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3m Case Study - Questions

Satisfactory Essays

3m Case Study
Question 1
There are many examples of successful companies. To what extent is 3M justifiably highlighted as the ‘innovating machine’?
This case study has highlighted some of the key activities and principles that contribute to 3M’s performance. Many of these are not new and are indeed used by other companies. In 3M’s case they may be summarized as an effective company culture that nurtures innovation and a range of management techniques and strategies that together have delivered long-term success. Many companies pay lip service to the management principles and practice set out in this case study. There is evidence that 3M supports these fine words with actions. 3M hire good people and trust them; this will bring about …show more content…

It is an effective method of providing room for creativity and another way of showing that the organization encourages innovative effort. Allocating 15 percent of individual’s work week time is costly to the organization, especially when there strict deadline to meet, which means that company may need to employ more manpower in order to meet deadlines, personally, it is mere rhetoric
Question 4
Encouraging product and brand managers to achieve 25 per cent of sales from recently introduced products would be welcomed by shareholders, but what happens if a successful business delivers profits without 25 per cent of sales from recently introduced products?
The success of the approach is due to the continual reinforcement of the objective. Indeed, the performance of individual business managers is partly judged on whether they are able to achieve the objective. What this means is that these business managers are not under pressure and to ensure that they develop new products but that these new products will eventually represent higher per cent of the business’s sales.
Question 5
Some people may argue that 3M’s success is largely due to the significance given to science and technology and this is the main lesson for other firms. Discuss the merits of such a view and the extent to which this is the case.
This technological intensity

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