97

. (This part has 6 questions and each question gets 5 points. )

Please choose the best answer only. (30%)
1. According to strategic planning expert Michael Porter, there are three basic
competitive strategic options, Which of the following is not one of them?
(A) Cost leadership
(B) differentiation
(C) focus
(D) diffusion
2. Grouping activities around basic functions like manufacturing, sales, human
resources, finance, and marketing is called________?
(A) Functional departmentalization
(B) divisionalization
(C) network organization
(D) virtual corporation
3. Two of the most frequent tasks of leader behavior are ________.
(A) Smoothing attitudes and consideration
(B) Initiating structure and task viability
(C) Hierarchy and consideration
(D) Initiating structure and consideration
4. If you believe that workers will be motivated by challenging tasks and the
recognition that comes from using their skills and potentialities, you will use job
_________
(A) enlargement
(B) rotation
(C) enrichment
(D) magnifying
5. Which of the following is not a conflict-resolution mode?
(A) abdication
(B) confrontation
(C) smoothing
(D) forcing
6. __________ similarity is seen as the strongest predictor of initial social liking
and co-worker preference, but only at the start of a training process.
(A) Geographic
(B) Work
(C) Demographic
(D) Professional
. Please explain the following term. (20%)
(1) Business Reengineering
(2) benchmarking
(3) organizational development interventions (4) strategic alliances

1 17

. Assay Questions (50%) ( case )

There are two case studies introduced two well-known innovative companies as the
above has been published by Paul Trott (2005; Innovation Management and New
Product Development). The first case introduces W.L. Gore Associates, a globalextended and R&D-oriented Fabric Company with her world-wide famous GoreTex brand of her products. The second case is about 3M, a highly respected
international high-tech company for her innovativeness. Please just select either one
case (only take one case) and carefully answer those questions belong to that the
case study you choose.

Case Study 1. Gore-Tex and W.L. & Associates: An innovative

company and a contemporary culture
This case study explores the role of organizational management and culture within a
very innovative firm, which is responsible for some very well known products such
as the famous Gore-Tex fabric, and yet few people know very much about this
remarkable organization. It is operated in a similar way to that of a cooperative such
as the John Lewis Partnership in the United Kingdom, where the employees are also
owners. In addition the organization seeks to minimize management with the
emphasis on action and creativity. Today this enigmatic firm employs approximately
7,000 people in more than 45 plants and sales location world-wide. Manufacturing
operations are clustered in the United States, Germany, Scotland, Japan and China.
Proprietary technologies with the versatile polymer poly-tetrafluoroe-thylene (PTFE)
have resulted in numerous products for electronic signal transmission; fabric
laminates; medical implants; as well as membrane, filtration, sealant and fibers
technologies for a range of different industries. Today the organization divides its
products into four main groupings: medical products; fabric products; electronic
products; and industrial products. Gore has approximately 650 US patents and
thousands world-wide. Further details of these can be found by visiting the US
Patent & Trademark office website.
Introduction
W.L. Gore & Associates is probably best known in Europe for its Gore-Tex product
(that piece of material in your coat that keeps you dry yet allows your body to
breath), yet few people know very much about this privately owned and relatives
secret company. Fewer still realize the very innovative and contemporary way the
organization is run- it seeks to have an un-management style. Annual revenues top
$1 billion. W.L. Gore is a privately held company ranking in the top 200 of the
2 17

Forbes top 500 privately held companies for 2002. Indeed, W.L. Gore would rank in
the Fortune 500 companies in terms of profits, market value and equity value. Given
that the firm is a privately held corporation many details of the companys operations
and strategies are not widely known. Unlike publicly listed firms it does not need to
share information on such topics as marketing strategies, manufacturing processes or
technology development. The company is owned primarily by its employees (known
as associates) and the Gore family. A W.L. Gore enterprise is comprised of more than
7,000 associates at over 45 W.L. Gore locations around the world. W.L. Gore &
Associates was founded in 1958 in Newark, Delaware, when Bill and Vieve Gore set
out to explore market opportunities for fluorocarbon polymers, especially
polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE). First this company developed by Bill Gore when he
worked as a scientist for the DuPont Corporation. Gore could not get anyone at
DuPont to invest in his new idea, so he bought the patent and went into business on
his own. Within the first decade alone, W.L. Gore wire and cables landed on the
moon (the firm supplied cables for the 1969 lunar missions); the company opened
divisions in Scotland and Germany; and a venture partnership took root in Japan.
W.L. Gore has introduced its unique technical capabilities into hundreds of diverse
products. It has defined new standards for comfort and protection for work-wear and
active-ware (Gore-Tex); advanced the science of regenerating tissues destroyed by
disease or traumatic injuries; developed next-generation material for printed circuit
boards and fiber optics; and pioneered new methods to detect and control
environmental pollution.
Gore-Tex, a breathable fabric
In 1969, Bob Gore discovered that rapidly stretching PTFE created a very strong,
micro-porous material (this became known as expanded PTFE, or ePTFE), which
offered a range of new, desirable properties. To be effective a waterproof fabric
needs to be able to prevent moisture getting from the outside to the inside.
Furthermore, a waterproof fabric must have the ability to withstand water entry in
active conditions such walking in wind-driven rain and sitting or kneeling on a wet
surface. In the case of garments for wear especially in active conditions, perspiration
is a common problem. If perspiration vapor becomes trapped inside our clothing, it
can condense into liquid moisture that causes dampness- and wet heat loss is 23 times
faster than dry heat loss. A fabric that would enable moisture to escape and at the
same time prevent moisture from entering would seem unachievable, but that is
precisely what the Gore-Tex fabric does. Rain coats incorporating the Gore-Tex fabric
were first introduced way back in 1976, hence the patent for the breathable fabric expired in
1996. However, new patents are still active on improved methods of making Gore-Tex
3 17

fabric. There are now many generic versions of breathable fabric on the market. The success
of the product has largely been witnessed in the 1990s as outdoor pursuits grew rapidly in
popularity during this period. This led to an explosion in sales of Gore-Tex related products,
such as coats, back-packs, shoes and trousers. Indeed, clothing manufacturers who used the
Gore-Tex fabric in their garments, such as Berghaus, Karrimor and North Face became
household names as this once esoteric specialized clothing market became mainstream.
Working within W.L. Gore Associates

The very unusual organizational structure and management sets this firm apart from
its competitors. Moreover, there is some evidence to support its claim to be highly
creative and innovative as Gore- US has made all six annual lists of the 100 Best
Companies to Work for in Fortune magazine from 1998 to 2003. Its UK firm was
ranked among the 100 Best Places to Work in the UK. Gore- Italy ranked among
the 35 Best Places to work in Italy. Gore-Germany ranked among the 50 Best
Places to Work in Germany.(2003). It is often cited as a model for effective
management of innovation, and the firm is proud of its heritage and how it works:
We encourage ands-0n innovation, involving those closest to a project in decisionmaking. Teams organize around opportunities and leaders emerge. Out founder, Bill
Gore created a flat lattice organization. There are no chains of command nor
pre0determined channels of communication. Instead, we communicate directly with
each other and are accountable to fellow members of our multi-disciplined teams.
Associates are hired for general work areas. With the guidance of their sponsors (not
bosses) and a growing understanding of opportunities and team objectives, associates
commit to projects that match their skills. Environed can quickly earn the credibility
to define and drive projects. Sponsors help associates chart a course in the
organization that will offer personal fulfillment while maximizing their contribution
to the enterprise. Leaders may be appointed, but are defined by fellowship. More
often, Leaders emerge naturally by demonstrating special knowledge, skill, or
experience that advances a business objective.
Associates are committed to four basic guiding principles articulated by Bill Gore:
Fairness to each other and everyone with whom we come in contact; Freedom to
encourage, help, and allow other associates to grow in knowledge, skill, and scope
of responsibility; The ability to make ones own commitments with other associates
before undertaking actions that could impact the reputation of the company by
hitting it below the waterline.
Non-hierarchical corporate culture
The firms unique structure was born out of Bill Gores frustration with a large
4 17

corporate bureaucracy; the W.L. Gore culture seeks to avoid taxing creativity with
conventional hierarchy. The company encourages hands-on innovation, involving
those closest to a project in decision making; hence decision making is based on
knowledge rather than seniority. Teams organize around opportunities and leaders
emerge based on the needs and priorities of a particular business unit. To avoid the
traditional pyramid of bosses and managers, Bill created a flat lattice organizational
structure in which there are no chains of command and no pre-determined channels of
communication. Instead, employees communicate directly with each other and are
accountable to fellow members of multi-disciplinary teams. The company bases its
business philosophy on the belief that given the right environment, there is no limit to
what people can accomplish.
The formula seems to have worked. In 40 years of business, W.L. Gore & Associates
has developed hundreds of unique products that reflect an underlying commitment to
fluorpolymer technologies. The company is passionate about innovation and has
built a unique work environment to support it based on a corporate culture that
encourages creativity, initiative and discovery. According to Gore:
You wont find the trappings of a traditional corporate structure here; no
rigid hierarchy, no bosses, and no predictable career ladder. Instead, youll
find direct communication, a team oriented atmosphere, and one titleassociate- thats shared by everyone. Its an unusual corporate culture that
contributes directly to the business success by encouraging creativity and
opportunity.
The last principle is meant to protect the company from inappropriate risk. While
employees are given wide latitude to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, no one can
initiate projects involving significant corporate financial commitments without
thorough review and participation by qualified associates.
An individual starting at W.L. Gore is assigned three sponsors. A starting sponsor
helps get the associate acquainted with W. L. Gore. An advocate sponsor makes sure
the associate receives credit and recognition for their work and a compensation
sponsor makes sure the associate is paid fairly. One person can fill all three sponsor
roles. Compensation is determined by committees and relies heavily on evaluations
by other associates as well as the compensation sponsor.

5 17

Employee ownership structure

The goal of Gores highly flexible and competitive programme is to maximize
freedom and fairness for each associate. The benefit plans consist of core benefits
and flexible benefits. Core benefits are basic plans and services provided by Gore to
all eligible associates. They include an Associate Stock Ownership Plan, vacation,
holidays, profit sharing, sick pay, basic life insurance, travel accident insurance and
adoption aid.
The Associate Stock Ownership Plan (ASOP) is the most valuable financial benefit.
Its purpose is to provide equity ownership, and through this ownership, to provide
financial security for retirement. All associates have an opportunity to participate in
the growth of the company by acquiring ownership in it. Every year W. L. Gore
contributes up to 15 % of pay to an account that purchases W.L. Gore stock for each
participating associate. W.L. Gore contributes the same percentage of pay for each
associate active in the plan. An associate is eligible for this benefit after one full year
of employment and qualifies for full ownership of their accounts after five years
service, when they are fully vested. Valued quarterly, W. L. Gore stock is privately
held and is not traded on public markets. The ASOP, although it does not own all of
the W.L. Gore shares, does own a majority of them, with the remainder owned by the
Gore family.
Associates also qualify for cash profit-sharing distributions when corporate profit
goals have been reached. Profit-sharing distributions typically occur an average of
twice a year. In addition, each pay period associates are provided with pre-tax
benefits, called flex dollars, to use for the purchase of flexible benefits. These
include medical plans, dental plans, long-term disability insurance, personal days,
supplemental individual life insurance, family life insurance and health care or
dependent care spending accounts.
Unique characteristics of ownership culture
W.l. Gore believes that given the right environment, there is no limit to what people
can accomplish. That is where the W.L. Gore lattice system comes in to play. It
gives the associates the opportunity to use their own judgment, select their own
projects and directly access the resources they need to be successful. Another unique
aspect of the lattice system is the companys insistence that no single operating
division become larger than 200 people in order to preserve the intimacy and ease of
communications among smaller work groups. As divisions grow, they are separated
into constituent parts to preserve that culture.
Discussion
6 17

This case illustrates some of the organizational characteristics that are necessary for
innovation to occur. The unique organizational model seems to work for W. L. Gore.
It is certainly contemporary and does seem to help to unleash creativity and to foster
teamwork in an entrepreneurial environment that seeks to provide maximum freedom
and support for its employees (associates).
Many of the organizational
characteristics are not, however, unique to W. L. Gore and there are many other firms
where these characteristics can be found, such as 3M, Hewlett Packard, Corning,
Dyson, BP and Shell.
There are several key characteristics that help make the W.L. Gore Company
successful, both financially and as a place to work. First, the high-quality technology
and heritage of the firm that encourages an emphasis on developing superior
products.
Second, the use of small teams encourages direct one-on-one
communication, this contributes to the ability to make timely; informed decisions
and get products to market very quickly. Third, the channels of communications are
very open, the lattice structure allowing all employees the freedom to meet and
discuss projects, situations, concerns and share congratulations with everyone.
Fourth, W.L. Gore believes that providing equity compensation to its employees
establishes a sense of ownership and increased commitment among its employees.
The ASOP program at W.L. Gore is the majority owner of the company. Fifth, W.L.
Gore provides a comprehensive set of employee benefits and is continually looking
for ways to improve upon what is currently available. Sometimes that just means reevaluating what the employees want and need. Finally, making sure that the
individual work groups do not get too large to be effective is a key element of rightsizing for the company culture. This way W. L. Gore maintains a sense of intimacy
and ease of communications among its work groups.
While the employees share ownership sounds attractive, any decrease in performance
and fall in value of the shares can cause enormous resentment within the firm as they
see the value of their savings decrease3. And unlike publicly listed firms there
shareholders cannot remove the managers. W.L. Gores competitors are varied and
diverse: there is no single company which competes with Gore in every product area.
Firms such as Bayer, Hoecht, Corning, Dow and Du-Pont all compete in Gores
product fields: medical, fabric, industrial and electronic application.
Assay Questions for This Case Study:
If you decide to answer this case studys assay questions, please do your best to write
your answer according those above questions with either English or Chinese as you
feel confident to express your own comment.
7 17

(1) Explain what happened to the Gore-Tex brand after the patent expired. What
activity can this company use to try to maintain any advantage developed during
the patent protection phase? (10%)
(2) It seems that Gore Associates is heavily oriented towards technology; what are
some of the dangers of being too heavily focused on technology? (10%)
(3)What are unique characteristics from your own perspective that W. L. Gore
continues in enhancing her long-term competitiveness? Any Gores business
activities or innovation strategies are meaningful to Taiwanese high-tech
companies to learn and adopt? (10%)

(4)Being an innovative enterprise is needed for businesss needed competitive

advantage running at the current knowledge economy. However innovation
management is not easy. It does reinforce the need for firms wishing to be
innovative adopt these characteristics as the Table 1. shows at the last page.
According to Table 1 addressed, what characteristics do you find out from W. L.
Gore Associates? What characteristics do you think that most Taiwanese
companies are needed to adopt effectively if they want to be innovative as well as
those foreign companies with powerful global brand image ? (20%)

Case Study 2. An analysis of 3M, the innovation company

Introduction
Any review of the literature on new product development and innovation
management will uncover numerous references of 3M. The organization is
synonymous with innovation and has been described as a smooth running innovation
machine. Year after year 3M is delectated in the Forturne 500 ranking as the most
respected company and the most innovative company. Management gurus form
Peter Drucker to Tom Peters continually refer to the company as a shining example of
an innovative company. This case study takes a look at the company behind some of
the most famous brands in the marketplace, such as Scoth videocassettes and Post-It
notes. It examines the companys heritage and shows how it has arrived at this
enviable position. Furthermore, the case study attempts to clarify what it is that
makes 3M stand out from other organization.
Background
8 17

Originally known as the Minnesota Mining and manufacturing Company, with its
headquarters in St Paul, Minnesota, 3M was established in 1902 to mine abrasive
mineral for the production of a single product, sandpaper. Form these unauspicious
beginnings; the company has grown organically, concentrating on the internal
development of new products in a variety of different industries. The latest review of
the companys position reveals that it manufactures over 60,000 products, has
operations in 61 countries, employs 70,000 people and has achieved an average yearon-year growth in sales of 10 %. Its products include Scotch adhesive tapes, fiberoptic connectors, abrasives, adhesives, floppy disks, aerosol inhaler, medical
diagnostic products, and Post-It notes.
3M gave the world wet or dry abrasives, which did so much to reduce the incidence
of respiratory disease in the 1920s. It invented self-adhesive tape in 1925, lightreflective materials in the 1940s and pioneered magnetic recording and photocopying.
This heritage established the technology form which many of its products still
derived. To reinforce this impressive performance, 3M is consistently ranked among
the top 10 of Americas most admired companies in the US journal Fortune, in its
annual review of the top 500 companies in US. 3M is a large and unusually diverse
company. The company is currently restructuring, the spin-off of its data storage and
imaging businesses forming a new company.
The 3M approach to innovation
Many writers, academics and business leaders have argued that the key to successful
innovation is good management. Arguably, this is precisely what 3M has mastered.
A closer inspection, however, will reveal that the company has combined a variety of
management techniques, such as good communications and the setting of clear
objectives with a company culture build on more than 90 years of nurturing ideas and
fostering creativity. It uses a combination of structured research and individual
freedom to explore ideas by allowing research scientists to spend 15 % of their time
conducting projects of their own choosing. It is a unique combination of activities
that is, by definition, difficult to replicate. They are described in this case study
under the following headings:
1. Company heritage and culture
2. The demand for innovation (the 30% rule)
3. Freedom for creativity
4. Tolerating failure
5. Autonomy and small businesses
6. High profile for science and technology
9 17

7. Internal technology transfer

10 17

Company heritage and culture

Through a combination of formal and informal processes, the company has developed
a culture devoted to creative new products and building new businesses. This is
partly based on the simple idea of hiring good people and trusting them. Indeed, this
is the first goal that is stated in 3Ms formal principles of management: the
promotion of entrepreneurship and the insistence upon freedom in the workplace to
pursue innovative ideas.
The demand for innovation (the 30 % rule)
While the sales performance is impressive, it conceals an important statistic; that is,
30 %of the companys sales come from products that less than 4 years old. Indeed,
this is a business objective that every 3M business manager has to try to achieve.
What this means is that these business managers are under pressure to ensure that not
only do they develop new products but that these new products will eventually
represent 30% of the businesss sales. This objective has been effectively
communicated throughout the organization and is now ingrained within the
management style and part of the culture of the company. Hence, the search for new
ideas is part of daily activities.
Senior managers from other large manufacturing companies would rightly argue that
a similar percentage of sales within their own companies come from products less
than 4 years old. However, the difference between 3M and other organizations is that
3M has developed this approach over many years and has worked hard to ensure that
developing new products is much higher on the agenda in management meeting than
at other companies. Moreover, the success of the approach is due to the continual
reinforcement of the objective. Indeed, the performance of individual business
managers is partly judged on whether they are able to achieve the objective.
The 30% per cent objective was first introduced in the 1980s when 25% of sales had
to come from products less than 4 years old. This recently added another goal, which
is to ensure that 10% of sales come from products that have been in the market for
only one year.
Freedom for creativity
Scientists and engineers are given time to work on projects and ideas that they
consider to be of potential interest to the company and 15% of an individuals work
week time may be dedicated to such activities. This is not exclusive to 3M and is
common practice in most large R&D laboratories. None the less, it is an effective
11 17

method of providing room for creativity and another way of showing that the
organization encourages innovative effort. Indeed, it is a method of providing
resources to entrepreneurs, allowing them to work on ideas without having to seek
out approval from the organization. Another way of allocating resources is the use of
grants. Known as genesis grants, these give researchers up to $75,000 to develop
their ideas into potential product opportunities.
One of 3Ms most famous new products was the result of this practice, the Post-It
note. Spencer Silver and Arthur Fry both invoked the 15% rule to allow them to
work on the project that eventually led to its development.
Spencer Silver was a 3M research chemist working on adhesive technology. His brief
was to produce the strongest adhesive on the market. By some extraordinary
mischance he developed an adhesive that had none of the properties he was looking
for, but which did have two interesting properties which he had never previously
encountered: it could be reused and it left no residue on the material to which it was
applied. Yet no one could find a use for it and the idea was shelved.
Art Fry, one of Spencer Silvers colleagues, sang in a choir. Every Sunday he would
carefully mark his hymnbook with slips of paper and every Sunday the slips fell out.
Then he remembered Spencer Silvers useless adhesive. Applied to paper strips, Art
Fry found that they made fine book markers. Post-It brand technology had been
developed ten years before Art Fry discovery what to do with it!
In a recent lecture on the subject of innovation, the 3M vice-president for research
and development reported that:
The 15 % rule is meaningless. Some of our technical people use more than 15% of
their time on projects of their own choosing. Some use less than that; some none at
all. The figure is not so important as the message, which is this: the system has

some slack in it. If you have a good idea, and the commitment to squirrel
away time to work on it, and the raw nerve to skirt your mangers expressed
desires, then fine.
Tolerating failure
Its easier to be critical than creative is an adaptation of a famous quote from
Benjamin Disraeli. It captures the essence of 3Ms approach to tolerating failure.
Most large companies with large R&D departments will have many on-going new
product research projects. Many will consume large amounts of resources and will
12 17

not result in a new product. This fact is all part of the new product game. Those
close to the game are aware of this; at 3M it is argued that everyone is aware of the
need to try new ideas. Its founded and early chief executive, W.L. Knight, stated
over 60 years ago that:
A management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills
initiative, and it is essential that we have people with initiative if we are to
continue to grow.
Vasilash (1995) suggests that many of the senior managers within 3M are known to
have made at least one mistake in their career while they tried to be innovative,
thereby suggesting that W.L. Knights philosophy continues.
3M has had its share of colossal failure. In the 1920s one of the companys top
inventors had an incredible flash of brilliance: maybe people could use sandpaper as a
replacement for razor blades. Instead of shaving your face or legs, you could just
sand off the whiskers. Every man and woman would need it. The company would
sell the product by the ton! Not surprisingly the idea was not realized in practice- but
the inventor was not punished for following his idea. For every 1,000 ideas only 100
are written up as formal proposals. Only a fraction these become new product
ventures and over half of the companys new product ventures fail.
Autonomy and small business
Like many companies 3M realizes that large organizations, with their inevitable
corresponding structures and systems, can sometimes inhibit the creative effort.
Hence, it has adopted an approach that enables individuals and groups within the
organization to establish small internal venture groups, with managers free to make
their own decisions, develop their own product lines and take responsibility for the
results, without continuous coordination across the company. This approach attempts
to offer an entrepreneurial environment under a corporate umbrella.
Provided that certain financial measures are met, such start-up venture groups follow
a well-trodden path: a new business operation starts out as a project, if sales reach $1
million it becomes a fully fledged product. At $20 million, it becomes an
independent product department separate from its parent department. If it continues
to grow it will be spun off as a separate autonomous division. Currently, divisions
characteristically have $200 million in sales. Experience has taught the company that
in the early days of a businesss life, many decisions are taken through informal
discussions among the individuals involved. There are usually insufficient resources
13 17

to allow for lengthy and detailed analysis, which is more common in more established
businesses.
High Profile for science and technology
Although the company was formed around a single technology sandpaper, today 3M
makes use of more than 100 technologies such as membranes, biotechnology,
artificial intelligence, high-vacuum thin films and superconductivity. These
technologies underpin the products that the company develops and manufactures. To
support these activities the company invests 6.5% of its annual sales turnover in
research and development. This is about twice that of the top 50 industrial companies
in the United States. The money is used to employ over 7,500 scientists and
technologists in developing new and interesting technology. It is this technological
intensity that provides the company with the competitive advantage to compete with
its rivals.
It is important to note that while the company is technology-intensive, this does not
imply a single-minded, technology-push approach to innovation. The role of the
marketplace and users plays an important part in product development. For example,
3Ms famous Scotch tape was once manufactured strictly as an industrial product,
until a salesman got the idea of packaging it in clear plastic dispensers for home and
office use.
Communication and technology transfer
The communication of ideas helps to ensure that a company can maximize the return
on its substantial investments in the technology. Very often it is the combination of
apparently diverse technologies through technology transfer that has led to major
product innovations. For example, microreplication technology is the creation of
precise microscopic, three-dimensional patterns on a variety of surfaces, including
plastic film. When the surface is changed numerous product possibilities emerge. It
was first developed for overhead projects, its innovative feature being a lens made of
a thin piece of plastic with thousands of tiny grooves on its surface. Microreplication helped the plastic lens to perform better than the conventional lens made
of heavy glass. 3M became the worlds leading producer of overhead projectors. It is
this technology, which can be traced back to the 1960s, that has products, including
better and brighter reflective material for traffic signs; floptical disks for data
storage; laptop computer screens; and films.
If you decide to answer this case studys assay questions, please do your best to write
14 17

your answer according those above questions.

(1) There are many examples of successful innovative companies. To what
extent is 3M justifiably highlighted as the innovating machine from your
own point of view? (10%)

15 17

(2) Discuss the merits and problems with the so called 15% of 3M. Do you
think whether Taiwanese companies are feasible and suitable to imply with
such an idea to promote their innovation capability? To what extent is this
realistic or mere rhetoric? (10%)
(3) Some people may argue that 3Ms success is largely due to the significance
given to science and technology and this is the main lesson for other firms.
Discuss the merits of such a view and the extent to which this is the case.
(10%)

(4) Being an innovative enterprise is needed for businesss needed competitive

advantage running at the current knowledge economy. However innovation
management is not easy. It does reinforce the need for firms wishing to be
innovative adopt these characteristics as the Table 1. shows at the last page.
According to Table 1 addressed, what characteristics do you find out from
3M? What characteristics do you think that most Taiwanese companies are
needed to adopt effectively if they want to be innovative as well as those
foreign companies with powerful global brand image ? (20%)

Table 1. Organizational characteristics that facilitate the innovation process

Organizational
requirement

Characterized by

1. Growth orientation

A commitment to long-term growth rather than shortterm profit

2. Vigilance

The ability of the organization to be aware of its threats

and opportunities

3. Commitment to
technology

The willingness to invest in the long-term development

of technology

4. Acceptance of risks

The willingness to include risky opportunities in a

balanced portfolio

5. Cross-functional

Mutual respect among individuals and a willingness to

16 17

cooperation

work together across functions

6. Receptivity

The ability to be aware of, to identify and to take

effective advantage of externally developed technology

7. Slack

An ability to manage the innovation dilemma and

provide room for creativity

8. Adaptability

A readiness to accept change

9. Diverse range of skills

A combination of specialization and diversity of

knowledge and skills

17 17