Title: A Study on the Significant Effects of Management
Style in 3M
Table of Contents:
5. Theoretical Framework.
6. Methodology.
· Research Design.
· Participants.
· Instruments.
· Data Analysis and Presentation
I. Introduction
This Section aims to impress upon the reader the purpose and importance of the study to the topic. Also, this section aims to point out the relevance of the problem to the selected topic.
I.E. Background
3M has long been recognized by the world to have created and fostered the “creative genius” of each individual employee of the company. Innovation has been the core of their operation ever since McKnight took over in 1916. 3M stands for Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, which was founded by in the North shore of Lake Superior in at Two Harbors in Minnesota. Their current headquarters is located at Maplewood.
Early innovations created by the company were waterproof sandpaper, masking tape, and Cellophane Scotch tape. It also expanded into the area of board games and later on invested in audio and video.
2. Statement of the Problem
Though it has been the company tradition to hire young minds full of creative genius and entrepreneurship, the yearly figures could not support the coming in of these new hires, thus creating a problem for the company. The purpose of this study is to locate the core problems that existed in 3M which forced them to adopt a management styles implemented now and to expound and illustrate the effectiveness of the current management styles being used.
3. Purpose of the Study
This study was conducted to be able to recognize the management styles used by 3M to lift the company’s are declining state. Also, the problems that surfaced in 3M must be seen and recognized in order for potential entrepreneurs to know the proper approaches needed to remedy and correct the current situation the company is facing and also to be able to recognize and apply the innovative and managerial approaches used by the company to improve its declining state.
Importance
As mentioned above, the major concern of the paper is to shed light on the issues that forced the management of 3M to adopt a management style that was effective enough to successfully save the whole company from a serious fall-out. 3M is now one of the biggest companies in the world. Due to its adoption of a better and more advanced managerial approach, it was able to withstand and even elevate its state in the business world. We are conducting this research in hopes that we may also be able to apply the ingenious approach adopted by 3M.
4. Literature Review
In the article, “3M’s First 100 Years: and how it plans to manage the next 100” by made mention of the strength and durability of 3M. It has been existing for more than a century and still is going strong. According to its history, 3M was built on a mistake, pertaining to their corundum mineral mistake. Still, few years after that faithful incident, and one more incident though, 3M has become one of the few pioneering western companies to nurture innovative.
It bothered the author why the authors James Collins and Jerry Pores, of the book, Built to Last, said that if they would bet everything on “continued success and adaptability of any single company over the next 50 to 100 years, they would “place that bet on 3M“?”. It was thoroughly understandable. 3M’s managerial approaches had kept the company through times when most companies would already close down. It was able to sustain itself for more than a hundred years, what would make it so difficult to sustain itself for a hundred more?
The person that brought the culture of fostering innovation and new managerial approaches was the lowly bookkeeper-turned-CEO William McKnight. His principles included the freedom for the employees to commit intelligent and innovative mistakes. They were given freedom to do their work without too much interference since it may hinder the productivity of their thoughts. According to 3M‘s chief executive in New Zealand, James Marshall, the HR simply asked the management to keep an environment that encouraged innovative and resourcefulness, initiative, and unbiased opportunity.
These thoughts and principles helped shape the current management of 3M. Still, there is more than a hundred years to come; 3M needs to focus on their weak points to keep the good thing going. According to Marshall, from the same article, customers and customer service will be their primary priority. “With the rapid advances in electronic technology a company can lose the human interaction with customers. You can lose sight of a customer’s true needs. While we have embraced technology, we will have to make sure we continue to have face-to-face contact with the end user so we are in a position to deliver the solutions they need.” So, in order to keep in touch with their customers, they need to work and focus primarily on their customer service. Customer oriented services are much sought after these days. One must keep in mind that customers are one of the key factors that keep the business running. So in order to keep their trust, they must focus on the customers and their needs. That might just be what they need to keep them going for a hundred more years.
5. Research Methodology
Research Design
This study will identify factors that made the management shift its management style from one to the other until it was able to find one that worked well with it. Thus, we must employ the use of case study analysis to fully view the factors that had a part in making the company shift into its current management style. For example, we could conduct a SWOT analysis for the company to be able to evaluate its standing in those times and also, to be able to see if we would arrive at the same conclusion as the strategists then.
Primary and secondary data may also be of use in this research. Primary data may consist of the data gathered which would be about the company’s figures during its years of decline while secondary date may be about its current set of figures as it employed its management style. This may be able to explain the relevance of the management style and its affectivity to the current success of 3M. All data gathered must come from interviews on the participants and company records.
Participants
Participants may be the employees of the company from 1970 up to the present. High ranking officials may also participate in the said event. Interviews will be conducted in a time which would be convenient to the participants as to not disrupt their working schedules. It may also be of great importance if former employees and high ranking officials be included in the said interview since they may also have vital information and data which may help in the organization of the research.
Instruments
Since our only interviews will be conducted to gather data, only necessary materials are needed. The interviewer must have a sheet containing questions that concerns itself on the past events related to the adoption of the new managerial approaches, i. e., “What event, in your opinion, led to the restructuring and reorganization of the company?”
Data Analysis and Presentation
The data gathered should be categorized accordingly to when they occurred and to which reorganization efforts they belong to. Also, the data gathered about the problems and factors causing the change should also be grouped together accordingly.
When this has been accomplished, this can pivot the movement for further research about the said topic.
6. Ethical Considerations
The interview procedure must be explained to the participants. Reassurances must be made to them like their answers will be taken in anonymously and that their answers will remain between the participant and the interviewer. Also, questions that they think might not be appropriate for them to answer can be left out if they chose to. All of the activities during the interview will be of free will and their identity and their answers will be shrouded in secrecy.
7. Timescale
Activity
Month
April
May
June
July
Search for Related Literature
Selection of the Topic
Definition of the Problem
Development of the Objectives
Selection of Methodology
Check the availability of resources
Verify the accessibility of the resources
Write the draft of the proposal
Prepare interview schedule
Secure adviser’s approval
Do the needed revisions
Test research tool validity
Select the study sample
Conduct research proper
Administer research tools
Do the assessment techniques
Gather and analyze results
Do the necessary data presentation
Interpret findings
Preparation of the final report
Formulation of conclusions and recommendations
Preparation of the table of content, appendices
Editing and Final Formatting
Printing
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
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