Chapter 1, 2.3

Give an example of a company that might be successfully following a production orientation. Why might a firm in this industry be successful following such an orientation?

3M is a company following a production orientation with great success. As one example of this orientation, consider 3M in the 70s. At the time, a friend's father worked as an inventor at 3M developing non-stick tape. The initial application of the non-stick tape was for hospital use, a large market but not a generally public one. My friend's father would come home with tape pieces attached all over his arms and face so that he could test the wear and comfort of different tape formulas, using his skills to find the best possible tape/skin fit. The orientation of his project was definitely geared to using the talents of the engineers/inventors to find the best possible adhesive. This tape transformed the hospital environment, as my father, a physician in the 70s, can attest--without tape ripping and tearing skin, wounds were more easily dressed and healed, and pain experienced by patients dramatically decreased. Yet most of us are more familiar with non-stick tape in applications not originally addressed by this production-oriented team of engineers, e.g. post-its and other office supplies, which soon outsold the original application of the product! 3M used the talents of the engineers in a production orientation to succeed far beyond the original scope of the project.