Can other companies just copy 3M’s structures and culture and become successful innovators?

3M has been known for decades as an entrepreneurial company that pursues growth through innovation. It currently generates a quarter of its annual revenues from products less than fi ve years old. 3M started life as the Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Company back in 1902. Its most successful product – fl exible sandpaper –
still forms an important part of its product line, but this now comprises over 60,000 products that range from adhesive tapes to offi ce supplies, from medical supplies to traffi c signs, from magnetic tapes and CDs to electrical equipment. Originally, innovation was encouraged informally by the founders, but over more than a century some of these rules have been formalized. But most important of all there has built up a culture which encourages innovation.
For example, there is a ‘hall of fame’ of staff elected on the basis of their innovative achievements. And because this culture has built up a history of success, it perpetuates itself as well as helping the company to recruit people with innovative characteristics.