3M sees innovation as weapon against crisis
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Hürriyet Daily News
Oluşturulma Tarihi: Şubat 19, 2009 00:00
ISTANBUL - Predicting a turn for the better in the global economy by the end of the year, George Buckley, chief executive officer of 3M, said the current crisis differs from those before it because it is based on a credit crunch, a rare phenomenon.
The crisis began in the third quarter of 2007, Buckley told journalists in Istanbul Tuesday evening. "We could see the bottom in the second half of this year and the last quarter would be the time for positive growth," he predicted.
"The crisis caused an 11 percent drop in our sales in the last quarter of 2008 but we maintain confidence in our 106-year experience and 79,000 employees worldwide that enable us to create more than 50,000 innovative solutions," said Buckley.
Innovation is the only weapon that would enable a company to survive such a crisis, said Buckley. "Companies find innovation risky because its results are not foreseeable," he said. "But it is the only way for diversifying products and surpassing rivals in the market. We should keep finding innovative solutions to resist the crisis.
"Innovation has always been a secret weapon for us," the chief executive said. 3M Turkey Managing Director Karim Sarahni said the company’s annual growth rate in Turkey has been averaging 20 percent since 2002. "With $10 million of investment in two years, we doubled our production volume in Turkey two years ago. Now we are a regional supplier of 3M, exporting our products to more than 30 countries including Germany, Italy, France, China and Singapore," said Sarahni.
"The crisis caused an 11 percent drop in our sales in the last quarter of 2008 but we maintain confidence in our 106-year experience and 79,000 employees worldwide that enable us to create more than 50,000 innovative solutions," said Buckley.
Innovation is the only weapon that would enable a company to survive such a crisis, said Buckley. "Companies find innovation risky because its results are not foreseeable," he said. "But it is the only way for diversifying products and surpassing rivals in the market. We should keep finding innovative solutions to resist the crisis.
"Innovation has always been a secret weapon for us," the chief executive said. 3M Turkey Managing Director Karim Sarahni said the company’s annual growth rate in Turkey has been averaging 20 percent since 2002. "With $10 million of investment in two years, we doubled our production volume in Turkey two years ago. Now we are a regional supplier of 3M, exporting our products to more than 30 countries including Germany, Italy, France, China and Singapore," said Sarahni.