Case Study: Post-it Notes

One way new products are developed is to take a current product and modify it in some way. Another way is to determine how a previously developed product can be marketed or used by a particular group of customers.

The 3M Company is famous for many products, among them adhesives and abrasives. In one of 3M's most famous innovative stories from the 1980s, a 3M manager, who was a member of a church choir, wanted to mark the pages of his hymnal so he could quickly find them. A bookmark would not do because the piece of paper could easily fall out. The manager needed something that would adhere to the page but not tear it. Back at work, the manager asked one of the members of the research and development department if an adhesive existed that would do this. One did, but it never had been marketed because the company found that the adhesive was not strong enough for industrial use. At the manager's request, a batch of the glue was prepared and applied to small pieces of paper that could be used as bookmarks.

As the manager who had requested the product began to think about the new product, he concluded it had uses other than as a bookmark. Secretaries could use it to attach messages to files and managers could use it to send notes along with letters and memos. In an effort to spur interest in the product, the manager had a large batch of these "attachable" notes, now called Post-it Notes, made and began distributing them to secretaries throughout the company. Before long, more people began to ask for them. The manager then ordered the supply cut off and told everyone who wanted them that they would have to contact the marketing department. When that department became inundated with calls for Post-it Notes, it concluded that a strong demand existed throughout industry for these notes and full production began. Today Post-it Notes is one of the largest and most successful product lines at the 3M Company.

1. How did the creative thinking process work in the development of this product? Describe what took place in each of the four steps. Is the development process always the same? Why or why not?

2. Why did the manager have the Post-it notes sent to secretaries throughout the company? What was his objective in doing this? Did the act accomplish the objectives and goals? What are alternatives that could have been done to reach the same outcome? Would you make the same choice?

3. What type of innovation was this-invention, extension, duplication, or synthesis? Explain your answer then identify another example of the same type of innovation but in a different company. Describe it in your paper

4. Which of the innovation sources discussed in the chapter help account for this product's success? Explain in detail.