Analyzing Innovation and Commercialization Strategies at 3M

This report examines innovation and commercialization strategies, using 3M as a case study. It begins by defining innovation and its importance, differentiating it from invention, and exploring factors that shape innovation and commercialization, such as leadership, vision, culture, and teamwork. The report then analyzes a new product idea, 'Eureka' air purifier, using the 4Ps of product analysis (Product, Process, Position, Paradigm) and the innovation funnel. It also discusses frugal innovation, its benefits, and its application to 3M's strategy. Furthermore, the report covers the importance of the commercial funnel and the stages of new product development (NPD). It includes a business case for 'Eureka' and concludes by addressing tools for retaining and protecting knowledge and intellectual property. The report provides valuable insights into the practical application of innovation and commercialization principles in a real-world business context.

INNOVATION AND COMMERCIALISATION

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
LO1..................................................................................................................................................1
P1 Innovation and its importance................................................................................................1
P2 Factors that shape innovation and commercialization............................................................2
LO2..................................................................................................................................................3
P3 Product analysis and use of innovation funnel:......................................................................3
P4 Development in Frugal Innovation.........................................................................................5
LO3..................................................................................................................................................5
P5 Importance of commercial funnel and application of NPD....................................................5
P6 Business case:.........................................................................................................................8
LO4..................................................................................................................................................9
P7 Tools to retain, protect knowledge and intellectual property.................................................9
CONCLUSION:............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCS.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Innovation is the process of making changes in existing activities to make it better. Each
firm aims to implement new ideas that may business in growing well in the market. The
commercialisation is the part of making the new innovation successful in the market. It is the
process or path by which the new innovation or idea can get implemented and firm can take
advantage of it.
3 M is planning to make innovation to raise performance of business unit in significant
manner. 3M is the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company. It is American multinational
company with more than 60,000 products. Present assignment will explain importance of
innovation and will describe difference between innovation and invention. Study will evaluate
factors that shape innovation. In addition, report will highlight 4Ps of innovation and will
explain stages of new product development.
LO1
P1 Innovation and its importance
Innovation can be defined as creation of new ideas and thoughts which can bring
significant change in the modern world. Innovations can be for product, process, services etc. All
kinds of innovations are helpful in improving performance of business in effective manner.
Innovation can be described as process that ensure to uncover various ways that may help in
improving things in significant manner and giving positive results to firm. Innovation aims to
create a meaningful impact in the market (Al-Mubaraki and et.al., 2015). Innovation is helpful in
creating opportunities for firm because companies can solve business problems by making
necessary changes in working practices and can gain success in market.
Importance of innovation:
Innovation is important as it gives a fundamental growth to the organisations and aid in
creating a deemed position in the market. Innovation helps enterprises to stand out of the market
for longer duration and gathering attention of potential or new buyers. Economic growth helps in
increasing market value of business. Market can be attained by two methods first to increase the
number of inputs which can increase productivity process. Second is to come up with new ideas
to get more output. Innovation generates new employment opportunities which helps in the
generation of various position and to generate awareness between people. Technological
innovations have increased the new opportunities for the entities which have helped them to
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overcome many barriers. Innovation has helped to connect with people and create a feasible
working and understanding among people(Angelidou and et.al., 2015). As 3M wants to raise its
profit hence planning to make technological innovation at workplace. This can aid the
organisation in making connection with new customers and offering immediate services to wide
range of consumers that may help firm in generating more profit and reducing human errors.
Invention is a method to invent something for the benefits of people. Invention is a
product development process which helps in the development of product for the betterment of
mankind. Innovation always produces a result which can be product, process or machine.
Innovation means creating something new on the base of existing market which can help
for the betterment of the organization where as invention making changes in existing process so
to gain more opportunities. Innovation is important aspect in every organization which can help
in the development of new products and services which can help to cope up with the market and
create an awareness of the organization. Invention is important so as to attract new customers
and create an awareness in the customers.
P2 Factors that shape innovation and commercialization
Factors which shape innovation and commercialization are:
 Leadership: Leaders of 3M have a good leadership skills that helps to develop a better
future practice by creating sense of good working culture (Ghahramani, 2016).
Leadership can build a sense of improved working in the minds of the workers. A good
leader can help in creating a good team by providing proper guidance. Managers of 3M
guides the employees in the right manner which helps them in achieving the tasks easily
and creating a good working atmosphere. Good leader encourage workers and they share
their ideas that helps in making effective changes at workplace for the betterment of
company. A good leader always motivates and support employees, leaders of 3M always
supports the workers so that they accept technological innovation and work better. This
leads to commercialization which helps 3M to maintain a good image in the market.
 Vision: Vision can help 3M in working in a right direction, if the visions of the
organisations is clear it will lead to better working atmosphere in the firm. Vision always
reminds in achieving the goals and objectives of the industry. If company is focused and
vision is clear then it will help them to achieve the targets set up by firm. Before
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implementing any innovation there is requirement of have clear vision which may
support 3M in getting desired results (Fini and et.al., 2018).
 Culture : Culture is the most important factor that helps in influencing behaviour of
employees, poor culture makes workers negative hence they do not accept any changes at
workplace whereas if culture is good then employees support management in
implementing new ideas in significant manner. There need to be a divers culture in any
of the organization. 3M aims to develop a diverse culture within the organization. As
diverse culture always helps in the motivation of the workers. diverse culture brings a
sense of awareness between the workers. There is an method to convey the ideas which
helps the workers with the sharing of ideas and practices which help in development and
exploring the ideas. A diverse culture motivates and helps in team building strategy
which generates a fesable working environment
 Team-work: Great team working develops coordination among all employees and they
work together to meet organisational goal. If there is poor team work then it may
increases conflict situation at workplace which may affect the firm and innovation will
not be implemented properly. Team work within 3M is promoted which helps in the
evolution of personality and ideas which helps the workers in team building strategy and
helps in achieving the tasks efficiently. Team work improves individuals and helps in
achieving the defined goals easily. This helps in the commercialization of the new
inventions in the market and aims to create an awareness in the market (Kirkegaard and
et.al., 2017).
LO2
P3 Product analysis and use of innovation funnel:
3M wants to develop new product called 'eureka' eureka-air purifier. The main objective of
this kind of innovation is to provide a safe air which is the major problem in many metro cities,
with the population rise there is a rise in pollution which 3M aims to minimise with the pollution
and to provide a fresh air in offices and homes. To carry out analysis 4P's is carried out:
 Product: 'Eureka' is developed with the aim to create a sustainable environment which
eliminates all the pollution within the closed atmosphere which creates a working culture
within the environment (Koirala and et.al, 2016.). This product is developed with the aim
to provide a sustainable and safe working atmosphere within the enclosed home or
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offices. Product is developed with the aim to meet needs of the offices and the health
related problems concerning with the person’s health. This aims in the development of
new product. This type of innovation helps the firm in attracting new buyers because this
product is the actual demand of citizens now a days.
 Process: The process involved in the development of the new ideas plays significant role
as it which helps in generation of new products which helps in the innovation of new
product which helps in the innovation of ideas to make the precious version advanced
and to make people aware. This change in the technology helps in the development of the
new product which can be achieved to create a market impression. This is used to
improve activities of business so that enterprise can get benefit by implementing new
idea.
 Position: Consumers like to buy products of company by looking at its positon in market,
if the firm has great reputation then people will by new product of 3M but if it is poor
brand image then it will affect its brand image badly. A direct approach is carried out in
this process a market research is carried out as an interview in bulk and evaluating the
result which can help in the development of the a strategy which can help in the
promotion of the product. This aims in targeting the particular sector for the promotion
and sales of the product of 3M.
 Paradigm: This is done on the basis of innovation carried out on the product which helps
in the development of the product. The product eureka is developed in order to minimise
the risk of the working sector which faces many problem within the industry and offices.
It is the process of change brought by the organization 3M which focuses on the health
care development.
Innovation Funnel
Innovation Funnel is a process which focuses on the development of the product through
the ideas which are carried out by a market research. This research gathers information about the
market and the market demands about the product this aims to develop the product which a
market needs or the innovation which a market needs in order to make an product which are
more as per the needs of the market. This is the brainstorming session which generates ideas
which are developed to evaluate and make a sustainable product which are needed in the market.
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Core innovation funnel is to generate new ideas which are analysed and implemented ro create a
new products which are required in the market.
P4 Development in Frugal Innovation
Frugal innovation refers to the reduction of complexity of the work and reduction in the
cost of goods and services which provides durable goods in the market. The durability is
improved and the product life cycle is increased(Laurell, 2018.). This aims to create a thin
margin of profits. Globalization and more income generation in developing countries may drive
frugal innovation. These are made to provide a durable product in the market which can be used
for the lifetime. Its value can be used which provides a satisfactory result to the customers. One
such example was Nokia 1100 which was a frugal innovation which was developed by Nokia in
order to cover market. 3M uses this strategy to conquer the market with their product 'eureka'
which aims to capture the market and to generate a market value of the organization.
When the design is combined with the thinking it provides a realistic approach to design
with less resources and having a large impact on the market which helps in the attaining the
market and helps in generating the cost benefits to the organization. It includes two major steps:
Frugal innovation is a sensitive design that helps in eliminating wastage and avoiding
non-durable things from products so that product can be available to consumers at affordable
rates (Madsen, 2017). This engineering process helps business in improving the production
ability and also support in managing work in significant manner (Miller and et.al., 2016). 3M
needs to first find out the value chain through which business can find raw material at lower
cost. Then it has to scalable the production so that production errors can be minimised and
systematic production can be done in 3M. Once it is done then organisation has to understand the
price range of consumers and have to set price of product accordingly. After that there is need to
find out the actual critical aspects that may affect target consumers so company has to work on it
so that customers can get satisfactory services time. This kind of innovation process aids
business in improving the business performance to great extent.
LO3
P5 Importance of commercial funnel and application of NPD
Commercial funnel refers to the visual pathway taken up by the customers which are
generate by the customers as they move towards purchasing the product. This helps companies
to understand the products and improve the marketing strategy which is seen by the sales process
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as the product flows in the market. Commercial funnel helps in the development of the stratrgies
which helps in the development of the sales process. It is important as it helps the organisation in
analysing the size of the customers. The top of the funnel includes the promotion and sales with
the use of internet and the bottom end represents sales conversion which must be maximum.
It is dependent on commercialization the strategy you build to commercialize helps in
creating an awareness of products between the customers. The sales is dependent on
commercialization. Which can be done through advertisements, use of print media, use of social
means like internet and social media platforms etc. more the awareness created more will be the
customers. This will generate sales for the product and earn profitability for the company.
New product development is the process of developing a completely new product by
looking upon the need of consumers. Idea can be evaluated with the aim to provide a sustainable
approach to the ideas generated. Then the concept prototype is made and evaluated with the idea
and testing is carried out to evaluate the pros and corns of the ideas. As the product is built a
market development strategy is made with the help of analysing the data. Business budget is
analysed with the aim to develop new ideas(Osoro and et.al., 2017). Product is developed as per
the market needs then the product is teste3d and the response is generated to meet the marketing
strategy. Then the commercialization is carried out and the product is channelized in the
market(Rasmussen and Eliason, 2017.). Process of new product development is described as
below:
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(Figure 1: THE NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (NPD) – OBTAIN NEW
PRODUCT, 2015)
 Idea generation is the first phase in which company has to develop ideas or have to find
out new ideas that are helpful in the growth of 3M
 Idea screening needs to be done after that because it helps in selecting the most
appropriate idea that may aid in managing business activities in significant manner.
 Development and testing is the phase that aids in testing whether the idea is worthwhile
or not. This supports in managing work properly and getting the positive outcome.
 Marketing strategy is the another stage where company needs to ensure that new product
get developed in market successfully by implementing effective marketing tactics so that
more people can get to know about new product.
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 Business analyses is the next phase that allows business in analysing its existing situation
and taking action accordingly.
 Product development is the next phase where 3M needs to think about developing the
product so that firm can generate more revenues by attracting more consumers.
 Test marketing is the phase that allows the firm in testing the developed product and
ensuring that it is giving desired results.
 Commercialisation is the last phase in which company takes benefit of this new product
and generate more profit in the market.
P6 Business case:
Executive summary-
As there is major level lacks in term of awareness about the level of increase in air pollution .
People have the lack of understanding in terms of harmful effect they are getting in their life
cycle. There is existence of varsity instrument to have prevention for noise pollution and water
pollution. But there is major level of need to have development of equipment to reduce air
pollution impact on the life of normal people. This study is about the product which is
developed by 3M which is names as 'eureka' . it was build with the aim to generate awareness for
the air purifier which is the emerging problem which are faced by many of the developed
countries. This product aims to create a safe working environment which is concerned with the
air pollution.
Product/service-
Product brought by 3M was an air purifier named 'Eureka' which was built with the aim
to provide a sustainable environment within the working culture at offices many of the countries
are facing problem related to the air pollution.
Situational analysis-SWOT
Strength- It was build with the aim to develop a sustainable environment. The organization has
a wider market base which helps in the marketing of the product which can help in the creating a
wide market by explaining the awareness of the product.
Weakness- It can only be targeted on the area where there is an emerging pollution problems
which are mostly cities which can be a drawback to the product is a selected segment must be
targeted which can be a major drawback(Schmitz and et.al., 2017).
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Opportunities- This product can be widely used in the area where the population is more in
amount it can be a bloom to the market which can be created in the area where a large amount of
customer base.
Threats- threats can be the rivals which are developing the similar products to cut out the
business opportunities in the market. Which can cut the market strategies and provides financial
loss to the organisation.
Source of funding
3M can get funds from bank loan and also can use retain earning method to gather the
capital requirement in this product innovation. Bank can give adequate amount to the firm that is
needed to complete this innovation. Apart from this, 3M can also use retain earning capital, this
will limit the liability and will help in meeting capital requirement for this innovation.
The company can have the development of the two ways tarts is debt financing and equity
financing in development of funds in resect to have grabbing of business opportunities in the
market.
STP
Segmentation- It defines the segment which is targeted for the marketing and sales of the
product segmentation refers to the segment of people where the product is targeted. This refers
to the segment of the customers of the age group form 30-50 which are in need of the this
product for awareness of health(Tanev and et.al., 2015).
Targeting-it refers to the targeting the customers which can generate revenue from the products,
in this case a business class is targeted which deems to create a sustainable environment for the
workers.
Positioning- this refers to the measure of the strategy which is taken by 3M for the product. Low
price and high quality service which helps 3M to gain more customers.
Monitoring and Controlling- KPI
Monitoring is done with the aim to trace the performance of the product in the market
monitoring is done to define the stability of eureka in the market which can show the success of
the product in the market. Monitoring is done to change the strategy which is required for the
establishment of the product in the market(Walsh and et.al., 2016).
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LO4
P7 Tools to retain, protect knowledge and intellectual property
Property tools:
Patent: For a new innovation there exist a strategy which help in the reserving the rights of the
customer as well as other investors which helps in the preserving the originality of the invention.
This helps in the prevention of data within the originality context. Patent is used so that no other
person can use the invention generated by the inventor. Its advantages is that your work is
recognized by inventors name not by any other names. Invention cannot be lost or theft by any
other person. The advantages are patent gives you the right to stop others from copying,
manufacturing, selling or importing your invention without your permission. On the other hand
the patents have the application in masking certain technical information about companies
invention publicly available. It might be that keeping invention secret may keep competitors at
bay more effectively.
Copy right: this refers to the legal right of the owner of his product or device which cannot be
copied by someone other than his permission and agreements. This helps in the prevention of the
services which are used to by organization any mislead can generate voluntary actions. This can
safeguard against the legal rights from the person who takes copyright(Zahedi and et.al., 2018).
This provides level of encouragement towards the level of creativity and ability to protects them
to have major level of incentives in order to sell new level of comment. On other hand ther is
existence of limited dissemination ans protections because of copyright.
Trademark: It is the legal registration of the product or the service with the norms of
government. These are made to offer the service marks of the services provided under legal
consideration. This has the biggest advantage as no one can misuse you service undertaken.
There are extents of disadvantage of trade mark as owners is that they will have to pay fee for
registration and renewal. The fee depends on the number of classes of products that are covered
in the application and some more additional fees.
CONCLUSION:
This study concludes the innovation a bloom to the society which provides us towards a safe
working environment. What innovation is explained in this study with the example of on
organization 3M which innovates a product 'eureka' which is an air purifier. How leadership
approaches improvise vision is explained in this study. with the strategic approach towards the
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product which can help in strategic marketing management of the product. With the help of
frugal innovation a systematic approach is carried out which can help in generating more
customers. Use of commercialization to make a systematic approach for the product to be
delivered in the market.
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