W.L Gore and Associates is famous for producing the highly-priced waterproof fabric known as Gore-Tex. W.L. Gore and Associate also have a wide range of revolutionary products, such as Ride-On bike cables and Elixir guitar strings. Additionally, the company hosts medical devices like synthetic blood vessels and cardiovascular patches. Based on this, W.L. Gore & Associates is among the largest private corporations in the U.S. (Cannon et al., 2019). The company operates in 30 countries globally and has approximately 9500 employees (Cannon et al., 2019). When W.L. Gore and Associates created the core platform that hosts more than 2000 global patients (Harder & Townsend, 2017). The company’s unique culture enabled it to pursue several applications concurrently. It helped the company grow from a small business to a multinational company.
W.L. Gore and Associates have no traditional organizational charts, predetermined channels, a chain of commands, and predetermined channels of communication. Stakeholders communicate directly and are responsible for everything within, including fellow members’ decisions U.S. (Cannon et al., 2019). The company advocates for hands-on knowledge and innovation, including those closest to decision-making. The company is characterized by personal stories posted on its website explaining the secret behind its successful products designed and produced by respective teams within the company (Harder & Townsend, 2017). To remain productive, the company insists that every employee must dedicate ten percent of their time interacting with teammates to share ideas and get to know each other better. Additionally, they are encouraged to think critically about new developments in the company and provide timely feedback. The company culture allows employees to work on promising ideas without waiting for orders from above.
Unique Characteristics of Gore’s Corporate Culture
Gore’s core principles and values for people management have significantly contributed to the company’s success. The company’s core values seem to be team collaboration and teamwork, and the company also boasts of employee empowerment, innovation, and creativity. Gore’s culture appears to be team-based and empowering to the employees and stakeholders. According to the organizational structure, everyone can be a leader or a manager, and the corporate culture nurtures personal initiative and promotes innovation (Harder & Townsend, 2017). Additionally, teams in the organization are arranged around opportunities that foster good leadership.
Activities and practices in the company correspond with the organization’s objective of creating a team-based working space that is relaxed and competitive. W.L Gore and Associates has no chains of commands and predetermined communication channels. Leaders only emerge through effort and hard work, attracting awards and rewards. The company is also characterized by an adaptive culture with no chain of command and traditional charts. Additionally, the company maintains a high-performance culture without classical organizational charts, predetermined communication channels, and a chain of command (Gamble et al., 2016). Finally, the unique features of Gore’s corporate culture are open communication and innovation that build an aversion to risk.
How Gore’s Culture Contributes to Innovation
W.L Gore and Associates has a culture that fosters innovation and creativity. Every behavior and action of the management team that creates a conducive work environment festers ideologies and innovative thinking. Gore’s culture encourages every employee to take on the role of leadership, leading to creativity and innovation (Harder & Townsend, 2017). The company also provides employees with additional incentives that promote innovative thinking, including profit-sharing arrangements. Such mechanisms enable employees and stakeholders to benefit from their contributions and success.
Additionally, product development is a critical component of W.L Gore and Associates’ training and development process. The company’s culture also rewards hard work and discourages habits that demean productivity. The company’s multiple subcultures and decentralized decision-making foster creativity and innovation (Vincent & Hamilton, 2020). Finally, the company has maintained being among the top 100 preferred companies in the U.S. Due to its creativity, innovation, and conducive working environment, it is among the best employers in the U.S. and internationally.
How Gore’s Culture Makes it an Excellent Working Environment
Collaboration and coordination are critical to any organization seeking to obtain its objectives. W.L Gore and Associates value innovation, teamwork, and employee empowerment, making it an excellent place to work. The company’s culture and practices draw, retain, and motivate a competent workforce worldwide. It attracts top talents globally because its culture and values are aligned. In other words, the company encourages its workers to be innovative, perform to their best abilities, and become leaders (Harder & Townsend, 2017). W.L Gore and Associates has an innovative culture that rewards creative and top employees through attractive incentive compensations.
Additionally, due to the lack of traditional procedures and policies, Gore appeals to customers who discount the importance of what is done by outsiders. Profitability and lack of managerial supervision have helped W.L Gore and Associates be listed among the top 100 best companies in the U.S. (Wendt, 2018). The company’s performance culture combines employee autonomy with expectations and makes it attractive to achievement-oriented individuals. The people with limited chances of succeeding in a traditionally managed work environment find Gore an excellent company to work for.
References
Cannon, M., Thorpe, J., Emili, S., & Mader, P. (2019). WL Gore & Associates Inc.: Workplace Democracy in a Transnational Corporation. Web.
Gamble, J., Thompson, A., Peteraf, M., & Strickland A. J. (2016). Crafting & executing strategy: The quest for competitive advantage: Concepts and cases (20th ed.). McGraw-Hill Education.
Harder, J., & Townsend, D. (2017). WL Gore & Associates. Web.
Vincent, T. J., & Hamilton, J. F. (2020). Narrativizing climate change through popular culture. Peace Review, 32(1), 95-102.
Wendt, K. (2018). Positive Impact Investing: A new paradigm for future-oriented leadership and innovative corporate culture. In Positive Impact Investing (pp. 1-26). Springer, Cham.