Case Study of Innovation at 3M Essay

What are creativity, innovation, and design, and how are these concepts important to meeting the objectives of an organization? To understand these concepts they must first be defined. Webster’s dictionary (http://www.merriam-webster.com) defines creativity as the “Ability to produce something new through imaginative skill, whether a new solution to a problem, a new method or device, or a new artistic objects or form. The term generally refers to a richness of ideas and originality of thinking. Psychological studies of highly creative people have shown that many have a strong interest in apparent disorder, contradiction, and imbalance, which seem to be perceived as challenges. Such individuals may possess an

Innovations form the main sources of competitive advantages and are always of significance for the growth of a company. Companies or organizations put their greater efforts in improving their performance by finding new ideas and knowledge on the best way of beating their competitors and therefore give satisfaction to their customers. There are various factors involved in the innovation design system which can be either internal or external.

Alongside the entrepreneur spirit, Innovation is the process of taking new ideas and implementing them into the market. Key word being “new”, an innovation can be sometimes viewed as the application to better solutions that meet new demand-requirements, inarticulated needs or existing market needs. Innovative ideas range from: goods, services, products, processes, services, technologies or ideas that create value for which customers will pay for. For an idea to be an innovation, it must be replicable at an economical cost and must satisfy a specific need. This means is that one must be ready and willing put their new idea to the test. On the other hand, there is recognition that “innovation is also critical to cultural, environmental, social, and artistic progress as well” (Bullinger, 2006). With this stated, high-tech innovation is ultimately the reason why we can be thankful for the many new conveniences of the 21st century. Although we might see the forefront of innovation being very prominent in today’s world, innovation is truly nothing new. From the start of modern man times, innovative ideas have paved the way for civilization to advance and develop into what we are today and at the same time, we have barely begin to chip away at the tip of the iceberg of our true human potential. Some scholars believe that innovation is a

In today’s rapidly changing business environment, the ability to transform obstacles into opportunities can be a firm’s biggest advantage (Samašonok & Leškienė, 2015). As organizations recognize the need to be adaptable, creativity in the workplace has become one of the most important determinants of performance and success (Anderson, Potočnik & Zhou, 2014). To date, even though creativity has been linked to firm performance and survival (Nystrom, 1990), many managers admit that employees have “room to improve” in terms of creativity (Shalley, 2004).

This research intends to explore innovation at an individual level, but in a context, where the roles and functions of an organization appear eminent either as a promoter or an inhibitor of innovation.

The author of this article examines creative culture and societal changes that are making organizations rethink their view on creativity as well as to integrate knowledge of the creative procedure to their own frame of reference, focusing on exploring the 3 primary areas; social trends, creativity and advocacy, whilst also exhibiting deliberation for the intermingling of said themes and exhibits a clear-cut view that creativity and the creative procedure are imperative to the enrichment of the person, corporation and humanity, especially in current times.

This is the first case study report for the course ED5317: Strategies for Managing Innovation that is based on the Harvard Business School case titled ‘Design Thinking and Innovation at Apple’. The report consists of the following question:

One of the latest buzzwords in business is creativity. There is no doubt that our world is changing quickly and we are constantly being asked to find solutions that are different, new and especially creative.

I have been successfully running my own business as a self-employed trainer for health and social care for the past 3 years. All of this was made possible by using all the experience gained in this field for the past 15 years and applying all the skills and certification outcomes to find out what my client’s needs are and what it’s expected by my learners. Also complying with regulations, keep updated with resources and new guidelines.

Organizations are consistently seeking to generate or withstand its competitive advantage. Innovation tremendously influences the success of any organization. Businesses steadily must pursue an innovative method of manufacturing goods or providing services. Organizations must accomplish this with the expectation of high productivity and low operating expenses in an effort to remain profitable and competitive within its chosen industry. To meet these objectives, the organization must offer quality products and services while also integrating innovation, design, and creativity. Tangela will evaluate the impact innovation, design,

3M’s success though open communication can also be attributed to disclosure of corporate pay scale and goals. Pay is not treated as a secret but rather used to create a feeling of understanding and “perception of fairness” (Neck, 2016, p. 349). When employees understand why they are paid what they are and the benefits they receive this enforces a sense of commitment to the company because employees know what they can work towards, thus creating a motivation factor to advance up the corporate ladder, as well as creating a sense of empowerment. Communication of company goals and mission holds

Q1. How has 3M’s innovation process evolved since the company was founded? Why, if at all, does 3M, known as the “hothouse” of innovation, need to regain historic closeness to the customer?

In respect to the above transformation many things including the traditional approaches to management had to be altered in the business environment in order to cultivate effective creativity that promotes the survival of the business in a changing globe. Despite the need for creativity there are still many facts hindering creativity. In this essay the author aims to, (1) explain the shifts that have occurred, (2) the different factors that need to be managed in order to enhance the generation of new ideas, products, services and processes, (3) explain the change management process and recognize its impact on the success of the organization.

Harvard business essentials : managing creativity and innovation, 2003, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Mass.

In today’s knowledge-based economy, innovation has become the principal source of competitive advantages in global business; the success of firms now depends more on their intelligence capability – such as employee creativity – than traditional material assets (Amabile et al., as cited in Zhou, Zhang & Montoro-Sa ́nchez, 2011). The creative capability of individual and collective knowledge workers is the fuel that powers innovation in firms. While creativity leads to the production of new and useful ideas in any domain, innovation is the successful implementation of those creative ideas within an organisation (McLean, as cited in Zhou, Zhang & Montoro-Sa ́nchez 2011). In highly dynamic business environments innovation and creativity have become crucial for creating competitive advantages for the