Gore Case Study
Week 3 Assignment 2: Gore Case Analysis
Group 3: Stuart Haack, Kristy Junio, Zeyad Maasarani, Kim Tarabetz
One can be easily fooled into believing that W.L Gore & Associates has “no organizational structure” (Townsend, 2000, p.3) as D. Reid Townsend stated in his case titled “W.L. Gore &
Associates” (2000), but this is simply not the case.
In “Note on Organization Structure” by Nitin Nohria (1995) an organization’s structure is defined as “the pattern of organizational roles, relationships and procedures that enable such coordinated action by its members.” If assessed from Nohria’s perspective (1995), it is clear that
Gore & Associates was actually quite structured.
Gore & Associates utilized the network structure - a flat organization structure which encouraged collaboration, communication and accountability. Roles were independently adopted by employees in the form of “commitments,” thus employees were always flexible with their evolving roles.
Townsend himself conceded that Gore’s organizational structure became the “blueprint for a ‘lattice’ organization” (Townsend, 2000, p. 3). Gore’s system was that of self-management, where employees all operate symbiotically as small multi-functional task-forces. Gore called this system “un-management.”
There are other clear indications of organization structure if one were to use the definition proposed by Richard Daft in his 2007 book Fundamentals of Organizational Structure. Daft argues there are “three key components” of organization structure: (1) “formal reporting relationships,” (2) “grouping together of individuals,” and (3) “design of systems to ensure effective communication” (Daft, 2007). Though unconventional in his manifestation of these factors, Gore had all three components built-in to it’s network structure.
Reporting relationships at Gore were not based on job title, but were rather based on expertise, knowledge and initiative. Despite the flat structure, there was a reporting protocol nonetheless,
Group 3: Stuart Haack, Kristy Junio, Zeyad Maasarani, Kim Tarabetz
One can be easily fooled into believing that W.L Gore & Associates has “no organizational structure” (Townsend, 2000, p.3) as D. Reid Townsend stated in his case titled “W.L. Gore &
Associates” (2000), but this is simply not the case.
In “Note on Organization Structure” by Nitin Nohria (1995) an organization’s structure is defined as “the pattern of organizational roles, relationships and procedures that enable such coordinated action by its members.” If assessed from Nohria’s perspective (1995), it is clear that
Gore & Associates was actually quite structured.
Gore & Associates utilized the network structure - a flat organization structure which encouraged collaboration, communication and accountability. Roles were independently adopted by employees in the form of “commitments,” thus employees were always flexible with their evolving roles.
Townsend himself conceded that Gore’s organizational structure became the “blueprint for a ‘lattice’ organization” (Townsend, 2000, p. 3). Gore’s system was that of self-management, where employees all operate symbiotically as small multi-functional task-forces. Gore called this system “un-management.”
There are other clear indications of organization structure if one were to use the definition proposed by Richard Daft in his 2007 book Fundamentals of Organizational Structure. Daft argues there are “three key components” of organization structure: (1) “formal reporting relationships,” (2) “grouping together of individuals,” and (3) “design of systems to ensure effective communication” (Daft, 2007). Though unconventional in his manifestation of these factors, Gore had all three components built-in to it’s network structure.
Reporting relationships at Gore were not based on job title, but were rather based on expertise, knowledge and initiative. Despite the flat structure, there was a reporting protocol nonetheless,
References: Daft, R. (2007) "Fundamentals of Organizational Structure." Organization Theory and Design (9th ed.), pp. 88-125 (Chapter 3). Galbraith., J.R. (2011). The Star Model. pp. 1-6. Retrieved from http://embanet.vo.llnwd.net/o18/USC/CMGT500/Week2/docs/ CMGT500_w 2_StarModel_Introduction.pdf. Nohria, N. (1995). "Note on Organizational Structure." Harvard Business School. Townsend, D. R. & Harder, J. (2000). W.L. Gore & Associates [Case no. UVA-OB-0700]. Charlottesville: Darden Business Publishing.