1. University of Technology, Jamaica
St Andrew, Jamaica
October 2012
Management of Innovation and Technology
“The 3M Corporation”
CASE #2
School of Business Administration
BBA P.O. M
Peta-Gaye Whyte
ID # 0506708
Mr. Shelley Whittle
A project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Bachelor of Business
Administration Degree in Production Operation Management.

2. Introduction
With the aid of the web this case will highlight a few points on the exercise given and has
successfully aim to clarify what is market pull and technology push factors that were considered
in the development of 3m “Post it”. Discussion of “market pull” versus “technology push”
approaches in the field of business innovation research has followed a certain trend. The web
base research undertaken has been concerned in particular with the question of how each of these
approaches differently influences the subsequent success of the innovation. After contrasting the
various characteristics of the “technology push” and “market pull” approaches, the market-
related characteristics of “technology push” projects are outlined. In addition, organizational
structural aspects as well as strategic and operative aspects of “technology push” project
management will be highlighted. Key words: “technology push” –mark In fulfilling the task at
hand, the paper has been organized with the use of various headings, namely; implications for
management, recommendations and a concluding statement. It proved to be both an effective and
efficient technological tool of today.
Main ideas/points clearly stated
• Technology push is a simple linear that suggests that the innovation process starts with an
idea or a discovery; it is sometimes called ‘idea push’. Sometimes this is by a creative
individual who has the knowledge and imagination to realise its significance and the
practical skills to transform the idea or discovery into an invention.
• According to Answers.com, it defines market pull as when a business has a need for a
product and technology develops to fill that need.

3. • While Technology push means technology has been developed and the 'need' must be
created.
• 3M’s post-it is an invention that was created by 3M research scientist, Dr. Spence
Silver, who first developed the technology in 1968 while looking for ways to improve the
acrylate adhesives that 3M uses in many of its tapes; but he found something remarkably
different.
• Art Fry, a colleague of Dr. Silver was daydreaming about a bookmark that would stay put
in his church hymnal when he remembered the adhesive that Dr. Silver had invented but
didn’t know what to use it with.
• Today, the Post-it Brand boasts more than 4,000 unique products, and has become one of
the most well-known and beloved brands in the world.
• Potential market applications for a “technology push” strategy are essentially unknown,
whereas the knowledge about the areas of need in a “market pull” situation can be
directly taken as a starting point for these potential applications. (Pfeiffer, 1992).
“Technology push” innovation projects generally possess higher market uncertainty. This
difference implies that both approaches demand completely different methods to win
market information.
• A “technology push” situation implies more the use of anticipatory, exploratory market
research methods (e.g. scenarios, Delphi-studies, road mapping), whereas a “market pull”
allows the use of information from predominately conventional market research concepts
(Lender, 1991).

4. • The Market push factor was evident since this sort of technology was seen based on the
fact that 90% of the product success was market driven, “market pull”.
• The post-it is described by 3M on occasions as a result of a ‘technology push’ and in
other cases as reaction to market needs. After entering the market in the early 1980s, it
has been developed further into many different formats, varying in size, shape, colour,
and areas of application. 3M's core competence in sticky tapes led to ‘Post-it’ notes.
Main points (examples)
“Post-it® Notes ...Little sticky notes that revolutionized messages”. A captioned slogan
posted on 3M.com Canada defining the purpose of this innovation.
• Since the introduction of Post-it Notes in 1980, the sticky yellow notes have become one
of the best known of all 3M products. In a twist to the tradition of innovation, the product
had its root as a solution looking for a problem.
• Canadian advertisers are using Post-it Notes to deliver their sales messages - with
exceptional results. 3M Post-it® Notes are popping up on the front pages of newspapers
across Canada. Research indicates that advertising with Post-it® Notes increases product
recognition and awareness and as they're often posted on refrigerators or computer
screens, the advertisement has a longer shelf life.

5. • One year after its introduction, Post-it Notes were named 3M's outstanding new Product.
And today, loyal customers can't imagine how they ever got along without them. Post-it
Notes are best sellers worldwide.
Implications for Management
• Within organisations, management should see the use of sticky notes, for they keep staff
up to time with short term duties and memo/reminders that can be easily retrieved.
Whether you view these domestic telegrams as signs of dysfunction, the decline of
face-to-face communication or merely as nifty argument-savers, there is the plain
fact that members of many organisation that are seldom in the same place at the
same time.
• 3M’s Post-it Brand has rolled out an iPhone and iPad application that gives users daily
reminders and serves as a communication tool for their friends and families. The Post-it
Pop Notes App provides friends, families and other app users another way they can
connect, communicate, share, organize and remind. The app features geo-targeted
technology that lets users create and place digital Post-it Notes anywhere.
• The post-its can be used as memory experts, in fact, according to New York Times
publication Monday, July 2, 2007 “call them retrieval cues”, an assist for absent-
mindedness, offered Dan Heath, a business consultant and teacher and a co-author of
"Made to Stick,".

6. • The use of Post-its is very in-expensive and is a product that according to, Schacter, the
Post-It, works as a "prospective memory cue or an external memory aid" that can
compensate for that failure. New York Times
Recommendations
• Post-it can be customized for other company’s products. It is a simple way to deliver
advertising impact and promote your company, product, or brand. Imprint your logo and
message on Post-it: Notes, Die-Cut Notes, Super Sticky Notes, Angle Note Pads, Notes
Cubes, Flags, Flag Pens and Highlighters, Note Dispensers and more.
• Organizations can benefit a lot through marketing with these post-its where as they can
give them to other organization that the contract business with. This will be seen as a
market pull.
Conclusion

7. To conclude, “Technology push” projects possess a very high market uncertainty that results
from the uncertainty in potential application fields of the existing technologies, in that of
potential market possibilities and customer needs. For technology-intensive companies, this
leads to the necessity to develop and implement intelligent mechanisms, processes and
methods for the effective reduction of uncertainty. During the conceptualization stage of most
products, such as the 3Ms Post its strips; factors such as market pull and technology push are
determinant factors in their designs, however, other products may be characterised based on
only one factor. These factors are of much importance as they can determine how well the
product performs.
References
Management of “technology push” development projects; Prof. Dr. Cornelius Herstatt, August
2000 Paper No. 5.Retrived October 8, 2012 from
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_dose_technology_push_mean
http://www.tuharburg.de/tim/downloads/arbeitspapiere/Working_Paper_5.pdf
3M Canada 1995-2007 Retrieved October 4, 2012 from
http://www.3m.com/cms/CA/en/130/rFzeEA/view.html

8. http://labspace.open.ac.uk/mod/resource/view.php?id=349892