Silver, the Inventor of the Adhesive Polymer on Which Post-It is Based Essay

Silver, the Inventor of the Adhesive Polymer on Which Post-It is Based - Essay Example The specific product, which is unique worldwide, has made 3M a leading firm in managing innovation. The review of the actual history of Post-It, up to its entrance in the market, proves that the development of the particular product has been quite difficult for its designers. In fact, the inventor of Post-It, the chemist Spencer Silver, spent many years in trying to persuade leaders in his organization in regard to the value of his invention: an adhesive polymer of various uses. At the end, and mostly due to the efforts of Silver and those who believed in the product’s value, Post-It entered the global market. The case of 3M and Post – It shows that product innovation can be a quite challenging process, the complexity of which is often not clear even to those working for its promotion. In the context of modern businesses, product innovation is a concept which is related to the following target: the examination and evaluation of ‘the need for innovative products and services’ (Rainey 2005, p.10). The above definition leads to the assumption that product innovation is a rather simple process. Still, such assumption would not be valid. In fact, product innovation has a series of aspects which are analytically presented in the sections that follow. Another characteristic of product innovation is the following one: the methods used for the promotion of product innovation within each organization are not standardized (Rainey 2005, p.10). Different tools and techniques can be used for promoting product innovation, depending on the potentials of each organization to provide the required funds and infrastructure (Rainey 2005, p.10). One of the most common issues that appear each time that product innovation schemes are promoted is the following one: can the particular process be introduced in any organization or it is necessary that certain requirements are met. Moreover, innovation, as a process is based on certain rules or it is not controllable as of its structure and components? The answer to the above questions can be identified in the study of Cogliandro (2007). According to Cogliandro (2007) innovation, in all its aspects, needs to be based on three principles: a) innovation needs to be related to all aspects of the organization; in fact, innovation would be expanded across organization covering all organizational activities (Cogliandro 2007, p.18) and during all periods of the life of the organization.