3M 2011 Annual Report Download - page 123

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117
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
a. The Company carried out an evaluation, under the supervision and with the participation of its management,
including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of
the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in the Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(e)) as of the end
of the period covered by this report. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial
Officer concluded that the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures are effective.
b. The Company’s management is responsible for establishing and maintaining an adequate system of internal
control over financial reporting, as defined in the Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Management conducted an
assessment of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on the framework established by the
Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control ² Integrated Framework.
Based on the assessment, management concluded that, as of December 31, 2011, the Company’s internal control
over financial reporting is effective. The Company’s internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011
has been audited by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in
their report which is included herein, which expresses an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s
internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2011.
c. There was no change in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the
Company’s most recently completed fiscal quarter that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially
affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
The Company is implementing an enterprise resource planning (“ERP”) system on a worldwide basis, which is
expected to improve the efficiency of certain financial and related transaction processes. The gradual implementation
is expected to occur in phases over the next several years. The implementation of a worldwide ERP system will likely
affect the processes that constitute our internal control over financial reporting and will require testing for
effectiveness.
The Company completed implementation with respect to elements of certain processes/sub-processes in limited
subsidiaries/locations and will continue to roll-out the ERP system over the next several years. As with any new
information technology application we implement, this application, along with the internal controls over financial
reporting included in this process, was appropriately considered within the testing for effectiveness with respect to
the implementation in these instances. We concluded, as part of our evaluation described in the above paragraphs,
that the implementation of ERP in these circumstances has not materially affected our internal control over financial
reporting.
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.
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