W. L. Gore and Associates - Culture at Gore

Culture At Gore

In 2009, for the twelfth consecutive year, W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc. earned a position on Fortune magazine's annual list of the U.S. "100 Best Companies to Work For." Its European operations have also earned similar honors. Gore UK has been named seven times by London’s The Sunday Times as one of the “Best Companies to Work For.” In 2009, Gore Germany ranked eighth in the "100 Best Places to Work in Germany" among mid-sized companies. Gore Italy ranked sixth among the "35 Best Places to Work in Italy." Gore France topped the list of “Best Workplaces in France” while Gore Scandinavia ranked fourth among small companies on the list of “Best Workplaces in Sweden.” Gore was listed 12th on the “50 Best Large Workplaces in Europe 2009.”

An important factor in this recognition is Gore’s unique culture, which evolved from the company’s success with small teams during its early years. This approach to business was based on Bill Gore’s experience with “task force teams” while he was employed at the DuPont Company. Such groups were formed at DuPont on an ad hoc basis to attack problem situations. They were usually multidisciplinary and typically operated for short periods of time outside of the company’s formal management hierarchy.

Bill Gore first presented the concept of a “lattice” organization to Gore associates in 1967. He later refined his ideas and presented what he termed “culture principles” in a paper entitled “The Lattice Organization – A Philosophy of Enterprise.” It was distributed to Gore associates in 1976.

Unlike the traditional management structure that Bill Gore had experienced at DuPont, he proposed a flat, lattice-like organizational structure where everyone shares the same title of “associate.” There are neither chains of command nor predetermined channels of communication. Leaders replace the idea of “bosses.” Associates choose to follow leaders rather than have bosses assigned to them. Associate contribution reviews are based on a peer-level rating system.

Bill Gore articulated four culture principles that he called freedom, fairness, commitment and waterline:

• Associates have the freedom to encourage, help, and allow other associates to grow in knowledge, skill, and scope of responsibility
• Associates should demonstrate fairness to each other and everyone with whom they come in contact
• Associates are provided the ability to make one's own commitments and are expected to keep them
• A waterline situation involves consultation with other associates before undertaking actions that could impact the reputation or profitability of the company and otherwise “sink the ship.”

In the lattice organization, associates are encouraged to communicate directly with each other and are accountable to fellow members of their teams. Hands-on product innovation and prototyping are encouraged. Teams typically organize around opportunities, new product concepts, or businesses. As teams evolve, leaders frequently emerge as they gain followership. This unusual organizational structure and culture has been shown to be a significant contributor to associate satisfaction and retention.

This corporate culture was highlighted in Malcolm Gladwell's 2000 book, The Tipping Point.