BUS705: Analysis of Innovation Management at 3M Corporation

This report provides an in-depth analysis of 3M Corporation's innovation management practices. It begins by highlighting the various types of innovation employed by 3M, including organizational change, business model innovation, incremental innovation, and service innovation. The report details how 3M fosters innovation through its corporate structure, employee empowerment, and the implementation of the 30% rule, which mandates a percentage of revenue from new products. Furthermore, it explores how 3M encourages innovation through reward systems, seed capital for inventors, and the creation of dual-career ladders. The report also identifies the key roles necessary for successful innovation, such as visionaries, thinkers, innovators, leaders, and communicators. Finally, the report discusses the importance of overcoming resistance to change within an organization, and provides insights into how other companies can learn from 3M's innovative approach.

Running head: INNOVATION MANAGEMENT 1
Innovation Management
Name
Institution affiliation

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1.
Innovation can take place in any organization. It affects the performance and outcome of the
organization which can be determined by assessing profitability. 3M Company has incorporate
type of innovation in its operation to achieve their overall desired goals. 3M has also been ranked
among the top 20 for America’s most admired corporations severally. They were previously
awarded the highest award for being the most innovative company in the National Medal
Technology Awards. Some of the most apparent types of innovations adopted in 3M Company
include:
3M Company uses organizational change in their operations. In so doing they have created a
unique corporate structure that positively affects the company. The company has identified that
they need to relate to a suitable environment for the employees to perform their tasks. This move
has been in an attempt to give the employees opportunities and support to help them learn more
(Schiederig, Tietze, and Herstatt, 2012). The company has, in turn, decided to provide a variety
of forums to generate some ideas in an attempt to nurture employee’s opportunities.
3m has also adopted the business model innovation. In so doing, they have been able to create a
business environment with the right thinking from both the internal and the external
stakeholders. The idea of a business model innovation is to improve the business functions to
earn more (Bucherer, Eisert, and Gassmann, 2012). Some of the critical change in the business
model innovation is in value creation, supply chains and marketing.
Incremental innovation is also very evident in the 3M Company. We can define incremental
innovation as the development of existing products or services. This innovation aims to remain
cut on cost, reposition, fit into a new market and optimize the customer benefits among others

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(Gawer, 2011). In 3M Company, they have been able to establish a balance between the future
and the present. In so doing, 3M has sought a way to provide a balance between the future and
the present. They have further employed the 30% rule in their operations. The rule states that for
each division, 30% of their revenues must be from new products introduced within four years of
service. The company makes sure to track the progress and bases the bonuses offered to
employees on this goal.
The company has also adopted service innovation. They have developed a new way to ensure
that the clients are offered quality services. 3M has done so by establishing a reward system for
employees. Satisfied employees provide the best services to their customers (Riedl et al,. 2011).
The company also tends to encourage employee’s resourcefulness and initiative. Employees at
3m are always encouraged to do more for their customers for them to solve the existing
problems. 3M has also identified that they should encourage their employees to do better. They
have developed a system to reward the most successful innovators in some ways. The principal
aim is to ensure that the overall goal of customer satisfaction is achieved (Schilling, 2010).
2.
3M perfectly works to encourage innovations. They have also proven the ability to support
innovation. The company’s main aim is to remain competitive in the market. In line with this
goal, they have established that innovation is key to their business. Some of the significant ways
they have created that best favours innovation is ensure the employees provide the best services
to their customers (Chiaroni, Chiesa, and Frattini, 2011). They have therefore established a
reward system for their best innovators. This encourages employees to perform better. Besides,
the employees are encouraged to remain resources full to the company. They have established a

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rich set of structures which encourages employees to stay resourceful. The company gives seed
capital to inventors. They use this money to fund their ideas, and if the unit managers fail to
accept their request, they seek funding from other corporates. The firm encourages the formation
of new ventures. 3M helps the inventors to select their teams which will guarantee the best
results for the innovation. Lastly, they create a dual-career ladder. The ladder works in that the
scientist can climb up the ladder without necessarily becoming managers. In return, the company
gets to maintain their best scientist.
3.
Great ideas need an executive team to provide the best result. This is the people that will take up
the view from conception to making it a reality. Use of the most critical roles for a successful
innovation includes; being visionary, a thinker, an innovator, a leader and a communicator.
Vision creates a bigger idea. This role brings value to a team since they highlight new ideas as
well as create powerful imagination. A thinker identifies the new opportunities as well as the
areas of impact for the concept. The innovator develops how the idea will be executed. The
leader ensures that all things are done correctly. Finally, the communicator conveys the excellent
sense to the whole group. He is considered the storyteller for the team (Cropley, Kaufman, and
Cropley, 2011).
4.
3M is a role model to other companies in the business world. As mentioned earlier they were
awarded as the most innovative company in the world. The company inspires innovation
throughout the industry. Other firms that can learn from this firm includes; Carlisle Companies
(CSL), Tyco International (TYC) and Danaher (DHR). Each of these firms is competitively

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trying to maintain the competitive advantage; therefore innovation is paramount for all these
firms.
5.
Changes tend to interfere with the comfort zone. This can cause resistance within the
organization. In most cases, employees tend to have pose resistance in terms of mindset and
paradigm, some of the ways to overcome this resistance incudes; encourage employees to learn
more, this opens up the employees to new ideas. Another crucial idea is to train workers fully
since it makes them aware of their job description. It is also important to encourage teamwork
within the business. Lastly, be transparent with the employees. Always ensure that you
constantly communicate openly to gain employees trust (Fuglsang, and Sørensen, 2011).

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References
Bucherer, E., Eisert, U., & Gassmann, O. (2012). Towards systematic business model
innovation: lessons from product innovation management. Creativity and innovation
management, 21(2), 183-198.
Chiaroni, D., Chiesa, V., & Frattini, F. (2011). The Open Innovation Journey: How firms
dynamically implement the emerging innovation management
paradigm. Technovation, 31(1), 34-43.
Cropley, D. H., Kaufman, J. C., & Cropley, A. J. (2011). Measuring creativity for innovation
management. Journal of technology management & innovation, 6(3), 13-30.
Fuglsang, L., & Sørensen, F. (2011). The balance between bricolage and innovation:
Management dilemmas in sustainable public innovation. The service industries
journal, 31(4), 581-595.
Gawer, A. (Ed.). (2011). Platforms, markets and innovation. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Riedl, C., May, N., Finzen, J., Stathel, S., Kaufman, V., & Krcmar, H. (2011). An idea ontology
for innovation management. In Semantic Services, Interoperability and Web
Applications: Emerging Concepts (pp. 303-321). IGI Global.
Schilling, M. A. (2010). Strategic management of technological innovation. Tata McGraw-Hill
Education.
Schiederig, T., Tietze, F., & Herstatt, C. (2012). Green innovation in technology and innovation
management–an exploratory literature review. R&d Management, 42(2), 180-192.

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