Innovation and Entrepreneurship Specialism Essay

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Specialism - Essay Example But the company holds over 60,000 products ranging from adhesive tapes to office stationary. The company is built around the chemical technology of coating and bonding (Strebel, 1987). Other mentionable items include equipment for traffic and safety signs, medical supplies, magnetic tapes and CDs. Their strategy of applying adhesive coating technologies to products has remained lucrative throughout their corporate history (Grant, 1991). The company also manufactures electrical equipment. The reason behind this success in innovation is its effective knowledge management system (Cavusgil, Calantone and Zhao, 2003). In the beginning, the company pursued a policy where the top management informally encouraged innovation but during later years the company formalized its innovation policy. It has built a culture based around innovation. Impressive financial success allows the company to maintain its innovation policy. Looking at 3Ms history it appears that their research and development culture is composed of elements that have not been modified in the companys 90 year history, but still the company is recognized for environmental leadership (Mitsch, 1992). 3M started its operations by selling sandpaper of inferior quality. It was quite an art to sell such a product. The company achieved this by getting closer to their clientele. They pursued a policy of relationship building with the customers. They demonstrated to the workmen how they could use this product. It was an example of relationship selling. This strategy taught the company a valuable lesson to get close with the customers and get to know their exact needs. Building such a relationship with the customers also gave the company an advantage where they could realize other market opportunities. The company apprehended early on that they could not simply compete based on price. The company identified certain niches that they could capitalize on. The first product they focused on was Three-M-Iteâ„ ¢