3M Corporation, Research Paper Example

3M Corporation is considered a global leader in the area of research and development. It has operations in over 65 countries, employing some 75,000 people world-wide. The business produces over $23 billion in sales annually. The company boasts a wide range of products spanning a diverse market base. The Company has a world-wide presence covering the following market areas:

• Consumer and Office
• Display and Graphics
• Electro and Communication
• Health Care
• Industrial and Transportation
• Safety, Security & Technical Services   (3M)

The CEO Jim McNerny has worked hard at developing the leadership potential within 3M and this has included the development of their own leadership academy. ” It would be home to a number of accelerated leadership learning and development opportunities, including not only high-potential leadership development for 3M worldwide, but also for Six Sigma black belt and master black belt training and for leadership training for customers and distributors. Within three months we had gained full approval for the $3.2 million renovation project.”  (Johnson).  3M has an impressive international Finance position as illustrated in Fig 1

Figure 1: 3M 2009 International Finance Source :  (Reuters)

The CEO and President of 3M outlined the following strategy for the business in 2006 ” The heart and soul of 3M’s approach will remain technological differentiation applied across multiple businesses,” Buckley said. “We’ll search for disruptive technologies and ‘just out of the garage’ technology developments as well as logical extensions to invent new futures for our products,” he said. 3M also will become more active in identifying and completing acquisitions to complement core businesses, usually in the form of smaller “bolt-ons” to product lines or geographies.”  (SpecialChem).

The cultural development of 3M will be based upon innovation, creativity and leadership and as such the firm will recruit the best minds and provide the appropriate levels of research and training to make them successful in their careers ” At 3M, the Strategic Business Development program is at the forefront of finding innovative solutions to bring the company success in the disciplines of Business Development, Strategy and Marketing”  (3M).

Works Cited

3M. 3M. 2010. 3 6 2010 <http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/Careers/Home/Students/Development/StrategicDevelopment/>.

3M Worldwide. 2010. 3 6 2010 <http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_WW/About3/3M/>.

Johnson, Cindy. Leadership development at 3M: new process, new techniques, new growth. 1 9 2003. 3 6 2010 <http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/employee-development-leadership/665250-1.html>.

Reuters. Reuters.com. 2010. 3 6 2010 <http://www.reuters.com/finance/stocks/overview?symbol=MMM.N>.

SpecialChem. 3M CEO Outlines Strategy for Growth; Company Will Focus on Innovation, International, Core Businesses and Complementary Acquisitions. 2 5 2006. 3 6 2010 <http://www.omnexus4adhesives.com/services/news.aspx?id=117>.