“Assessing 3M’s Innovation Strategy: Lessons for Organizations in a Changing Landscape”

Topic: Evaluate 3M’s approach to innovation using relevant theories and frameworks we
discussed in this module. How could these be applied to an organisation of your choice?
You will need to choose two or three topics from this module that you think are relevant to
the innovation strategies used by 3M. You are expected to discuss if these approaches would
be suitable to apply to an organisation of your choice (can be the same organisation as in
your first report).
Possible Report Structure (3,500 words +- 10%)
1 Introduction to report and the shifts in innovation (possibly 300 words)
2 Introduction to 3M (possibly 300 – 400 words) To include:
• Overview of 3M
• Scale and nature of market in which they operate (e.g. sales, volumes, demographics)
• How new products and services are developed
3 Description and analysis of 3M’s approach to innovation (possibly 1300 – 1400 words) To
include:
• Overview of 3M’s apprpach to innovation (pick only two or three topic areas to focus on)
• How it has impacted on 3M’s operations – discuss specifics of operations, activities,
structure etc.
• Detailed analysis of this form of innovation using relevant theoretical frameworks and
concepts
4 Critical exploration of the relevance of 3M’s approach to other organisation (possibly
1000 – 1100 words) To
include:
• Scale and nature of the other firm being cited
• Comparisons between the innovation approaches of 3M and the chosen company
• How 3M’s experience may be relevant (or not). Provide references to theory and practice to
support your argument.
5 Conclusions (possibly 300 words)