This week the 3M movie to help understand the cultures within various companies especially project oriented organizations.

During this movie we will observe some of the processes needed to bring a product to the market place. The type of organizational structure that employees work in can have a profound influence on the practice and effectiveness of project management. Two products were developed. The 3M Yellow Sticky pads and the Laser Disc - the prototype of our current CD discs.

Some item to watch for in the movie.

What type of organizational structure does the 3M company have? Check your textbook and match it to one of the 3 types. You will need to be able to identify the three type and the power structures, advantages and disadvantages of each.

The product development section of the company is a Project Organizational structure. Ref. Gido and Clements Ch. 13, p. 398 or Verzuh. p. 27 and 28.

Functional. The company type that most have us have worked for is a Functional organization structure in which everyone has specific jobs to do and there are very few projects. Retail companies and those providing service were typical Functional.

However, Functional companies that added a project management culture and practices are called Matrix. They have Project Managers and Functional Managers with equal authority. They have to negotiate to get team members and resources for the projects and functions they are delivering.

The method of starting projects in 3 M is to give all employees time to develop new ideas. They do not have to go through the R.F.P. process. They develop an idea and get approval and funding to pursue it through making up a Proposal. Writing and presenting a proposals both require very distinct skills. We do not focus on developing proposals in this course but you should be aware of what a proposal contains and its relationship to the a need, the R.F.P., the S.O.W. and the project.

You can develop a proposal if you had a good idea and wanted to present it to a group of people with the money to develop it. You don't need an R.F.P.

The Sponsor in the Laser disk project was one person on the Executive Committee. He was introduced in the Boardroom as Al, Huber, Davis's ally in the Boardroom. He would be the person promoting Al Davies Laser disk and help politically if the project ran into problems.

The weighted decision making process that we have learned in our course is verbalized in the movie. The criteria included, PROFITABILITY, LENGTH OF TIME FOR RETURN ON THE INVESTMENT, SPEED OF ENTRY INTO THE MARKETPLACE, MARKETPLACE PENETRATION and most important (heavily weighted) the GROSS PROFIT MARGINS. The 3 M Sticky was a product line extension. The Laser Disc was a new product development. Each product maintained the continuity that 3M customers wanted from the company - brand building.

The presentation. the importance of being well dressed, well prepared for your presentation was shown in this movie. Knowing your subject is most important. I often watch students read notes and off the PowerPoints to make their presentations. This will result in lost marks. You should rehearse at least once with your group and be familiar enough with your part of the presentation not to have to read notes.

The end.