The 3M Company and Strategy of Market Research - Essay Example

The 3M’s strategy of market research was not adequate. One market researcher served around 900 engineers. The firm depends heavily on smaller market research firms for conducting market research for them. The pricing of their product was also not adequate to compete in the international market. Strategies like “Lead User” was not successful

Tactical problems – 3lines
Most of the new products developed consumed too much time and because of the heavy pricing, they failed in the market. The 3M management was unable to identify experts at the right time to cater to the needs of current trends in the international market. Their efforts to modernize the traditional managers were not succeeded enough.

3M case study 2

Issues related to tactical problems
• The mixing of diverse knowledge and talent to develop a new project: Since most of the employees working in the 3M company were coming from different parts of the world with different skill sets, the careful blending of such talents was a challenging one
• Lack of teamwork: Most of the teamwork is limited to Saturdays or outside the office at restaurants. The managers emphasized more on traditional duty concepts rather than teamwork

• Lead User method: This tactic often failed because it is difficult to predict the outcome of a product using this tactic.
• Innovation tactics: The 3M firm believed that individual love for discovery would drive innovation. The company allowed all staff to spend 15% of their time exploring new ideas. These tactics also didn’t work for them

• Research and Development (R&D): R& D activities were not adequate to meet the challenges
• 3M failed to identify the customer needs.
• Lack of structure found in corporate meetings: Introvert and extrovert participants failed to incorporate creative ideas with technical feasibility.

3M case study 3

Alternatives
The managers needed vigorous training to understand the need for scientific management techniques and modern technologies to lead a business successfully. It is always better to adopt a “Follow User” strategy rather than a Lead User strategy for effective marketing of the products.

Recommendations
The pricing of the 3M products must be revised by international standards to compete in the market. The R&D should be expanded and devote its entire time to developing new ideas and products based on the market feedback. Market research must be conducted by 3M employees only. It is not advisable to depend, on secondary sources for market research as marketing is one of the core elements in every business. Read More