BPME3073 ENTREPRENEURSHIP (GROUP A)

FIRST SEMESTER SESSION 2020/2021 (A201)

STUDY CASE (GROUP)

Submitted to:
DR. YEOH KHAR KHENG

MATRIC. NO. NAME

1 273117 NUR ATHIRAH BINTI ISHAK
2 273272 ANIS SYAFIQA BINTI ABDUL ALIM
3 273408 FARAH NABILAH BINTI MUSTAFA
4 273568 FARAH NADIA BINTI MD NOR

DATE SUBMISSION:
14TH JANUARY 2020
QUESTION 1

Describe the organizational structures and devices 3M uses to encourage

entrepreneurial activity. Why do they work?

3M heavily based its business on innovation and while doing this it always supported
its employees in terms of being innovative. 3M also always followed the alternative
ways in order to increase their profit and market share, and they found that one of
the best ways is through organizational innovation. Therefore, in order to improve
their business 3M developed 6 different strategies over its history. These strategies
helped 3M to promote entrepreneurship and increase customer satisfaction within
the market.

First strategy of 3M’s was getting close to customers and understanding their
needs.3M started their businesses by selling sandpaper and the only way they could
generate sales was by getting close to the customers and demonstrating their
products for them. This helped them to understand customer’s needs better based
on the feedbacks they get from demonstrating their products to this selected group of
customers. Afterward, as a second strategy they tried to seek out niche markets no
matter how small they are.

Following the success of the first strategy, 3M found that if they offered customers
what they wanted, these customers will be loyal to their company. Thus, they
developed the second strategy to seek niche markets no matter how small, as this
will allow them for charge premium prices for their products. Then they included
product diversification as the third strategy. By being close to the customers, 3M
identified problems that they can solve for their customers through technical
expertise. This was efficient as it to ensure that they continued to diversify their
product offerings by developing new products to solve new or unattended customer
needs.

Once 3M found a new product to offer in their niche market they would move on to
develop related products and thus occupy leadership positions in these markets. As
the fourth strategy, they gave importance to the product development and innovation
through research. This strategy was developed in line with the third strategy which
was encouraging diversification. If 3M where to constantly diversify their product and
service offering, the company understood that a support to its system is needed
along with improved innovation and new product development to ensure that the
company continues in line with their business model.

As it is very important in any kind of developing business and as by time 3M gained

a good place in market, they decided to get knowledge sharing strategy as the fifth
one. This became official with the establishment of the technical forum in 1950s, with
the aim of sharing knowledge within the company. This forum comprised of technical
council and directors that held annual shows to encourage knowledge sharing in 3M.
And lastly, as the sixth strategy they decided to adopt encourage achievement
through a rewarding system. This strategy was adopting an employee appraisal
scheme that was encouraging achievement by rewarding employees who generated
successful business ideas. Employees that successful innovate new products are
promoted to be the managers of that product division, this ensured that other staff
members are motivated to work harder and discover new product innovation as they
seek to one day become managers of their developed product lines.
QUESTION 2

Why has 3M been such a successful innovator for so long?

The success of 3M in innovation can be traced back to the appraisal of its

employees. This is because the company has discovered a missing link that many
companies appear to ignore when it comes to expressing respect for the
contributions of employees. 3M has always been respected for its ability to share
information around the company and to connect technology to the development of
various goods that could be sold in different markets. One example of this is the
ScotchliteTM Reflective Sheet used for road signs established in the 1940s-indeed,
as a result of failed testing, the production of reflective road markings. This joint
research of three separate laboratories to create signs with a waterproof base Plan
has resulted in different parts of the company being able to collaborate and work
together and most importantly, share information.

The founders initially promoted creativity informally, but many of these rules were
formalized over more than a century. However, the community that promotes
creativity, most significantly, has evolved. And because this community has created
a success story, it continues. Only by addressing the client showing it to the
employees who used it and persuading him to indicate a sort of early relationship
sale for the product could they do this. This was the fledgling company's first
strategic thrust to get close to the client and grasp their requirements. With 75
consumer innovation centres across the world, 3M finds closeness to consumers a
key competitive advantage. By reaching out to the consumer in their natural
environment and spending time with them, 3M engineers understand customer
product requirements. They look for their client's "pain points" and listen to them. 3M
believes that customers need to encourage your creativity because when you listen
to them, customers will genuinely help you solve their problems.

The next strategic thrust of the company has therefore been established to
undertake product development and innovation at all levels of the organisation
through research. 3M is performance-oriented and achievement, particularly in
research, has been rewarded, often by promotion. Using newer social media tools to
facilitate communication around the enterprise. Crowd source good ideas within the
organisation and capitalise on these innovations. Develop committees to provide
monies to individuals and organisations for their new ideas. Successful new product
teams, for example, were spun off to form new divisions. The team leader has also
been the general manager of the new division, and this has been seen as a great
motivator. Fewer successes have also been noted. This rise in the motivation level of
3M employees has been the secret to their long-term success, as their employees
continue to do their utmost to ensure organisational success. Researchers who
regularly attained 'high levels of originality, commitment and honesty in the technical
field,' as measured by their colleagues, were invited to join the exclusive 'Calton
Society.' The 'Golden Step' and 'Pathfinder' awards were also given to those helping
to create innovative new products. At all stages, the achievement was praised. This
technique was an emerging motivation for achievement by reward.
QUESTION 3:

Can other companies just copy 3M’s structures and culture and become
successful innovators also?

It is very common among firms to repeat the different concepts of other firms if these
other firms are especially profitable. For example, it is same goes to the company
right now like a phone company, food industry, and so on. Copying ideas and
strategies of other companies is a mechanism commonly used by businesses across
the globe to boost their efficiency. Does not mean, copying the idea of another
company by taking the existing details or patents. But research the idea and turn it
into its own product that has been upgraded or called in innovation. Indeed, imitation
was seen as the main means or organizational learning and was included in
academic and practitioner-oriented literature. For the boss, imitation is a crucial
factor in organizational life. In this sector, we call it R&C which is means research
and copying.

If correctly replicated, companies that replicate 3M's tactics and culture

can be effective innovators. This is because 3M's general culture revolves around
employee evaluation and company psychology, which has been rated high as
increasing employee productivity and enhancing organizational efficiency. What is
the working culture of these workers is that 3M has developed a strategy that
encourages researchers to spend up to 15% of their time working on their own
projects. To this day it is seeking to make creativity part of the corporate culture by
empowering workers to spend 15% of their time working on innovations that they
hope will one day become new products for the company. They will also get money
to buy equipment and recruit additional staff. Not all can imitate this work culture
because 3M's general culture revolves around employee appraisal and business
psychology. Another significant one is that any mistake is not punished, but success
is well rewarded.

It can be argued that companies can become effective innovators by

explicitly copying 3M's business model and culture. However, it must be understood
that because the external world influences the performance of any company
completely copying its model and culture could be catastrophic as it could lead to
negative consequences, such as legal prosecution of 3M in situations where
patented rights are copied. This is because any product designed by this 3M
Company has been patented as a copy. What happens if other companies want to
copy the 3M product patent in full, they are likely to create problems for their own
business. They may for example, be sued for attempting to copy an existing patent.
This will cause other businesses to lose, and the reputation of the company is going
to be negative.

Other companies can copy 3M’s structures and culture and become
successful innovators. What they can do is R&C, research and copying. Nowadays
we can see many product it just look at same but the function for that product it is
totally difference. This product does not vary from its actual use feature, but these
items can be changed or decreased in function to make it easier to use. For
example, let us take one product from 3M Company which is Post-It Notes.
Nowadays we can see many products that resemble these Post-It Notes. But if you
look at it correctly, each use of this product is the same but different in terms of
function addition. So this is not a problem because the concept of R&C is used. The
conclusion is yes, other companies just copy 3M’s structures and culture and
become successful innovators.
QUESTION 4

“Innovative ideas are always prominence in entrepreneurship”. Briefly explain

any FIVE (5) methods to generate new ideas for business.

As you know, businesses started with business ideas that generated from the
entrepreneurial brain. Business idea is the first step to start a business. Without
ideas, we cannot even start the business. The question is, how to generate new
ideas for business? Generating new business ideas may seem easy but it is not as
easy as you might think because we need to find right and great ideas so that the
business will last longer. Here are five methods to generate new ideas for business.

The easiest things to do is tap your interest and vision. There are a lot of
people have taken up their hobbies and interests and turned them into a successful
business. It is a great things to do as you can always do what you like and never get
bored of it. At the same time, the business will last longer if it is in your interests as
you will not easily give up if the business not run smoothly at an early stage because
you love what you do. After all, it will never feel like work if we are doing what we
love.

You are actually severely limiting yourselves if you rely solely on your own
ideas. That is why you should get a little help from your family and friends. Many
people insist on creating a business themselves without getting any help from their
family and friends, but you should listen to ideas other might have because out all of
your family members and friends, there may be some of them who have great ideas.
You also should ask them what they think of the ideas you own so that you can use
their advice to improve your original ideas and create a great business.

Another way is to look at all the things that bug you and create a better one.
This may not sound promising but this is a great business ideas because as you
know, there are a lot of businesses and products created now. That is why we
should find the flaws of a product or if the product did not meet our high standard,
then create a better one. If we consider this little things, it will benefits your business
as you will have better products than the existing products on the market today. It will
also be a good advantages for your business marketing strategy.
 It is undeniable that we are currently living in a world where digital era has
taken control and obviously everything can be accessed online. Use this technology
at your full advantages to generate new ideas for your business. Web surfing is a fun
and easy way to log on to potential business ideas especially during this pandemic
COVID-19. Other than that, you can also do the market research because it is
always important to be aware of what market you are planning to enter. This method
is a must do to generate your new business ideas as this is as simple as you cannot
say no.

Lastly, it is always good to seek inspiration and ideas trough travel because
the further you travel, the greater the knowledge you will earn. Sometimes,
researching is not enough. Thus, travelling and seeing the world by yourselves will
open your eyes to a plenty of potential business ideas that are not in your market
yet. By traveling, you can also gain new experience, expand your networking and
build new relationships. Who know you will stumble upon someone that could help
you in the business world, right? Accordingly, travel wherever you can.

Generally speaking, there are a lot of ways to generate business ideas and
those are the five methods to generate new ideas for your business. Hopefully it can
give benefit to you to start a new business.
REFERENCES

Bob Weinstein, (Nov 19, 2004), 10 Great Ways to Generate Business Ideas,
Entrepreneur ASIA PACIFIC. Retrieved from
https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/74184

CBN Team, (August 30, 2019), 6 ways to generate business ideas, Creative
Business Network. Retrieved from https://cbnet.com/2019/08/30/6-ways-to-generate-
business-ideas/

Smith, M. (2020b, August 7). Understanding Customer Needs During An Unequal

Recovery. Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/08/10/understanding-customer-
needs-during-an-unequal-recovery/

Bassem, M., El Badawy, T. A., & Magdy, M. M. (2019). HR Managers’ Views on

SHRM and Its Role in Influencing Organizational Performance. International Journal
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