3M Corporation, a company known for supplying everyday products ranging from Scotch tape to Post-Its, recently had its chairman and CEO, James McNerney resign.
In July, McNerney, 55, decided to leave 3M, a Fortune 500 company, after a $58 million offer from Boeing Co.
With the company being in dire need of temporary leadership, Robert Morrison was named Interim President of 3M. Morrison has vowed to keep the corporation on a path of constant growth and production.
Despite the lack of current leadership within 3M, employees do not feel it will affect their positions in any way.
“McNerney leaving was completely unexpected. From an employee standpoint, employees should have been notified before the press knew,” said Berrece Andrews, a 3M sales representative from Cincinnati.
Andrews said McNerney leaving should not have an affect on him or the company. Although the company is still considered a stable organization, the resignation of McNerney has caused a slight lowering in 3M’s stock price.
As oil stocks decline, the actual stock price of 3M has decreased by more than 10 percent. FAMU’s business students agree that the loss of 3M’s president will have a slight effect on the company.
“The company still can go on without the president, but it will just take more strategy and leadership to be a success,” said Demetrius Washington.
Washington, a 5th year business student from Dothan, Ala., states that the president does not do daily operations and the only downfall will be the hesitation of investors within the company.
The slight stock and investment decrease may be due to the apparent leadership change and investors’ trust in the company’s stability.
“No one, especially investors, likes the word ‘interim,’ but it may take for 3M to get a permanent president in order for stocks to go up,” Ebony Ivory said.
Ivory, a third business student from Ft. Lauderdale, said that the president sets the blueprint for the company and that a new president may be the answer to the loss in profits.
With many U.S. companies having slumps in stocks and profits, 3M is doing its best to maintain its image as one of the nation’s top companies, while in a competitive market.