3M is an American company which was created in 1902 by five businessmen. It has activities in various fields such as: industry and transport, health, signaling, communication and optical systems, office equipment, security and protection, electricity, electronics and telecommunications.
This company is the home of famous brands such as 'Scotch tape', 'Scotch-brite', 'Scotchgard', 'Post-it', 'Nexcare' and 'Filtrete'. This company now has 130 factories world-wide and subsidiary companies in 60 countries.
In France, the 3M group includes six different companies: 3M France, 3M Health SAS, 3M Pouyet Telecommunications, 3M CUNO Filtration, EMFI and Faab Industries/Fabricauto. The company generated a turnover of 25.3 billion dollars in 2008.
A great part of this success was due to constant innovation. Innovation forms the cornerstone of the culture of this company.
Can it be said that the culture of 3M has had an impact on the operation of the business? We will see how first appeared corporate culture through the historical society, then we will expose the values that constitute the corporate culture. Finally, we will see how culture influences the lives of 3M Company.
The culture of a company is rooted in its history. Therefore it seems essential to explain how 3M has managed to grow so dramatically worldwide. In 1902, five businessmen from Two Harbors, established a Minnesota based company, Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing (3M).
They wanted a mine which they said contained a mineral body ideal for making sandpaper and grinding wheels. But this body mineral was of poor quality, and 3M moved to Duluth in 1905 to concentrate on making paper.
After some difficult years in 1910, 3M Left Duluth to St Paul in Minnesota. Technical innovations and business began to bear fruit, and in 1916, 3M paid its first dividend of 6% per share. From the 1920s, their innovations succeeded.
Tags: history of 3M Company, innovation of 3M, company culture – 3M
[...] The vision of the company is managing to move forward. This was checked several times for the company, especially in the discovery of post-it. It appeared after the failed tests for a new glue that had been very little effective when used alone. But it is the glue that engineer Art Fry had the idea to put on paper which will be called later as post-it. According to S. Finkelstein professor of management at the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth), is the Group's culture that encourages 3M doubt and allow the error, which helped quickly transform this failure into commercial success. [...]
[...] The company also engages in traffic safety. 3M strives every day to value and nurture talent, take initiative and leadership of its employees. Many innovations are the result of reflections of employees. For example the "sticky" is the brainchild of Arthur Fry, 3M researcher group. A choir member, it sought a way to signal the pages of its scores provided without damaging the paper. Thus in 1980 it coated with a thin layer of adhesive still unknown the bookmarks flying its partitions: the post-it was born This illustrates the fact that 3M places great trust in its employees and often use their creativity. [...]
[...] That is why each has clear objectives and specific, which are reviewed annually. Individual contribution and development needs are assessed through a process called EC & DP (Employee Contribution & Development Process). In addition, the company supports continuing education and knowledge sharing. To conclude, we can say that 3M is one of the companies in which culture plays a very important role both on policy decisions but also on how to understand the management. 3M focuses on ethics, compliance, innovation and the environment. [...]
[...] This shows that corporate culture can be strength but it can also be a disadvantage if it was too present. Here, the granting of great importance to the creativity of employees is something that has often managed to 3M but when attempts at innovation fail, they can lead to losses for the company, which has faced slower growth. However, failure is part of the culture of 3M and its management. 3M recommends "open culture", that is to say, it allows individuals to speak their minds and act accordingly. [...]
[...] In addition, the company also introduced "Management Life Cycle". It is to analyze the effects of a product on the environment and to propose solutions for improvement before it is marketed. Besides the establishment of Life Cycle Management, the 3M group in France has produced 19 projects under the 3P program, with significant results: 650 tons of pollutants prevented and 800,000 Euros in savings. And society does not stop there every year since it sets new goals in this area. [...]
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