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3M Business Analysis Essay

Decent Essays

1. How the 3 M innovation process evolved from the time the company was found?

Answer:

• The innovation process at 3M has typically been a focus area for the upper management. The company had taken a get–out–of–the–way attitude towards the product developers who in turn have worked accordingly towards innovation. Along with technicians each team had a process engineer to ensure that the product was efficiently made. The entire team did not face any risk if the product failed.
• The product developers used to visit the factories and workplaces to talk to the workers to get ideas for products.
• The developers were not given the share of product royalties as the company believed that innovation was driven by sheer …show more content…

In case of normal market research, information is collected from users who are at the center of the target market. This essentially involves the problem finding and recognition exercise, with the analysis of the research carried out post research to find out the solution. Typically the companies do focus group and analyze sales data and customer complaints and requests. The product developers then apply their own creative thoughts to come up with a new product. In case of lead user research, the company collects information about both the problem and the solutions from the markets that face similar or near-identical problems, not necessarily the target market. The development team tracks down the innovators who have already come up with some kind of solution to the identified problem to add up to their business needs. Instead of copying the idea of the innovator in toto, the developers come up with new product ideas that suit the manufacturer's needs based on ideas of a number of lead users and in-house developers.

The lead user research typically involves a smaller set of people, the innovators, as compared to the typical market research conducted over a larger set of people. The innovators might be derived from a market, which is not at all the target market decided on at the start of the process, as the case aptly shows; however the innovators are somehow related to the innovated product usage.

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