3M Australia 3M's Culture / Philosophy 3M's Culture/Philosophy William McKnight who was a General Manager of 3M in 1914, President of 3M in 1929 and Chairman of the 3M Board largely influenced 3M's reputation as an innovator in 1949. McKnight had a far-sighted managerial and intuitive approach to encourage employee initiative. His management principles shaped the company's culture and still hold tremendous influence in 3M's business activity today. The most well-known McKnight principle, which is still in place at 3M today, is: "Mistakes will be made (by giving people the freedom and encouragement to act autonomously), but the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it is dictatorial and undertakes to tell those under its authority exactly how they must do their job. Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative and it is essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow." 3M Products 3M have been manufacturing for about 100 years. The company has evolved into a world leader in innovation which sells over 50 000 products in over 200 countries. Every day, one person in four of the world's population benefits from a 3M product or service. Products and technologies include Post-it® Notes, Healthcare products, adhesives which help bond structural panels in skyscrapers and on airplanes, an electronic printing system, capable of producing the world's largest graphics and micro-structured reflective sheeting used in road and motorway signs to make them legible at night. Research and Development 3M have a strong emphasis on research and development. In fact 30% of annual sales are from products introduced in the last four years. A 3M tradition known as the "15 percent rule", encourages 3M researchers to spend up to 15 percent of their own time on projects of their own initiative. This stimulates unplanned experimentation and innovations, which have led to the development of 3M products such as ScotchgardTM Fabric protector, ScotchTM Masking tape, Fire-BreakTM Bushfire Fighting Foam and micro-structured technology now used in a growing number of end products. 3M Australia Established in 1951, its head office is located at Pymble, New South Wales since 1968. 3M Australia is a unique and diversified company, which invents and markets a broad range of high-quality products. 3M Australia was one of the first companies in Australia to achieve a AS 3902/ISO 9002 Quality Systems Standard in 1990. This standard acts as the customer's assurance that their supplier is meeting their requirements. It also reaffirms 3M's commitment to exceed the expectations of its customers through a process of continuous improvement.				Explore thousands of 3M products and services in our A to Z product listing.