3M – Rethinking Innovation

3M – Rethinking Innovation

3M conglomerate has been named for many years to be among the top ten innovative companies in the world. The company has been in existence for over a century now, and one aspect that has made it stay afloat is innovation. The two ways in which 3M manages innovation are, first, by creating a culture that encourages innovation (Tidd et al., 2013). The company creates conducive internal conditions in which innovation can arise and thrive. Culture plays an essential role in any company’s success; a good culture spurs the company’s growth, while a bad culture hinders the company’s progress (Hough, 2020). The second way 3M manages innovation is to make deliberate attempts not to put too much structure in place. A lot of structure in place constrains innovation.

3M Company has a unique innovation strategy. First, 3M has always valued innovation and has remained consistent with its innovation pace over time. The ultimate innovation strategy in this company focuses on two core aspects. It focuses on deep technological competence and strong product development capabilities (Tidd et al., 2013). The deep technological competence helps it develop advanced technological tools that it leverages to beat the competition.

On the other hand, strong product development enables the company to maintain and retain the customers for its products. The leaders of 3M display a democratic leadership style where the leaders give the juniors the space to voice their opinions; the leaders also act according to these opinions (Hough, 2020). In addition, the leaders consult the juniors to make collective decisions making.

3M enables innovation processes; first, the company sets achievable but extreme targets and gives a clear message to the subordinate on how to achieve the targets. Secondly, the company encourages and allows employees to work and experiment on innovative ideas at their own time (Tidd et al., 2013). Moreover, the company provides necessary support in terms of resources to support innovators to achieve their goals.

Identify Significant Features or Processes That Promote Innovation.

Junior employees essentially do the innovation culture at 3M, and the employees are driven because of the way the leadership handles them. There are several ways the management at 3M uses to recognize and reward employees for their innovative skills. First, there are various schemes geared towards acknowledging innovative activities by recognizing the effort of each employee (Souitaris, 2002). For example, the innovator’s award is awarded to any employee who attempts to bring new ideas. This award is meant to encourage employees to share their new ideas, which could lead to innovation (Tidd et al., 2013). Subsequently, the company reinforces the core values where employees are encouraged and provided with good conditions for innovation. In addition, 3M conglomerate practices diversity where employees from different backgrounds are put in one group to create more creative and diverse groups.

Furthermore, permission to play is allowing employees to spend time and experiment with their curiosity-driven activities, which they think could lead to innovation. In most cases, permission to play does not necessarily mean that employees must come out with an innovation; most permission to play leads nowhere (Tidd et al., 2013). Thus, the importance of permission to play is that new ideas and innovations may come out from the experiments.

Patience and acceptance of mistakes are essential attributes that define 3M’s company culture. Patience states that the new innovative idea needs to be nurtured and developed well so that the product or technology that comes with it is more profound (Souitaris, 2002). In other words, the leadership or the employees should not rush whenever they get a new idea. An idea needs to be tested, experimented, and approved.

Acceptance of mistakes attributes advocates for lack of criticism of the mistakes the employees make. It states that criticizing employees’ mistakes when innovating could kill the employees’ morale, hence rendering the company less innovative (Gartenstein, 2019). Therefore, acceptance of mistakes by the leadership is among the attributes that support innovation culture.

Compare The Organization from the Course Scenario with 3M.

The main difference in the organizational structure between 3M and my company of choice is that 3M has a decentralized management structure. Contrastingly, the management structure of my chosen company is centralized (Tidd et al., 2013). In most cases, 3M decisions are made on the departmental level because of decentralization, while the decision for my company of choice is made by top management.

The main difference between my company of choice and 3M regarding formal and informal innovation is that 3M has made innovation its company culture. It has put the necessary conditions for innovation, such as allocating resources for innovation and acquiring tools and equipment that could help in innovation (Pratyush, 2003). Contrastingly, innovation management in my company of choice is not prioritized like the way it is done in 3M.

The company spends a lot on innovation but does not consistently come up with new products and technologies the way 3M does. 3M’s decentralized organization structure leads to effective communication, positively affecting innovation (Gartenstein, 2019). On the other hand, my company of choice’s centralized organization structure delays communication with each department, affecting innovation negatively.

Identify the Process Gaps in the Organization

One important thing that should be done to enable the organization structure to support innovation is empowering the departments to make their own decisions. This could be achieved by adopting a democratic leadership style where decision-making would be made collaboratively (Talin, 2019). This will encourage juniors to air their opinions, which would boost innovation.

Some of the rewards my organization would use to motivate innovative behavior include; rewarding the innovators with monetary values to encourage them to continue and motivate others to engage in innovative activities (Talin, 2019). Secondly, providing a conducive environment that encourages innovation is one of the best rewards that could boost Innovation (Tidd et al., 2013). Thirdly, my organization should consider non-monetary rewards such as certificates awarded to individuals who have participated in particularly innovative activities.

In examining its timeline, my company should set short-term goals at intervals of 3 months. When it strives to achieve the short-term goals in time, the organization will likely achieve the long-term goals.

References

Gartenstein, D. (2019). The Advantages & Disadvantages of Continuous Improvement. Retrieved from https://bizfluent.com/info-8660000-advantages-disadvantages-continuous-improvement.html

Hough, C. (2020). Different Types Of Innovation in Business: Why One Size Doesn’t Fit All. https://ideadrop.co/innovation-management/different-types-of-innovation/

Pratyush, B. (2003). Vehicle Technologies to Improve Performance and Safety. https://escholarship.org/uc/ucb

Talin, B. (2019). Innovation – Definition, Innovation Types, and Meaning. https://morethandigital.info/en/innovation-definition-innovation-types-and-meaning

Tidd, J., Bessantt, J & Pavitt, K. (2013). 3M: Rethinking Innovation. https://mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?view=att&th=17

Souitaris, M. (2002). Technological trajectories as moderators of firm-level determinants of innovation. Research Policy 31(6):877-898

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Overview
In Milestone One, you recommended an innovation option (incremental or discontinuous) to the organization from the course scenario. Now that senior management of this organization has approved your recommendation, your task is to ensure your recommended innovation option gets implemented effectively and efficiently. Remember that your perspective is still that of a middle manager for one of the top U.S. producers of luxury and mass-market automobiles and trucks.

In this assignment, you will read a case study and write a report that compares the organization’s innovation processes with 3M’s processes. This report will help your cross-functional team identify the organization’s process gaps when implementing IoT in the product line and will help eliminate potential process inefficiencies.

Prompt
Using the information in the overview above and referring to the 3M: Rethinking Innovation case study in this module’s resources, compare the organization from the course scenario with 3M and identify process gaps within the organization. Your study should include the following points:

Analyze 3M’s experience for a process-based approach toward innovation.
How does 3M manage innovation?
What is the innovation strategy and leadership style within 3M?
How does 3M enable the innovation process?
Identify significant features or processes that promote innovation.
How does the management team recognize and reward employees?
What is the importance of permission to play?
How do the 3M attributes of patience and acceptance of mistakes enhance an innovative culture?
Compare the organization from the course scenario with 3M. You will need to reference the Organization Overview document when comparing the two companies.
What are the differences between the two organizational structures?
What is the difference between formal and informal innovation management?
How does the organizational structure in each company affect communication? Why is this important to innovation?
Identify the process gaps of the organization. You will need to reference the Organization Overview document when identifying process gaps.
What needs to be done to make the organizational structure support innovation?
What rewards could your organization utilize to motivate innovative behavior?
How should your organization examine its timeline to identify ways for longer-term projects to be more successful?