Respond to at least two of your peers with meaningful content.
1st students discussion
L.W. Gore and Associates not only has proven it self in innovation in textiles and new materials but also in radical management prowess.
The informal structure builds greater employee buy in and set the cooperate culture to one looking for valuable associates who can not only perform their job but look at the business decisions around them and make great decisions for the company. "Gore creates an environment of shared ownership, where Associates challenge themselves to make choices that will contribute toward their enterprise’s long-term success. Autonomy, accountability, and the pursuit of continuous growth in various ways are some characteristics that define the company andits people." (Gore, Oct 2017) Gore accomplishes this thru its organic organizational structure where all members are referred to as associates and teams work thru employee compensation plans even up to the CEO's. Further with Gore associates working as a flat team they answer to each other and have to give reasons why one direction might be better for the company vs another. With Gore's focus on how associates pursue their passion at work their length of employment is longer providing a more stable and experienced workforce with a much higher job satisfaction. This leads to a open informational flow and greater creativity of innovation across all levels of the company.
2nd students discussion
- Given the lack of formal structure, how important do you think Gore’s informal structure becomes?
Without the more common formal structure, Gore likely would have needed to spend time and energy coming up with a workable “informal” structure. “There is a managerial hierarchy at Gore…” and the organizational structure is considered flat, similar to a university.
- Is L. Gore a mechanistic or an organic organization?
Organic – definition from our textbook: “anorganic organizationis characterized by a relatively low degree of job specialization, loose departmentalization, few levels of management, wide spans of control, decentralized decision-making, and a short chain of command.”
- Support your answer with examples from the case.
- “…the company has no bosses, no titles, no departments, and no formal job descriptions.”
- “no formal lines of authority exist”
- “all employees are expected to make minor decisions instead of relying on the “boss” to make them”
- How do you think Gore’s flat organizational structure affects innovation at the company?
The case study claims it “fosters innovation” and in our text book an example was given:
“The three employees who invented Elixir guitar strings contributed their spare time to the effort and persuaded a handful of colleagues to help them improve the design. After working three years entirely on their own—without asking for any supervisory or top management permission or being subjected to any kind of oversight—the team finally sought the support of the larger company, which they needed to take the strings to market. Today, W. L. Gore’s Elixir is the number one selling string brand for acoustic guitar players.”
All companies I have worked for seem to spend a great deal of time hushing people up and refusing to listen, even though company values and mission statements will say otherwise. Gore seems to live up to their claims of allowing employees to solve problems, take control of their careers, and work together cohesively. Though it doesn’t say so in the case study, I assume their human resources department has extensive programs for mediation and culture training, and makes it welcoming to take advantage of them.