ssion 8 Discussion Forum: 11 Che ILLUSTRATION CAPSULE 12.1 ON The Culture That D
ID: 375023 • Letter: S
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ssion 8 Discussion Forum: 11 Che ILLUSTRATION CAPSULE 12.1 ON The Culture That Drives Innovation at W. L. Gore & Associates W. L Gore & Associates is best known for GORE-TEX the waterproof, breathable fabric highly prized by out- door enthusiasts. But the company has developed . wide variety of other revolutionary products, ineluding Elisir guitar strings, Ride On bike cables, and a host of medical devices such as cardiovascular patches and syn- thetic blood vessels. As a result, it is now one of the larg- est privately held companies in the United States, with more than $3 billion in revenue and 000 employees in GORETEX 30 countries worldwide. When Gore developed the core technology on which most of its more than 2,000 worldwide patents is based, the company's unique culture played a crucial role in allowing Gore to pursue multiple end market ton simifianeoult enbling rapic relioment Promia company The companý's culture is team-based and n them without orders from higher ups Instead, sel business into a diversified multinational ing ideas attract more people who are willing to work from a niche designed to foster personal initiative. It is described on managing associates operating in self- developed teems are simply encouraged to pursue novel applications of Gore technology until these applications are fully com There are no traditional organizational charts, no chains mercialized or have had their potential exhausted. The of command, nor predetermined channels of communica encouragement comes both from the culture (norms tion. Insteed, we communicate directly with each other and practices) of the organization and from a profit- and are accountable to fellow members of our multsharing arrangement that allows employees to benefit the company's website as follows dsciplne teams. We encourage hand-on innovation directly from their successes involving those dosest to a project in decision making. Personal stories posted on the website describe the & Associates Employees are encouraged to use to per- This approach makes Gore a great place to worlk Teams organize around opportunities and leaders emrge and has helped it atract, retain, and motivste top tal ent globalily Gore has been on Fortune magazine's list of discovery process behind a number of breakthrough the 10o best companies to cent of their time to tinker with new ideas and to take Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, and Sweden. Note: Developed with Kenneth P. Fraser. work for in the United States other countries in which it operates, such as the United Sources: Company webstes (accessed March 10, 2012) The values, heliefs, and practices that undergird a company's culture can come from anywhere in the organizational hierarchy. Typically, key elements of the culture originate with a founder or certain stroeg leaders who articulated them as a set of business principles, company policies, operating approsches, and ways of dealing with employees, customers, vendoes, shareholders, and local communities where the com- pany has operations. They also stem from exemplary actions on the part of company personnel and evolving consensus about 'how we ought to do things around here Over time, these cultural underpinnings take root, come to be accepted by company managers and employees alike, and become ingrained in the way the company con- ducts its business.Explanation / Answer
The fluidity & openness in the nature of command, innovation driven team culture and empowering the employees to innovate, are the primary elements in the organizational structure that have helped the organization to develop value based culture where each person encourage another person to innovate.
The some of the initiatives in the organization are very unique that are promoting self-willingness among the employees to select and work upon the projects, sharing the story behind the development of an innovative product and the encouragement to tinker with the existing technology and innovation. These initiatives bring the intrinsic motivation among the employees and formation of self-managing team with multi-disciplinary skills create the platform for the culture of innovation and creativity.
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