One of the Most Innovative Poducts of the Recent Decades Essay

One of the Most Innovative Poducts of the Recent Decades - Essay Example Another strategic resource responsible for 3M’s innovativeness is its strong human resources (Warc News, 2011). The organization is structured in a way that each worker has the dual responsibility of adhering to his/her particular business unit and region as well as being a part of the global 3M network. This global nature of the company’s existence and operations is yet another factor responsible for its success. Hence, employees are encouraged to take on additional roles, move from one region to another and even rotate from one business unit to another (Warc News, 2011). Thus, 3M is flexible in terms of its human resource development and assignment of task roles which further reinforces its culture of thinking out of the box. The company further ensures that change is the only constant element. Hence, trial and error, risk taking and failure are a norm at 3M. This is reinforced by a high degree of employee empowerment such that there is a high tolerance for ambiguity and risk amongst all members. This is combined by the process of reverse thinking that allows workers to schedule their work in a flexible manner, thereby enhancing their motivation to work. However, as much as ad-hoc ideas and brainstorming is encouraged, the company is highly customer-oriented and conducts rigorous, continuous market research in an attempt to continually provide something better and valuable to the customers (Bryson & Rusten, 2008). Hence, at all times the company monitors the pulse of the customer. 2) One of the most innovative products of the recent decades has been the Apple i-phone. The company was able to rack up profits worth millions of dollars despite the global recession. The fundamental reason for it success was its superior design and aesthetic appeal. The phone combined the aspects of beauty and function in a way no other phone has. Hence, the product is labeled as iconic or a pioneer in its type of design and user interface. A significant factor has a lso been Apple’s sheer marketing gimmicks and campaign which was able to capture a large share of mind in its customers. Perhaps, the fact that the product was in the same line as other products in the Apple Family also favored i-phone tremendously (Denning et al., 2010). So customers who own a MAC ( by Apple) and are in search of a mobile phone would find i-phone compelling simply because of the fact that they can synchronize data easily amongst the two. This would allow them to easily transfer, retrieve and store data interchangeably since the two devices share similar technology by the same manufacturer (Apple). Another major reason behind the astounding success of i-phone is the affordability. This simply means that, faced with a choice between a laptop and a mobile phone, consumers with limited money will prefer buying the latter (Curwen & Whalley, 2011). The choice is made easier with the inclusion of software and various applications on i-phone that allow its users to obtain similar interface as that of a laptop. Perhaps, one of the distinguishing features of i-phone was its state of the art integration of internet services that were technically unmatched with its competitors. Furthermore, the time when i-phone was launched is a critical factor behind its success. i-phone was released at a time when social networking had begun operations and people all over the world were enthusiastic about using the new web platform for which i-phone provided an excellent connection (Denning et