Organizational goals hold the key to success as they determine the direction a company should take to achieve its stated mission (Parker, 2003). This principle is clearly illustrated in the case of 3M, a $18 billion diversified technology company that markets innovative products and services to the transportation; consumer and office; display and graphics; electro and communications; health care; industrial; safety, security and protection services industries. 3M owes its success primarily due to the fact that its organizational goals are in total alignment with a well conceived mission that incorporates the company's core ideology and purpose. Indeed, this is reflected in 3M's description of itself as "a global technology company that delivers innovative solutions to life's everyday puzzles." It is important to note that 3M has also built its reputation on the core values of trust, integrity, and ethical business practices (3M, 2005)
3M's organizational goals, which are derived from the company's core ideology and purpose are innovative products; extension of global reach; powerful brands; strong relationships with customers; and ever increasing productivity (2003 Annual Report, p. 7). These goals are also effective because the company takes care to spell these out in quantifiable and time-specific terms (Parker, 2003). For example, in the area of innovation, 3M is known to have specified that 25% of its sales must come from products that are less than 5 years old. This goal is also backed by an operational strategy, namely, the "15% rule," which states that 3M employees can spend up to 15% of their time working on innovative ideas of their own choosing (Management First). Similarly, in the area of increasing productivity, 3M uses Six Sigma initiatives to set and achieve measurable production and cost reducing targets (2003 Annual Report, p. 17).
Thus, it is evident that 3M is a company that is a valuable organizational case study in effective goal setting that leads to business success and a company meeting its mission.
References
3M. (2005). Our Company. 3M Web site. Retrieved February 26, 2005 from http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/_s.155/113894/_l/en_US/
2003 Annual Report. (2003). 3M 2003 Annual Report. 3M Web site. Retrieved February 26,
2005 from http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/NYS/MMM/reports/2003ar.pdf
Management First. Learning Curve: Strategies for Innovation. Management First Web site.
Retrieved February 26, 2005 from http://www.managementfirst.com/innovation/curves/innovation_strategy.htm
Parker, W. (2003). Strategic Planning 101 -- Goal Setting. The WorkStar Library Web Site.
Retrieved February 26, 2005 from http://workstar.net/library/goals.htm
Organizational Culture and Sustained Competitive Advantage Organizational culture is a defining feature of every organization. The unique culture that every organization displays has an affect on its ability to remain profitable. Culture can have either positive or negative affect on the ability of the organization to remain competitive. Much academic research up to this point has focused on theory and defining what is meant by culture and sustainable competitive advantage. This
Bnet.com/definition/Corporate+Culture.html). This last point is especially important: Corporate culture is primarily the purview of a company's management and of its leaders. It is something that top executives in a company attempt to manage through a number of strategies. Such attempts to manage the culture of a company are often highly unsuccessful, and an examination of many -- if not most attempts -- to bring about changes within a business tend to fail
Organizational Diagnosis of Palm Palm Computing had reinvented the hand held computer market overnight with the line of PalmPilot and similar devices geared to the mobile gadget industry. According to Clancy (1999), "Palm Computing ultimately sold faster than the videocassette recorder, the color TV, the cell phone, even the personal computer that was its great-grandfather. Introduced in April 1996, within 18 months Palm Computing had shipped more than 1 million units
Organizational Profile Profile of a Community Organization: The Kiwanis Club of Ocean Beach San Diego There are many different ways that a social organization can influence and impact a community, and a great many moral and ethical implications and effects on society of the existence of these organizations and the actions that these organizations take. From gathering and consolidating funding towards various charitable causes to actually engaging in direct service to the
Organizational Accountability Review of Taiwan's Disaster Management Activities In Response To Typhoon Morakot Taiwanese System of Government 174 Responsibility of Emergency Management in Taiwan 175 Disasters in Taiwan 175 Citizen Participation 189 Shafritz defines citizen participation as follows: 192 Public Managers, Citizen Participation, and Decision Making 192 The Importance of Citizen Participation 197 Models of Citizen Participation 199 Citizen Participation Dilemmas 205 Accountability 207 Definitions of Accountability 207 The Meaning of Accountability 208 The Functions of Accountability 213 Citizen Participation and Accountability 216 Accountability Overloads
Organizational Behaviour Organizational behavior -- globalization and diversity Diversity is becoming more present within the contemporaneous business climates and it is necessary that economic agents devise and implement the most adequate strategies in responding to the challenges of diversity. Diversity in itself is not only a constant presence, but also a generator of impacts and organizational change. A relevant example in this sense is offered by the fact that diversity forces changes
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now