Gore-Tex Case Study

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MBA

Case study

MBA

Case study

Gore-Tex® and W.L. Gore & Associates:

An innovative company and a contemporary culture

This case study explores the role of organisational management and culture within a very innovative firm, which is responsible for some very well known products such as the famous Gore-Tex fabric, and yet few people know very much about this remarkable organisation. It is operated in a similar way to that of a cooperative such as the John Lewis Partnership in the United Kingdom, where the employees are also owners. In addition, the organisation seeks to minimise management with the emphasis on action and creativity. Today this enigmatic firm employs approximately 7,000 people in more than 45 plants and sales locations world-wide. Manufacturing operations are clustered in the United States, Germany, Scotland, Japan and China.

Proprietary technologies with the versatile polymer polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) have resulted in numerous products for electronic signal transmission; fabrics laminates; medical implants; as well as membrane, filtration, sealant and fibre technologies for a range of different industries. Today the organisation divides its products into four main groupings: medical products; fabric products; electronic products; and industrial products. Gore has approximately 650 US patents and thousands worldwide. Further details of these can be found by visiting the US Patent & Trademark office website at www.uspto.gov.

Introduction

W.L. Gore & Associates is probably best known in Europe for its Gore-Tex product (that piece of material in your coat that keeps you dry yet allows your body to breathe), yet few people know very much about this privately owned and relatively secret company. Fewer still realise the very innovative and contemporary way the organisation is run – it seeks to have an ‘unmanagement style’.

Annual revenues top $1 billion. W.L. Gore is a...