3M, formally known as Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company, started as a mining corporation in 1902. In more than a century since, the company has experienced both strong growth and major setbacks, leading to the present state of the company: 3M is attempting to recover from billions of dollars in lawsuits while managing the pending spin-off of over a quarter of its business operations into a standalone company.
While 3M initially only sold sandpaper, visionary managers William L. McKnight and Archibald G. Bush were hired not long after the company was founded and introduced innovative sales and management policies that helped to make the company profitable. Over the next decades, the company quickly diversified its product offerings, venturing into various industries such as healthcare, consumer goods, and industrial sectors (3M Company History). Throughout the 20th century, McKnight introduced many company policies focused on innovation, leading to the introduction of over 60,000 products to date, including Scotch Tape, Post-it Notes, and Command Adhesives. 3M’s commitment to research and development led to the foundation for its reputation as a global leader in innovation. Currently, 3M has almost 100,000 employees and sales in 87 countries spanning four primary business groups: Safety & Industrial, Transportation & Electronics, Health Care, and Consumer (3M Business Groups & Roles). Some of their best-known products have led to 3M being a market leader in medical and industrial adhesives, personal protective equipment, and the abrasive manufacturing industry (IBISWorld). Through the early 21st century, 3M enjoyed strong growth and continued to expand, with its stock value peaking at over $240 per share in 2018. However, due to poor management, factors in the external environment, and missing multiple sales and revenue targets, the company stock price has fallen over 50% over the last five years.
For a more complete interactive timeline of 3M’s history, please visit their website here: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/about-3m/history/
Competitors
3M has two distinct types of competitors due to its diversity in business segments. The first type of competitor is other well-established conglomerates such as General Electric, DuPont, and Kimberly-Clark Corporation, which compete with 3M in multiple of the same arenas and industries (GlobalData). While GE has seen a stock value doubling since 2019, Kimberly-Clark has had no net stock fall or growth in the last five years and DuPont shares have fallen 13% since 2019, with a major recent drop due to poor 2024 Q1 projections due to falling demand from China. 3M’s other major competitor is smaller, niche businesses that specialize in one of the dozens of industries in which 3M operates. While these companies have much smaller valuations, revenue, and profit, they can specialize in unique industries and few products to focus strategy much more narrowly than 3M. To learn more about 3M’s top competitors, check out their pages here:
https://www.kimberly-clark.com/en-us
Section Citations
3M Co. (n.d.). 3M Business Groups & Roles. 3M Careers. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/careers-us/working-at-3m/our-business-groups/
3M Co. (n.d.). 3M Company History. 3M. https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/about-3m/history/
Bickel, J. A. (2023, June 22). 3M reaches $10.3 billion settlement over contamination of water systems. NPR. https://www.npr.org/2023/06/22/1183922303/3m-reaches-10-3-billion-settlement-over-contamination-of-water-systems
Gaines, M. (2023, October 18). 3M Earplug Lawsuit Settled: Everything You Need to Know. Forbes Advisor. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/legal/product-liability/3m-earplug-lawsuit/
GlobalData. (n.d.). 3M Co Peer and Key Competitors. 3M Co Company Profile. https://www.globaldata.com/company-profile/3m-co/competitors/
IBISWorld. (n.d.). 3m Company – Company Profile. IBISWorld Industry Reports. https://www.ibisworld.com/us/company/3m-company/9343/
Levison, M. (2019, April 25). 3M shares sink on earnings, outlook and job cuts. MPR News. https://www.mprnews.org/story/2019/04/25/3m-to-cut-2000-jobs
Trivedi, S. (2021, May 27). The strategy that makes 3M an innovation powerhouse. The Strategy Story. https://thestrategystory.com/2021/05/27/3m-innovation-strategy/