3M Greater China President: reform drives innovation

During the interview, innovation was repeatedly mentioned by Stephen. He thinks that policy and innovation work hand in hand. One of the things that is positive about China’s reform and opening up is that it started to provide some boundaries for people around markets and market access and generally how the markets will work and some fair trade practices within those markets, which has really helped to open up the China marketplace to the rest of the world. Similarly, within 3M, there are policies as well to try to foster innovation and help innovation grow. One is the 15% rule, which is trying to allow the employees to have 15% of their time to work on creative new projects. Innovation doesn't always occur by sitting at your desk. You have to be in touch with the external world. For a company, the more its people are externally engaged, the more it can attract and retain the smartest, most innovative people, hence better innovation will come.Policies are set to create innovation. That’s the same way that the Chinese government and other institutions try to create policies.

Shanghai, a city that embraces new things and has shown a rapid pace of change, is a very good match to the culture of 3M, a company that is imbued with vibrancy in terms of innovation and speed. As Stephen put it, Shanghai has proven to be a home for 3M, partly because it has provided a lot of stability around a place where the company can make investments. He pointed out, “We've worked very well with the Shanghai government and authorities around how to grow our business here. Most importantly it's been a terrific source of talent and people.” So far, there are 5,000 employees working in 3M’s R&D lab and four production sites in Shanghai.