concludes that innovation is vital for gaining a competitive advantage and that companies should focus on fostering a culture that supports creativity and invest in research and development.

Business Functions
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Running head: BUSINESS FUNCTIONS

BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Discussion........................................................................................................................................2
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References........................................................................................................................................6
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BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
Introduction
Modern day organizations rely heavily on innovation in order to differentiate their product and
services in the market in which it operates. In order to foster innovation, organizations focuses
on implementing creativity not just as a team but as a culture in the organization, where every
employee of the organization from top to bottom are encouraged to think creatively without
thinking about the outcome associated with it or thinking about being punished or ridiculed for
such ideas. This paper focuses on the factors which are responsible for innovation at 3M and also
focuses on the benefits of commercialization for innovative companies.
Discussion
1. The factors which have made 3M an innovative organization are as follows:
 As stated by Lesáková et al. (2017) the organization culture of 3M helps the
employees of the company to become more creative in nature. The organization
culture of the company helps in encouraging their employees to take risks without
any fear of getting punished. Further organization culture of 3M provides freedom
to their employees to explore new ideas within the business environment and
bears the mistakes committed by the employees of the company during such
innovative trails and understands; manages the risks which are involved.
 Innovative and productive idea generation tools and techniques implemented by
the organization such as brainstorming and reverse thinking helps in generating
creative ideas among the employees of the company.
 As stated by Souza and Bruno-Faria (2013) the customer focus approach of 3M
helps in finding out the exact needs and requirements of their customers through
detailed market research. The main focus of the organization is to estimate the
exact needs and requirements of the customers and accordingly design and
manufacture products to satisfy customer needs.
 The proactive nature of the organization and its managers helps in creating a
creative environment for the generation of ideas.
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As stated by Zhao, Zhou and Ci (2017) the business functions of 3M contributed to their success
due to above mentioned factors driven with research and development function that has helped in
the development of innovative ideas and products for the company along with development of
the human resource function which had created a suitable working environment in 3M through
its policies.
2. The importance of the commercialization process for innovative organizations such as
3M are as follows:
 As opined by Schillo (2014) the process of commercialization helps in increasing the
profits and revenue of the company which is very essential for the growth and
development of 3M.
 According to Baycan and Stough (2013) the process of commercialization provides an
opportunity to innovative organizations to engage with industry partners, investors and
other businesses and this partnership helps in additional funding sources for company
thereby helping to develop the quality of their products further to improve. This is
possible due to partnership which helps 3M get access to improved sources of raw
materials and research and development.
 As stated by Khalil et al. (2017) the process of commercialization helps in the
recruitment and retention of the best people in the company as the process of
commercialization builds a positive image and reputation in the market in which the
company operates thereby helping to in attract top candidates for work at 3M.
 The products of the companies spans across sectors such as healthcare, environmental,
wellness, fitness, education, industrial applications and day to day life and therefore the
innovation which results from the research and development process are most impactful
when the products are in the hands of those individuals who can benefit from them the
most and therefore societal benefits is one of the key drivers of commercialization for
innovative companies.
3. Google Assistant is one of the most innovative software which had been launched by
Google in the recent years. Google Assistant is the Artificial Intelligence powered
software which is used to talk when using a Google Home speaker or when the user
presses the home button in their android smartphones. Suppose, if a user wants to dim the
lights with a voice command or get traffic updates from the voice command, Google
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BUSINESS FUNCTIONS
Assistant enables the user to do so by using a wide range of third party smart home
products and speakers.
The reason for the innovative nature of the product is as follows:
 As opined by Simula, Povilas and Berg (2013) the company invests heavily in
terms of research and development which is evident from the fact that Google
spends billions of dollars each year for the purpose of research and development
by funding more than 250 research projects annually. The company invites
meritorious scholars to spend sabbaticals at the company headquarters and give
them with the opportunity to delve into huge amount of research work. The
company also invests in various startup companies in order to develop or refine
products.
 The company has developed and implanted its famous 20 per cent rule in the
company wherein the employees are encouraged to spend 20 percent of their time
in the projects which appeals them and the same rule of the company is applicable
for everyone in the company, top to bottom.
 As opined by Girniene (2013) the company believes in breaking normal teams of
the organization in to self-sufficient start up teams which helps in driving
innovation. The company has a lean team which operates away from the day-to-
day bustle of the main offices and helps keep the operation of the company
smooth and efficient as it believes in the philosophy that out of sight does not
mean out of mind.
 The company encourages collaboration in every level of its operation ranging
from top to bottom. Whenever the projects of the company take place, the
company aims to maintain a tight feedback loop which helps in promoting quick
decision making. Instead of using the assembly line approach, the researchers,
engineers and product mangers of the company work together throughout projects
and accordingly decide what must be worth looking into further for future
projects.
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Conclusion
From the above report it is clear and evident that innovation is a very vital factor which helps
modern day organizations to gain competitive advantage in the market and makes them
sustainable in the sector. It is also evident that in order foster innovation, companies should focus
on developing a culture in the organization which fosters innovation and should invest heavily in
the research and development process.
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References
Baycan, T., and Stough, R. R. (2013). Bridging knowledge to commercialization: The good, the
bad, and the challenging. The Annals of Regional Science, [Online]50(2), 367-405. Available at
doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00168-012-0510-8 Accessed as on 28/11/2018
Girniene, I. (2013). Knowledge management influence on innovation: Theoretical analysis of
organizational factors. European Conference on Knowledge Management
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accountid=30552 Accessed as on 28/11/2018
Khalil Zadeh, N., Khalilzadeh, M., Mozafari, M., Vasei, M., and Amoei Ojaki, A. (2017).
Challenges and difficulties of technology commercialization - a mixed-methods study of an
industrial development organization. Management Research Review, [Online]40(7), 745-767.
Available at https://search.proquest.com/docview/1923972224?accountid=30552 Accessed as on
28/11/2018
Lesáková, Ľ., Gundová, P., Kráľ, P., and Ondrušová, A. (2017). Innovation leaders, modest
innovators and non-innovative SMEs: Key factors and barriers of innovation
activity. Organizacija, [Online]50(4), 325-338. Available at doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/orga-
2017-0024 Accessed as on 28/11/2018
Schillo, S. (2014). Commercialization and public good: Conflict, complement, or critical
component? Technology Innovation Management Review,[Online] 4(7), 27-35. Available at
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1614470609?accountid=30552 Accessed as on 28/11/2018
Simula, H., Povilas, V., and Berg, P. (2013). Empirical comparison of commercialization of
radical product and technology innovations. ISPIM Conference Proceedings: Manchester,
[Online]1-15. Available at https://search.proquest.com/docview/1690239340?accountid=30552
Accessed as on 28/11/2018
Souza, J. C., and Bruno-Faria, M. (2013). The innovation process in the organizational context:
An analysis of helping and hindering factors. Brazilian Business Review,[Online] 10(3), 108-
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129. Available at https://search.proquest.com/docview/1519620360?accountid=30552 Accessed
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Zhao, Y., Zhou, R., and Ci, Y. (2017). Factors influencing service innovation of MSNs in china:
A theoretical and empirical research. Library Hi Tech, [Online] 35(3), 368-385. Available at
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