{"id":723,"date":"2015-11-04T11:41:34","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T11:41:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/?p=723"},"modified":"2022-10-12T10:33:58","modified_gmt":"2022-10-12T10:33:58","slug":"organization-structure-no-bosses-at-w-l-gore-associates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/organization-structure-no-bosses-at-w-l-gore-associates\/","title":{"rendered":"Organization Structure :No Bosses at W.L. Gore & Associates"},"content":{"rendered":"

You\u2019ve probably bought a garment made of W. L. Gore & Associates\u2019 flagship product, Gore-Tex, a fabric that blocks wind and water, yet is highly breathable thanks to Gore\u2019s patented technology. But you might not know that the company offers a host of other products, from heart patches and synthetic blood vessels to air pollution filters and fuel cells. In fact, W. L. Gore & Associates makes more than 1000 products. Though its financial data are not publicly available, a spokesperson for the company said that Gore had double-digit revenue growth the past three years. With this type of performance and extensive product line, you might expect Gore to be structured like big companies such as Westpac, SingTel, Microsoft or Goodman Fielder. But it\u2019s not, and it never was.<\/p>\n

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Wilbert L. Gore founded W. L. Gore & Associates in 1958. Gore believed that too much hierarchy and bureaucracy stifled creativity and adaptation, a view he formed during his 17-year career as a DuPont engineer. He stated once that \u201ccommunication really happens in the car park,\u201d meaning informal arenas allowed employees to share their ideas openly without fear of criticism from management. So Gore decided to eliminate the hierarchy found in most organisations. Instead, he instructed everyone to communicate openly, with little regard to status differences. In fact, Gore eliminated status differences altogether. At W. L. Gore & Associates, there are no job titles. Each employee works on projects collaboratively, while at the same time is given the freedom to develop new ideas. Ideas that are deemed worthy of pursuing by team members are then developed.<\/p>\n

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In addition to the lack of bureaucracy, Gore also kept his facilities staffed with a small number of employees to promote information sharing and foster teamwork. For example, he limited staffing at manufacturing plants to 200 employees, which is smaller than typical manufacturing firms. Gore believed the number was low enough for employees to get to know one another, allowing them to talk freely about their knowledge and ideas. The result of such a corporate structure has been tremendous growth and profit. Gore has also been an industry leader in innovation. Gore\u2019s unique structure does take some getting used to, particularly for new employees. Diane Davidson recalls that the lack of a formal hierarchy was bewildering at first. As a sales executive in the apparel industry, Davidson was hired by Gore to promote its fabrics to designers such as Prada and Hugo Boss. Davidson states, \u201cI came from a very traditional, male-dominated business\u2014the men\u2019s shoe business. When I arrived at Gore, I didn\u2019t know who did what. I wondered how anything got done here. It was driving me crazy.\u201d Instead of a formal supervisor, Davidson was assigned to a \u201cstarting sponsor.\u201d As opposed to a traditional supervisor, the sponsor at Gore helps new hires learn the ropes\u2014which primarily consist of getting to know one\u2019s team. \u201cWho\u2019s my boss.\u201d she repeatedly asked her sponsor. Her sponsor would reply, \u201cStop using the b-word.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Davidson eventually got used to Gore\u2019s structure. \u201cYour team is your boss, because you don\u2019t want to let them down. Everyone\u2019s your boss, and no one\u2019s your boss,\u201d she explains. Not only are there no formal supervisors at Gore, but employees\u2019 job descriptions are conspicuously absent as well. Employees at Gore perform multiple tasks to create a new product. Davidson, for example, is involved in marketing, sales, and sponsorship\u2014roles that typically are separated in other organizations. As John Morgan, an employee of Gore for more than 20 years, states, \u201cYou join a team and you\u2019re an idiot. It takes 18 months to build credibility. Early on, it\u2019s really frustrating. In hindsight, it makes sense. As a sponsor, I tell new hires, \u2018Your job for the first 6 months is to get to know the team,\u2019 but they have trouble believing it\u2014and not contributing when other people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Questions<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

1.How would you characterize Gore\u2019s Organisational structure using terms from this chapter? For example, is it mechanistic or organic? How might this structure influence Gore\u2019s strategy?<\/em><\/p>\n

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2.<\/em>Considering what you know about individual differences such as personality, what types of employees might respond more or less favorably to Gore\u2019s lack of hierarchy?<\/em><\/p>\n

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  1. 3. <\/em><\/strong>What are some advantages and disadvantages of Gore\u2019s structure from a company perspective? What about from an employee perspective?<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

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    4.How might Gore\u2019s Organisational design affect its relationships with external companies that are more hierarchical in nature?<\/em><\/p>\n

    \"Assignment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    You\u2019ve probably bought a garment made of W. L. Gore & Associates\u2019 flagship product, Gore-Tex, a fabric that blocks wind and water, yet is highly breathable thanks to Gore\u2019s patented technology. But you might not know that the company offers Read More …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[301],"tags":[6,548,545,546,547,544,11,10],"class_list":["post-723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-study","tag-australia","tag-bosses-at-w-l-gore-associates","tag-case-studyhelp","tag-organization-case-study","tag-organization-case-study-assignment","tag-organization-structure","tag-uk","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":975,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions\/975"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/assignmenttask.com\/tutorhelp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}