Thread regarding 3M layoffs

Looking back at Inge, I think his biggest mistake was failing to recognize the core contradiction in his strategic vision. His stated pillars were innovation, business transformation, and portfolio management. Innovation is fine—frankly, it’s obligatory to mention, whether or not you truly intend to pursue it. But business transformation and portfolio management proved fundamentally at odds.

The more effort you put into stitching company systems together, the harder it becomes to take them apart—or to integrate acquisitions. The lingering issues with the Solventum spin-off, the offshoring moves made to conjure savings SAP failed to deliver, and the never-fully-integrated KCI acquisition all point to the same thing: Inge’s push for transformation clashed directly with his (and later Mike Roman’s) portfolio strategy of buying and selling assets.

Their approach stands in stark contrast to a company like Berkshire Hathaway, where business units operate independently and simply roll up their results. That model may come with higher operating costs, but it buys something far more valuable: the flexibility to acquire or divest businesses quickly and cleanly.

Useless post by retirees missing 3M. Get a life!

I don't care or know how to rank past CEO's. Interestingly, after the spinoff, Bryan Hanson has $40M salary, plus 3M Bill Brown salary@ $21M. Together, these companies did not make anything significantly more than what was before! Sh-t happens!!

McNerney was clearly the worst, Roman 2nd worst. Not sure about the rest, pretty much middle of the road for my tenure. McNerney brought the worst of GE and was the cancer that destroyed a once great company - then bolted to Boeing and did the same there.

It’s ironic how the retired boomers come on here and complain about 3M of today, whilst idolizing and romanticizing the leaders of the past who ignored / capitalized on PFAS.

If those folks are your favourites, you need to look in a mirror. They preached ethics & displayed none. They created the mess that we are left to deal with.

Inge stayed on the board, sure, but so did Mike Roman.

Let's not pretend that Mike wasn't pulling some strings.

And now we have Bill Brown, and the board is thrilled to have an axe man like him at the helm.

@c6
Inge was known to be very paranoid of anyone who wished to make themselves more important than him. Witness how he protected his own neck from activist investors who forced changes at Dow and Dupont. He did this by adding tons of debt to goose the share price. It saved his neck but set the company up for future woes.

Mike was deemed a nice guy but an empty suit. Inge could remain as Chairman and later stay on the Board with someone rudderless like Mike. Selfishness explains everything.

I've been here 10 years, they're all terrible

How did Mike rise up the ranks without being exposed as a fraud?

I started work in the 1980s. Lewis Lehr was the pick of the litter. He pushed for more innovation and research. Probably Buckley as runner up. Jake (late 80s) was a bean counter but let the innovation engine keep churning out new products.

After that a drop off. Desi was likely the only person in the office in Maplewood the day after the 1991 Halloween Blizzard. It was technically his 1st day as CEO. A gentleman who was over his head, but well liked. His big move was his best move. Spinning off the data storage business as Imation, which was bad for those employees but the right move long-term. His big failure was not having an in-house successor groomed, hence Mcnerney.

As for the rest of the pack, Mcnerney was clearly the worst. He did the most damage by trying to turn 3M into GE. He started the steady decline which is playing out today by treating research as a cost not an investment. He then nearly destroyed Boeing.

As for Inge, his tenure is best known for perpetual layoffs and loading up with debt to goose the share price to scare off activist investors who had already burned down and broken up Dupont and Dow. Then hiring Mike.

Mike's a strange case. Good guy but totally incompetent. No vision. No busy savy. Desi at least had good business sense.

BB may be the 2nd worst. He's Mcnerney without the glitzy GE flash. His job will be the not so merciful decimation of what's left of 3M. The only reason he hasn't laid people off is he's so cheap as to want people to leave in disgust without a severance. Too which I say, quiet quitting is a fair response. Work from home. Watch TPIR. Get an afternoon nap. He's a careless mercenary.