Chilly winter nights are almost upon us...

As the chilly nights of winter approach, it is important to prepare for keeping yourself warm and your home shielded from the cold breeze. 3M has several products that are designed to do just that, keep you warm. 3M has teamed up with Ellery Homestyles to design a blanket/throw that is sure to keep your body nice and toasty. Using the Thinsulate technology provided by 3M Ellery Homestyles has created the ComfortTech blankets and throws. This product is schedule for debut in December at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and would be a great Christmas gift idea. The King size blanket will retail at $89.00, but the 50"X70" throw will only be $39.99. I am interested to learn more of this product and will consider purchasing one when they are available. Please see the 3M article for more information: http://www.businesswire.com/portal/site/3m/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&ndmConfigId=1000940&newsId=20100910006084&newsLang=en&vnsId=Chill-Nippy-Nights-Cozy-Blankets-Throws

Christmas Time is Right Around the Corner

With Christmas right around the corner, companies everywhere are preparing for sales and shopping and....gift wrapping. 3M is a producer of many products that are sought after during the holiday season; one of these products is Scotch tape. The use of tape in most gift wrapping projects is essential. 3M's brand, Scotch, has a portion of their webpage dedicated just for gift wrapping ideas and tips. One featured tip that is posted on the webpage is how to wrap a cylinder shaped gift. Anyone who has ever tried to wrap gift of this shape knows just how difficult it may be. If you would like to see how it's done, please use this link for a PDF version of the instructions: http://www.scotchbrand.com/3MContentRetrievalAPI/BlobServlet?locale=en_WW&lmd=1272350539000&assetId=1258566269519&assetType=MMM_Image&blobAttribute=ImageFile

In addition to tips like the one listed above, Scotch brand has many innovative taping and adhesive products that are sure to assist in any of your taping needs, including shipping, storing, scrap booking, crafting, and as many of us will soon find out...gift wrapping.

Scotch website: http://www.scotchbrand.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/ScotchBrand/Scotch/

Scandals...Not in the Big Picture

For the most part, 3M appears to have been involved with very few scandals. They only one I could find definitive information on took place nearly 30 years ago. Yes, 3M was involved with one of the most well known scandals of its time...The Watergate Scandal and Investigations. 3M was cited as giving the Nixon group a $30,000 donation. According to Time Magazine, 3M did not have any self-interest in supporting the political group by giving them the donation. If there was not any underlying goal, then why would they do it. Chairman William McKnight did not feel as if they were doing any thing different than what other organizations was doing. Apparently, 3M decided if everyone else was doing it, why not us.

This information was taken from the article "Scandals: A Record of Corporate Corruption" published in Time Magazine on Feb. 23, 1976. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,918067-1,00.html

Today's Employees Lead to Tomorrow's Success

3M seeks out talent of all types to fill positions at their many manufacturing facilities, research facilities, and corporate offices. The positions offered at 3M vary from business to marketing to scientific research and engineering. In this case there is really something for everyone. All in all 3M has over 75,000 employees worldwide, all striving to achieve greatness and be the best that they can be. They recruit college graduates and professionals from many accredited universities and other competing business. Over the years, 3M has been awarded and recognized for their employee loyalty and for being an exemplary company to work for. Below is a list of the recognitions 3M has received:

• In 2010, for the fifth year running, Fortune magazine listed 3M in its "Top 20 Most Admired Companies."
• 3M is among America's favorites companies according to the results of the ninth-annual Harris Interactive Reputation Quotient Survey. 3M ranked no. 4 on the list.
• In 2009, for the fifth year running, 3M received the ENERGY STAR "Sustained Excellence in Energy Management Award" from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy.
• Listed at #2 in its industry sector in Newsweek Magazine's Green Rankings list.
• In 2010, 3M ranked no. 3 by Chief Executive magazine in "The Top 20 Best Companies for Leaders."
• Fortune magazine (2009) listed 3M in the "100 Top MBA Employers."
• 3M was #2 on Selling Power magazine’s "Best Companies to Sell For" in manufacturing for the past five years.
• 3M appeared in R&D Magazine's top 10 list of "The World's Best R&D Companies."
• The National Black MBA Association Twin Cities Chapter named 3M as its Corporate Partner of The Year.
• 100% rating award for Best Places to Work by the Human Rights Campaign.
• 3M was highlighted for its best practices in Leadership Assessment, Succession and Development by the Society of Human Resource Management.
• 3M was recognized as a Best Diversity Company by the readers of Diversity/Careers magazine and website in 2009.
• Hay Group and Bloomberg Business Week ranked 3M third in “Best Companies for Leadership 2009.”

3M's career website offers tutorials from other 3M employees, as well as, a wealth of information regarding the company's many diverse career areas, benefits & compensation, and tips on the application process. The layout of their career page is inviting and allows you to learn a good deal about the company all on one page.

Information was found on 3M's career webpage: http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/careers/home/

Moving on up...

Many of 3M's fifteen executive management team has been with the company since the 1970's and 1980's. Some such as Robert MacDonald has been with the company since joining as a co-op student in 1971. Over the years each of them have been able to progress from their lower level positions to now being prominant leaders within the company. Short biographies can be found for each of the fifteen executive management members by clicking on the following link and then selecting their name: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=80574&p=irol-govBio&ID=50097

Future Ventures of 3M

The future of any company depends on their ability to succeed and grow. In order to do this, 3M is seeking future growth in newly ventured areas including the following:

• Architecture - Light and Living
• Mobility solutions
• Health
• Water scarcity
• Renewable energy
• Safety & Security

Venturing into new market areas will allow expansion of 3M's total market position. Currently 3M is the leading provider in several of their product markets. Some of these markets include:

• Industrial abrasives
• Auto body repair & Car care solutions
• Adhesive tapes and fasteners
• Skin & wound care
• Oral care solutions
• Personal protective equipment such as respiratory, eye, and hearing
• Filtration
• Cleaning Products
• Reflective signage material
• LCD films
• Optical clear adhesives
• Fiber splicing/connectivity

Seeing 3M's ability to excel in all of these markets provides strong hope for the future of the company and its newly desired ventures.

Information retrieved from the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference PowerPoint presentation. This presentation was given by CEO George Buckley on 6/3/10

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzEzMzI4MXxDaGlsZElEPTM4NTAzMHxUeXBlPTI=&t=1

Desired Growth and How to get There

In June 2010 CEO George Buckley discussed the company's strategic decisions for achieving their desired growth rates. His presentation plotted a framework to use in accelerating their growth. Discussions for this framework included the following strategic plans:

Grow the Current Core By:

• Revitalizing the core with innovation
• Strengthen "Enduring Franchises"
• Constant reinvention; drill down
• Fill in the product "white spaces"
• Localization and differintiation

Extend the Core By:

• Managing the entire pyramid
• Building new adjacencies
• Build relative share and scale
• Become important to customers
• Support with local acquisitions

Invent a New Future By:

• Imagining, Dreaming, and Inverting
• Build picutres of the future
• Leap Frog through disruptive technology
• Follow mega trends
• Plan for cannablizm
• Greater technology push

Build Broad Long-term Capability

• Develope broad long-term capabilities
• Acquire supporting core technology with quality brands
• Build new endurign franchises

These strategic decisions were taken from the PowerPoint presentation given by CEO George Buckley on 6/3/10 at the Sanford C. Bernstein Strategic Decisions Conference.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/External.File?item=UGFyZW50SUQ9MzEzMzI4MXxDaGlsZElEPTM4NTAzMHxUeXBlPTI=&t=1

Decline in Stock Price not the First Time...

It appears that 3M's stock is for the most part steady; however, this sharp decline isn't the first time. According to this article/profile on The Dividend Guy.com website, 3M has had a drop in stock price in the past. It seems as though 3M is capable making quick turnarounds in terms of their stock prices and revenues. This is what The Dividend Guy had to suggest a few years ago to those thinking about purchasing 3M stock:

Based on MMM’s current price of $95.62 (10/10/07), I am putting this stock at a hold. There was a real sharp drop a few months ago in 3M’s share price, but the company has since rebounded and is hitting new highs. That being said, the dividend growth has been very good so if someone is looking for a pretty steady stock, then MMM may fit that bill. Personally, I will wait to see if the stock drops to around the $85 level before making a purchase.

Looking at a one year trend, it appears that 3M has a couple periods where their stock prices have dropped; typically in June/July and November/December.

http://www.thedividendguyblog.com/dividend-stock-wednesday-3m-inc-mmm/

Going down and down and down...

Over the last month, 3M's stock price has steadily declined. As of close of day on November 26th, 3M's stock price was at $84.40. This price is down $6.50 from one month ago on October 25th.

http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=80574&p=irol-IRHome