Abstract
.

3M Corporation
History of the 3M Corporation What started off as a small company in the Lake Superior Town of Two Harbors, Minnesota in the year 1902 – 3M has grown into a worldwide corporation with companies in over 60 countries. Things seemed bright in June 1902, when Two Harbors attorney John Dwan drew up articles of incorporation and added his $1,000 to that of other charter board members, meat market owner Hermon Cable, Dr. J. Danley Budd, the city’s leading physician, and Duluth and Iron Range Railroad executives William McGonagle and Henry Bryan (3M Corporation, 2015).
The five men set out looking for the next new product. They wanted to mine a certain type of mineral deposit (Corundum) to use as an adhesive for grinding-wheels. Corundum was in demand as the premier abrasive for grinding wheels, sandpaper and other items to polish, shape, sharpen and decorate items produced by America’s increasingly industrialized economy. This new source of corundum was greeted jubilantly; the only other North American source was in Ontario. The problem – one that surfaced after the company had incurred a large start-up debt – was that the corundum was not there on Lake Superior’s Minnesota north shore. What was there was anorthosite, which is useless as an abrasive (Bishop, 2005). So within a couple of years of its founding, 3M had tons of mineral for sale, no customers and was all but bankrupt. When mining turned out to be of little use and a failed attempt with mineral deposits the company decided to relocate and focus on the manufacturing of a new product, sandpaper. After a few years of struggling the company was able to master sandpaper manufacturing and created a successful supply chain. Several things began happening for the company as it began to grow, first in 1910 one of its investors Lucius Ordway moved the company from Duluth Minnesota to St. Paul Minnesota. Then in 1920, 3M created the world’s first waterproof sandpaper, which became very popular in the automotive industry for its reduction of airborne particles during sanding. As manufacturing continued to grow, a young lab assistant by the name of Richard G. Drew invented a clear masking tape that would eventually lead to hundreds of household uses. His creation eventually launched the brand name known as Scotch Tape (3M Corporation, 2015).
As the Unites States Military fought WWII in the 1940s and all industries answering the militaries call, 3M answered with a product of Scotch-lite Reflective Sheeting used for highway marking. During the 1950’s, the company continued its diversity and created more products such as Thermo-fax coping process, Scotch-Brite Cleaning Pads, Scotchguard Fabric Protector, and videotape. 3M experienced tremendous growth after World War II, opening many plants across the country. Around this time the company went global, opening facilities in Canada, Mexico, France, Germany, Australia, and the United Kingdom. By 1951, international sales had already reached $20 million.
The 1960’s kept the company moving forward with the invention of overhead projectors and expanding its research to the healthcare industry with the development of medical and dental products. Post-it notes the product that changed the way people organize was born in the 1980s. By the 90’s, 3M had reached an amazing $15 billion in sales and by 2004, $20 billion in sales. From the year 2000 until now 3M has been in the fore front of innovation with new products in the fire protection industry, high-definition cables, fiber optics and it newest product, Command Strips.

The 3M Company (3M) is a diversified technology company that specializes in the development, manufacture and marketing of a wide range of innovative products. 3M develops technology platforms, including adhesives, abrasives, light management, micro replication, nonwoven materials, nanotechnology, and surface modification among others. Its services cater to diverse sectors ranging from healthcare to automotive to electronics and energy to industrial and consumer. The company is among the leading manufacturers of products for many of the markets it serves. The company’s operations span across various countries and its products are sold across North and South America; Europe Middle East and Africa; and Asia Pacific. 3M is headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, the US.
3M’s Mission
3M’s mission continues to be a leader as a global innovation company that plans to never stop inventing new products. The company plans to strengthen 3M's position at the leading edge of global innovation by complementing 3M's holistic innovation strategy with a focus on disruptive, early stage innovations outside of the company's existing portfolio. 3M New Ventures identifies and invests in the most promising new-to-3M technologies, services and business models with long term strategic relevance to 3M (3M website, 2015).
3M plans on continually earning customer loyalty and respect by effectively differentiating the company from their competition and leverage the 3M brand identity standards as a vehicle for impact and success. According to the author, 3M’s primary factor that differentiates the company from their competition is their ability to go beyond the explicit needs of the customer. To create products on the basis of unarticulated needs (Dzinkowski, p39). As a diversified technology company, 3M relies on the delivery of their brand promise (what they bring to the marketplace), aligned with the expression of 3M brand essence (how 3M is able to achieve that brand promise) to ensure understanding and connection with the company, brands and products through: 3M Brand Promise - Practical and ingenious solutions that help customers succeed,
3M Brand Essence - Harnessing the chain reaction of new ideas, and 3M Brand Identity - Manage the 3M brand globally - expressing the 3M promise, personality and values. Building the ability of the 3M brand and strategic brands to instill familiarity which reinforce brand/product experience and protect the company’s equity. Lastly, 3M Brand Identity Strategies - To build a truly global brand, by maximizing awareness and relevance of the 3M’s single, unifying 3M brand. 3M’s Key Objectives The company also recognized that risk taking would only continue if it’s management permitted what was s known as the “well-intended failure.” For more than 100 years, 3M has achieved consistent, profitable growth by creating innovative products, establishing strong relationships with customers and boosting operational efficiency. At the same time, 3M created a culture that promoted employee pride and well-being, fostering integrity and supported social and environmental responsibility. Each year, 3M continues to move toward sustainability and strives to raise the bar on corporate environmental, social and economic management. In order to ensure continuous improvement, 3M annually reevaluate and/or identify new key sustainability objectives for the company (3M Sustainability Report, 2015).
A few of 3M's key objectives around sustainable development include: Managing

environmental footprint, Developing solutions that address environmental and social challenges

for their customers and society, Assuring products are safe for their intended use through their

entire life cycle, Assuring the appropriate management of any 3M health and safety issues that

may touch customers, neighbors and the public, Maintaining a safe and healthy workplace,

Satisfying customers with superior quality and value, Providing a supportive, flexible work

environment, Supporting local needs and education in communities where 3M employees live

and work, Conducting business with uncompromising honesty and integrity and Providing an

attractive return for their investors (3M Sustainability Report, 2011).
At 3M, Sustainability is looked at the terms of shared global needs and the future of the

business. As the population grows, particularly in emerging economies, challenges like energy

availability and security, raw material scarcity, human health and safety, education, and

development must be addressed to ensure people across the globe can lead healthy, fulfilling

lives. In 2015, the company recognizes that the impact it makes includes the company’s own

operations, the difference they make for their customers through the products 3M offers, and the

difference 3M make in local communities has far greater impact.
The company’s progress thus far, as well as its strategy and commitments moving

forward, are aimed at tackling some of the barriers to improving every life: Raw Materials,

Water, Energy & Climate, Health & Safety, and Education & Development all over the world

we live in.
3M’s Current Situation
CEO, Inge G. Thulin, outlines in the 2015 Sustainability Report, that moving forward, “3M emphasis on applying science to improve lives will continue to grow, as will the emphasis on collaboration — with customers, partners and communities.” 3M’s commitments moving forward are aimed at tackling some of the barriers to improving every life in the following areas: Raw Materials, Water, Energy and Climate, Health and Safety and Education and Development.
Building on the company’s long-standing leadership in environmental stewardship and commitment to customer-inspired innovation, it continues focusing a sustainability strategy that strives at overcoming the global challenges that serve as barriers to improving every life. This means addressing challenges like energy availability and security, raw material scarcity, human health and safety, and education and development, while keeping 3M’s vision for growth in mind. Starting with technology and culminating with the improvement of every life on the planet, 3M is committed to improving its business, our planet, and every life. 3M calls this their Every Life ambition.
The company constantly scrutinizes the way their products are produced and disposed of in a sustainable manner. With each product it designs, 3m looks for way to improve lives through science. They feel that if they can change the lives of their consumers and the business that purchase their products, they feel they have done their jobs.
At the core of the company’s innovation practices it evaluates environmental, health, safety and regulatory impacts of their products. They seek to minimize the company’s impact on Earth and acts as champions of sustainability throughout the new product development process. They are vital at ensuring 3M meets EHS&R requirements. 3M outlines all of its policies, governmental regulations and customer expectations.
Supply Chain Sustainability According to 3M’s 2015 Sustainability Report, 3M’s product supply chain involves suppliers from 81 countries classified in 204 sub-categories. They have 10 global commodity teams and numerous sub-teams that work with all client divisions and all 3M factories to assess criticality and develop strategies relevant to mitigating risks and increasing value within all product supply chains. All 3M suppliers are held to high standards and are expected to comply with applicable laws, and those expectations are embedded in 3M contract and purchase order terms. In addition, 3M’s supply chain policies establish a framework that 3M considers important for:
• Safe and healthy workplaces
• Maintenance of fair and reasonable labor and human resource practices, including the prohibition of slavery and human trafficking
• Management of manufacturing and distribution operations to minimize adverse environmental impact.
• Compliance with material content and origin laws
3M expects suppliers to establish programs that are consistent with those policies. Reviews of a supplier performance relative to these policies are conducted. When noncompliance is detected, 3M will attempt to work with the supplier to correct the situation. They expect the supplier to develop a corrective action plan to bring its operations into compliance, and if a supplier does not develop such a plan or fails to implement it, 3M will move to terminate the business relationship.
External Environment Analysis
The 3M Company is a diversified company, which operate in many commodities of business from industrial; consumer and office; healthcare; safety; and other markets. Over the time in which the company has established itself, 3M has built a strong reputation as a leader in research and development capabilities. This has enabled the company to establish a vast innovative approach and launch to new products on the market. This ability gives 3M a very strong competitive advantage. However, quite a few external environment factors affect the way in which the company plans and conducts its business worldwide.
One of the most important external factors affecting the company’s business strategies,’ is competitors. In a market, such as the one that 3M operates, there is competition everywhere. There are a few major companies that compete with 3M. To name a few: Johnson and Johnson, and Bayer are both competitors of 3M. When compared to these competitors and the number of employees 3M stands in the middle with 69,315 employees.
Another external factor that affects 3M‘s global challenges is public policy. Developing public policies can be a complex process for a company the size of this. 3M manages this process by working with local, national and international government agencies. 3M Public Affairs Department established a public policy plan that addressed issues impacting its business operations in the Unites States. While on international soil, the managing directors assigned to those locations have the responsibility for evaluating and determining key governmental issues in their respective countries.
In 3Ms 2011 Sustainability Report it established a roadmap for the company activities. The established roadmap focuses on issues with the potential to significantly affect the company’s financial performance and/or corporate reputation. The top 10 public policies issues for the company in the Unites States were: tax policies, healthcare policy, environmental policy, homeland security, energy policy, international trade policy, transportation infrastructure policy, economic development policy, and labor policy and retirement security. In the companies Tax Policy, tax reform is looked at as essential to ensuring the long-term competitiveness of American businesses and workers. 3M believes business tax reform should focus on a significant reduction of the corporate income tax rate and creating incentives for U.S.-based IP ownership and simplifying the tax code. Its Health Care Policy tries to address the U.S. health system should remain market-driven and efforts to address the uninsured should not weaken the current employer-based coverage system. 3M believed that implementation of the health care law should focus on increasing efficiencies within the system as well as improving quality outcomes and patient safety. The Environmental Policy is guided by science-based decision making and a commitment to sustainability. Over a decade ago, 3M began to make significant investments that were designed to reduce its environmental impacts; those investments continue today. 3M says that it supports prudent and meaningful actions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Strengthened defense preparedness through improved border and immigration security, improved force protection measures, additional support for first responders, and planning for pandemics or other national emergencies are all part the companies Homeland Security Plans. 3Ms Energy Policy establishes a belief that, both National (and state) policies should ensure a continuous, reliable and uninterrupted supply of energy at competitive rates. 3M supports policies that address new sources of energy, alternative energy, faster adoption of technology and improved energy efficiency.
International Trade Policy, 3M believes the U.S. economy and American jobs depend on the expansion of free and fair trade through the passage of new trade agreements, such as those pending with the Republic of Korea, Panama, and Colombia. Additionally, 3M supports renewal of the president’s Trade Promotion Authority so as to allow additional agreements to be negotiated. International trade policy also requires a level playing field, including recognition, protection, and enforcement of intellectual property rights and trading rules.
Transportation Infrastructure Policy addresses the maintenance and improvement of the nation’s transportation infrastructure – which is important to 3M as a supplier of traffic safety and construction products, and as a user of the system – can only be achieved if the Highway Trust Fund remains solvent. 3M believes all highway user fees should be dedicated to the fund; additional steps should be taken to crack down on fuel tax evasion; and Congress should consider other measures, if necessary, to ensure the fund’s solvency.
Economic Development Policy supports state government policies designed to incentivize capital investment and sustainable job creation. In particular, we believe state tax policy should reward both job creation and plant expansion and modernization investments. Worker training programs are also an important tool in a state’s economic development portfolio. Additionally, ongoing regulatory reform should always be a part of the mix.
Labor Policy supports the full measure of rights provided to employers and employees under the National Labor Relations Act. This federal law allows both employers and unions the opportunity to explain the advantages of having a union or not. A key provision of the Act allows employees to cast their vote, either to accept or reject union representation, in a secret ballot election conducted by the National Labor Relations Board. 3M opposes any legislative or regulatory efforts to diminish or eliminate secret ballot elections for employees.
Retirement Security Policy relies on a balance of Social Security, pensions and private savings. 3M believes government policies should ensure the viability of all options while maintaining the ability of employers to provide and effectively manage retirement benefits to employees.

Reference
Bishop, Hugh E., The Two Harbors Roots of 3M Corporation. Lake Superior Magazine. 2005 May 23;
Corporate.Target.com. (2015). Target through the years. Target. Retrieved from https://corporate.target.com/about/history/Target-through-the-years
Dzinkowski, R. (2000). Mission possible. CMA Management, 74(1), 36-40. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/197785655?accountid=14944
3M Corporation (2015). Company History. Retrieved from http://solutions.3m.com/ wps/portal/3M/en_US/3M-Company/Information/Resources/History/
3M Corporation, (2011). Corporate Sustainability Report 2011. St. Paul, MN, Retrieved from http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/654972O/gri-report.pdf
3M Corporation, (2015). Corporate Sustainability Report 2015. Maplewood, MN, Retrieved from http://multimedia.3m.com/mws/media/1064170O/3m-2015-sustainability-report.pdf

abstract
3M is a company that is. This report will conduct such an analysis. Within this analysis, the following areas will be covered: history, mission and objectives, current situation, external environmental analysis, internal analysis, and strategies. Through these areas of focus within the overall analysis of the 3M Corporation.