W L Gore - Culture of

Innovation
Presented by:
Aditya Agarwal(271122)
Mohit Mudgal(271147)
Sagar Dua(271157)
Sakshi Lodha(271158)
Sejal Jain(271162)
Yash Khandelwal (271178)
Introduction
● Formed by Wilbert L Gore in 1958 with the vision of making a bureaucracy free
zone
● In 2011, ranked among “100 best companies to work for” for the 14th time
● As of 2012, the company spread across 30 countries with over 9500
employees
● Company’s first product was multi-tet insulated wire and cable
● First big order of 7.5 miles of insulated ribbon from Denver Water Company
got the company running
● Discovered the polymer PTFE that was strong ,porous and versatile with
applications in shoes , gloves, headgear and outdoor sports activities. This
product made the company famous
● It had a metaphor “the Gore Ship” because if any decision made below the
waterline can take the whole company down
How things were at W L Gore
● It had no hierarchy, thus everyone was free to talk to everyone else
● They believed in equality. They had no bosses, supervisors or vice president
● People were free to choose what they wanted to work on, and no tasks were
assigned
● If someone said “I will do this”, it was considered a near-sacred oath
● The company had no “core” business
● They still managed to deliver consistent growth and show profitability
About
● Four major divisions- Fabrics, Electronic products, Medical products
& Industrial Products
● Focused on unique and valuable products (no me-too products)
● Low turnover compared to peers around 5%
● Revenue of company - 3 billion
● Everyone had same designation i.e associate
● Policy documents were not strictly followed, since every situation
was different
● Seemed to have a divisional structure on the surface, but
underneath was a flat lattice organization- self commitment,
natural leadership and lack of authority
Culture
● Strong emphasis on culture, ahead of its employees and products
● Management philosophy guided by
○ Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
○ McGregor’s The Human SIde of Enterprise (Theory X and Theory Y)
● Problem solving approach
● Strong focus on networking and building relationships
● No hierarchy of communications
● Guiding Principles
○ Freedom
○ Fairness
○ Commitment
○ Waterline
Leadership
● Gore cherished the notion of distributed leadership
● Leadership without authority was earned over time
● Decentralized working environment
● Cross-functional working groups
● Extreme freedom and autonomy
● Hiring was very crucial; Cultural fit and values prefered over technical fit
● No delegation of tasks; Associates voluntarily committed to the projects they
want to take
● Associates had to earn dabble time to pursue their own purpose
Setup for Success