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Outlines 3M′s European strategy for achieving total customer satisfaction. Describes how the company has adopted a customer focus strategy as part of its business planning for the 1992 European Single Market. Asserts that exceeding customer expectation is the goal of all operating units. Demonstrates the company′s European strategy towards the working of customer/supplier partnerships. Describes the main components of its customer focus programme. Discusses how one of 3M′s key strategies has been to develop and implement a total quality programme. Concludes that by adopting a customer focus strategy to achieve total customer satisfaction, 3M Europe is demonstrating its total commitment to creating “World Class Quality ‐ a Way of Life”.

3M is one of america's best‐run, most innovative, and diverse companies. And this diversity has been increasing exponentially for the past sixty years. Two decades after its founding, 3M's business was relatively simple. In the early 1920s, the corporation manufactured a line of sandpapers, which it sold to several key industries, among them furniture and automotive. Its competitors offered similar products and sold to the same customers. In that era, 3M's strategy was straightforward: “We will make a quality product at a fair price—and sell it aggressively.”

3M’s objective is to become the most innovative company in the world. 3M employs a wide range of Knowledge Management systems, but the appropriate environment has to be in place before people will be motivated to input and access such systems. 3M concentrates on the “tacit to tacit” area in the belief that if this is functioning well, other aspects of Knowledge Management will fall more readily into place. The willingness to share knowledge between individuals is directly affected by the culture within a company.

Routine tasks, such as transactions at the bank, grocery store and gas station, are becoming more and more automated, making daily activities more efficient. 3M Library Systems are now applying the same technologies to library work in a way that promises to change the whole way staff work and patrons visit the library. This article looks at the benefits of the 3M™ Digital Identification System is bringing to the Curriculum Materials Library (CML) at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV).

The University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) is the alpha/beta test site for 3M™ Library Systems Digital Identification System, a cutting‐edge technology in library materials flow and collection management. This article discusses the components of the system and their assimilation and testing at a UNLV branch library, the Curriculum Materials Library (CML), in anticipation of the opening of Lied Library. Challenges and discoveries in the development of the system and implementation differences between a small and large library are outlined. Future growth for both product development and the UNLV libraries’ use of the system are forecasted.

To reflect on activities and developments related to the 3M™ Digital Materials Flow Management since its implementation at the UNLV Libraries, including system hardware and software developments and the UNLV Libraries' evolving relationship with 3M™.

Following an introduction which highlights the major 3M™ Digital Materials Flow Management components in place at the UNLV Libraries, product improvements that have expanded the functionality of the system are detailed, patrons and staff benefits of the technology are described, and RFID privacy issues at the UNLV Libraries are examined.

Expanded capability and use of the 3M™ Digital Materials Flow Management system has allowed the UNLV Libraries to establish more efficient processes for undertaking collection management activities, such as inventory and weeding. The system has also had a positive impact on customer service. Benefits of the system currently outweigh the potential risks in terms of patron privacy.

Libraries must continually assess their positions on radio frequency identification (RFID) and patron privacy as technology progresses. Additional possibilities and developments stemming from further collaboration between libraries and vendors in areas such as product standardization are anticipated.

Provides information on innovative uses of the 3M™ Digital Materials Flow Management system and gives concrete examples of system benefits. Useful to libraries considering the implementation of an RFID system, those currently working with the 3M™ Digital Materials Flow Management system, and those considering collaborative work on product development with a vendor.

Frugal innovation is a term that has been used to describe the low-cost products and services, as well as the systems and processes adopted by organizations to develop them. The purpose of this paper is to examine the experience of multi-national companies (MNCs) in India as they adopt the philosophy of frugal innovation to develop products that are high in technology but low in terms of cost to meet the requirements of the market conditions in India, and similar low-income economies.

The case study methodology was adopted to understand the experiences of the Indian subsidiaries of two MNCs, Bosch India and 3M India. Data were acquired through interviews with key decision makers, documents, and publicly available information.

The two MNCs have increased research and development (R&D) in India and adopted the philosophy of frugal innovation which combines high technology with low costs. Based on the analysis, some propositions are presented indicating that MNCs will shift R&D to India if there are market opportunities; they will adopt the philosophy of frugal innovation to produce high technology products that are lost cost and low cost over product lifetime and will also expand to new-to-the-world innovation and finally contribute to global innovation.

The study is based on only two case studies and a large sample study may be required before the findings can be generalized.

Other MNCs can learn from Bosch India and 3M India in terms of adopting frugal innovation practices to be successful in low-income economies.

The field of frugal innovation is quite new and largely based on anecdotal accounts of successful low-cost innovation. This paper provides a more detailed account of the experiences of two well-known organizations to present propositions that may be used to conduct a large sample study.

Concentrates on 3M, a US company founded in 1902 in which, from the beginning, innovation was necessary. Chronicles that 3M (from the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company) employs 86,000 people in more than 60 countries with yearly revenues of US$115 billion on average. Discusses innovation within the company and how many ideas are used or discarded. Shows failures as well as successes — recounting the story from the 1920s when a top inventor thought sandpaper might replace razor blades! Concludes that because 3M view innovations as a continuous process, businesses need to be quick to survive and fast if they wish to grow, especially true at 3M.

Spotlights the 3M organization and its progress ‐ from its 1902 beginnings to the present day success story ‐ through backing ideas through to the development of world‐class products by organic growth. Contends that 3M's group structure seems to be quite hierarchical, with a CEO, sector heads, ranges of groups which include divisions, departments, business units and project teams within departments. Goes on to expand on these in greater depth. Concludes 3M has an exceptionally high‐trust culture with lots of trust enabling horizontal information flows and assistance between the various units of 3M.

The scope of a manufacturer’s environmental responsibility increasingly extends beyond the factory gate to include customer use and disposal of products. 3M is implementing a life cycle management (LCM) process to help its more than 40 operating units meet or exceed such present and future requirements by achieving two objectives: to identify environmental, health and safety (EHS) opportunities and competitive market advantages arising from superior performance in these areas; and to characterize and manage EHS risks as well as resource and energy use throughout a product’s life cycle. The process consists of six steps leading to a life cycle matrix that organizes environmental, health and safety information at all phases, from raw‐material selection, development (laboratory) and manufacturing to customer use and disposal of the company’s products. Although a similar LCM process is used for 3M laboratories, the focus of this paper is on business‐unit implementation.