Competitive Strategy of W.L Gore

RUNNING HEAD: Competitive Strategy of W.L Gore 0
W.L GORE
Competitive Strategy
(Student Name)
9/17/2018

Competitive Strategy of W.L Gore 1
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Distinctive Features....................................................................................................................3
Management Approach..............................................................................................................5
Advantages and Disadvantages..................................................................................................6
Advantages.............................................................................................................................6
Disadvantages.........................................................................................................................8
Approach adopt by Other Companies......................................................................................10
Conclusion................................................................................................................................13
References................................................................................................................................15

Competitive Strategy of W.L Gore 2
Introduction
Innovation plays a vital role in the business world. It is the important work that every
organization has to go through to ensure the longevity of the company (Hakansson and
Waluszewski, 2008). In the fluctuating environment, the organizations need to be prepared
and ready for any type of changes occur which could be economic, societal and political
changes (Prajogo, 2016). W.L is the best example of an organization that has had to go
through many transitions over the last fifty years.
W.L Gore &Associates is a company which has adopted certain new strategies to grow the
business and able to compete in the market for over long years. It is the major pioneering and
productive company in the business world (Grant, 2016). The company is having the
population of 8500 associated with the revenue of $2.5 billion. The company is located in 24
countries in global. It is highly Technology Company which is having more than 1000
different fluoropolymer products. It has a wide variety of company structure which brings
together a network of other company and external look of being represent as a well put
together organization (Harder and Townsend, 2017). The organization is divided into four
divisions that have a separate mission and targets but do work together occasionally. The four
division of the company is unique enough that creates a multitude of opportunity over
investment and they can handle the swing of the industries (Center, 2016).
In the following context, there will be a detailed discussion on the activities and
organizational structure of the company that made the company distinct from other
companies that create a great impact on the organization positively and negatively. There are
different approaches which are mostly used by the company which is based on identifiable
principles and the way other companies should also adopt the management and organization
of W.L Gore.

Competitive Strategy of W.L Gore 3
Distinctive Features
The major distinctive feature of Gore organization as well as management is the structure of
the company that eliminates the hierarchy and bureaucracy which suppress adaptation and
creativeness. The company has adopted the ‘lattice structure’ that is known for a complicated
arrangement. There were no titles, ladder, or the conventional structure in the organization
(Kerr, 2014). The company of Gore has only a sufficeint titles in the company. The main
purpose behind the less number of the title was because it was essential by the laws of
incorporation. In the ‘lactic structure’, the individual uses a straight line of communication
without any hierarchy barriers (Gronning, 2016). The structure does not include any
intermediary for communication which delivers a chance to the associate to work out their
own problems. The associates have no static or allocated authority that is a key asset because
some of the people among the company cannot handle that other will state them the way to
do a particular task. There are some points that made the distinctive features of W.L George’s
organization and management which are explained below (Maxwell, 2016):
 Autonomy of Scaling
The management of George organization is based on the task force model that was something
used in his former company DuPont. The team of the organization was small and cross-
functional which have a clear goal and outside of any formal hierarchy (Bolman and Deal,
2015).
 Sponsors
In the organization of George, there is the absence of boss and managers. In the place of
them, they have sponsors and leaders. Every individual in the organization has allocated one