Encouraging Innovation In Organizations: The 3M Essay.

How does a company encourage people to look beyond their current goods and services to something better and/or different? The answer lies in the company's culture, ie the typical pattern of relationships and behaviours within an organisation. For people to be creative they have to have freedom; freedom to explore new ideas within an environment that tolerates mistakes, understands and manages the risks involved.

Product innovation involves prioritisation, trials, failure and risk. The key is to minimise the organisational and financial risk. This relies on effective processes to deliver consistent results by managing innovation. The challenge is to improve these processes continually without stifling people's creativity, as this would stop the flow of new ideas that are vital to success.There are many ways to encourage good ideas, from brain storming to reverse thinking. Brainstorming involves asking groups of people to generate ideas, however fanciful, eg for solving a particular practical roblem. A complete list of brainstormed ideas can then be analysed to agree what is feasible.

Reverse thinking allows people to broaden their thinking. For example, instead of asking 'How can we get the workers to the material?' Henry Ford turned the problem round. He asked: 'How can we get the work to the people?' With this reversal of a basic assumption, the assembly line was created.

3M has no particularly favourite method of generating ideas, much depends on a manager'a style. 3M believes that the most critical thing is to be proactive. Ideas rarely just pop into people's heads; they have to be encouraged and developed.

3M's innovations have not started with one-off discoveries or 'eureka' moments. Its new products result from deliberate, rigorous commitment to the technological development of solutions to customer needs. This customer-focused approach involves finding out what existing and potential customers want through detailed market research. A customer-focused organisation starts with the consumer, and then creates the products that match consumer demand. This contrasts with old-fashioned production companies of the past that thought they knew best. They delivered what they were good at producing, rather than what customers wanted.

The importance of fostering creativity and finding practical solutions

As opined by Amponsah and Adams (2017), the recent developments in the field of technology had changed the business world in a substantial manner. França et al. (2017) are of the viewpoint that these innovative technologies has not only changed the business models used by the different business enterprises but at the same time they have much altered the manufacturing, operational, promotional, marketing and other processes used by these enterprises.

More importantly, one of the most important effects of these innovative technologies is perhaps noticed within the cannon of the innovative business ideas used by these organizations (Dincer 2017). This essay will discuss the manner in which different innovations and innovative business ideas have changed the nature of the contemporary business world in the particular context of the organization 3M.

Main factors that make 3M an innovative organization

The organization 3M, established in 1902 by five entrepreneurs specializes in the manufacture of sandpaper through the use of various kinds of minerals. In addition to this, the organization also offers a plethora of services to the customers on the basis of a thorough assessment of their needs. The major factor which has made the organization under discussion here one of the most innovative organizations of the world in the recent times it is business idea that it is using for the process of its business operations and also the wide range of business services that it offers to the customers. In this regard, it needs to be said that the initial business idea of the five entrepreneurs was to mine minerals however having failed at that attempt they sought to procure minerals at a much cheaper much and instead manufactured sandpaper from them.

The concerned organization tries to foster an environment of creativity as well as innovation within its workplace wherein the employees can try out new different ideas for the completion of their job roles. More importantly, it is seen that the concerned organization focuses on “finding practical solutions” to meet the requirements of the customers in the best possible manner. Furthermore, the concerned organization from time to time prioritizes various kinds of innovations and before implementation they are made to undergo various kinds of trial runs so as to offer the best design solutions to the customers.

Commercialization of Innovations  

González-Benito, Muñoz-Gallego and García-Zamora (2016) are of the viewpoint that commercialization is perhaps the single most important factor which has changed the business world in the past three to four centuries. In this regard, it needs to mention that in the earlier times the organizations and also the individuals used to follow the barter system for the purpose of transaction (Visnjic, Wiengarten and Neely 2016). More importantly, in the recent times, it is seen that the organizations are even taking the help of the trend of commercialization of innovations. For example, it is seen that the different recent are being patented by the organization and used on a commercial basis not only for the development of further new products or services but also to cater to the different needs of the customers as well (Saebi and Foss 2015).

The role of commercialization in driving innovation

The organization 3M follows this method not only for the process of the plethora of business services that they offer to the customers but also within the framework of their own organization as well. The organization follows the method of reverse thinking for the formulation of different kinds of innovations which are in synchronicity with the needs as well as the requirements of the different stakeholders or customers who are associated with them. More importantly, the organization not only prioritizes these innovations but at the same time subjects them to various kinds of trials and test to analyze their effectiveness.

Once they have proved their effectiveness as well as usefulness then patents are being procured and they are being used for commercial purpose. It is pertinent to note that these innovations as well as their commercialization have not only enabled the concerned organization to offer innovative kind of services to the customers but at the same time become one of the leaders in the sector in which it is currently operational. Thus, it can be said that the process of commercialization of innovations have helped the organization 3M in a substantial manner to further enhance their business prospects.

Multi-layer films as an innovative application

The organization 3M actively takes the help of the “multi-layer films as an innovative application” within the framework of its organization to offer innovative kinds of business solutions to the customers. For example, the use of this is not only evident in the sandpaper that the organization offers to the customers but at the same time in the other kinds of designs and other kinds of solutions offered by the organization. In this regard, it can be said that the Enterprise Growth Team of the organization had developed new kinds of display signs which not only use less energy but at the same time generate less heat as well. Thus, it can be said that this cost effective alternative solution is likely to help the customers of the organizations in a substantial manner.

The organization NOVA Chemicals Corporation is one of the most important examples of the organizations, which is actively taking the help of the process of multi-layer films as an innovative application (Novachem.com 2018). The organization offers packaging for a wide range of food products like meat, nuts and others to the customers from the different parts of the world and this is one of the major reasons for the unprecedented success attained by the organization in the recent times (Novachem.com 2018).

However, in the recent times, it is seen that the organization taking the help of the process of “multi-layer films as an innovative application” is trying to “a recyclable oxygen-barrier film structure” for the packaging of the food materials that the other organizations offer (Novachem.com 2018). More importantly, unlike the other kinds of non-recyclable packaging materials used by the other organizations these packaging materials are completely recyclable and at the same time bio-degradable.

The innovative business idea of the concerned organization is likely to help the world to overcome the problem of pollution caused by various kinds of non-recyclable materials which are used for the packaging of different kinds of food products (Novachem.com 2018). Furthermore, this is at the same time likely to help the concerned organization to improve the method of packaging which is being used by the different organizations in a substantial manner. Thus, it can be said that this innovative idea developed by the concerned organization is not only likely to help the packaging industry but at the same time the environment as well.

Conclusion

To conclude, the business prospects of an organization depends to a great extent on the manner in which different innovative technologies are not only being used by them but at the same time integrated within their organizational framework as well. Furthermore, for the effective utilization of these innovative technologies the organizations need to foster an innovative culture within the framework of their organization wherein the employees would be encouraged to use. More importantly, the organizations need to prioritize and test the effectiveness of these innovative technologies before using them on a commercial basis. 

References

Amponsah, C.T. and Adams, S., 2017. Open Innovation: Systematisation Of Knowledge Exploration And Exploitation For Commercialisation. International Journal of Innovation Management, 21(03), p.1750027.

Dincer, I., 2017. Importance of research, innovation and commercialisation for technological success. International Journal of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation, 1(1), pp.8-22.

França, C.L., Broman, G., Robèrt, K.H., Basile, G. and Trygg, L., 2017. An approach to business model innovation and design for strategic sustainable development. Journal of Cleaner Production, 140, pp.155-166.

González-Benito, Ó., Muñoz-Gallego, P.A. and García-Zamora, E., 2016. Role of collaboration in innovation success: differences for large and small businesses. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 17(4), pp.645-662.

Novachem.com. 2018. NOVA Chemicals Home. [online] Available at: https://www.novachem.com/Pages/home.aspx [Accessed 27 Nov. 2018].

Saebi, T. and Foss, N.J., 2015. Business models for open innovation: Matching heterogeneous open innovation strategies with business model dimensions. European Management Journal, 33(3), pp.201-213.

Visnjic, I., Wiengarten, F. and Neely, A., 2016. Only the brave: Product innovation, service business model innovation, and their impact on performance. Journal of Product Innovation Management, 33(1), pp.36-52.