Professional Documents
Culture Documents
John Watson
8/9/09
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1. How would you characterize Gore’s organizational structure using terms from this chapter?
For example, is it mechanistic or organic? How might this structure influence Gore’s strategy?
Through the depiction of characterizing W.L. Gore & Associates organizational structure,
his company in which is setup resembles one that is groups itself together in a
which he states, “Everyone is your boss and no one is your boss”, he also has a horizontal
organization that is very team based structured (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p.567).
Lastly, although the case says that Gore's business is not or never had a structure like big
companies such as G.E., Microsoft, or 3M. I have learned from a young age from a librarian that
every giant learns and stands up from another giants shoulder. The message here is that although
Gore and his company may have their own philosophy on conducting their organization, they
may have implement while imitating ideas from many other companies as well (Robbins &
How might these structures influence strategies from his organically model company?
Having over 200 employees being in the manufacturing plants alone as well as the many
products he manufactures, produces, and sells. It would be in his best interest that his strategy be
influenced by departmentalization and by separate groups being responsible for heart patches,
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synthetic blood vessels to air pollution filters, fuel cells, and their all-famous fabric that blocks
exhibits through his belief system and philosophy while applying it in his business. Some
responsibilities displaying through his employees is sharing their ideas openly without fear of
criticism from management. Through this, he eliminates hierarchy and bureaucracy type of
standardization and has fostered information sharing and teamwork throughout his company
2. Considering what you know about individual differences such as personality, what types of
The boundaryless organizational structure in which Gore & Associates are setup,
choosing as well as informing new hires is that their lack of hierarchy structure may take some
time to adapt. Gore must execute awareness. Because of this process, it is important to hire and
employ employee’s that may respond better with certain personality traits.
For instance, introverted employees are more reserved, less outgoing, and less sociable.
They tend to be low-key individuals and are less spontaneous and more passive in social
situations. They often take pleasure in solitary activities such as reading, writing, watching
movies, and using computers. They enjoy time spent alone and find less reward in time spent
with large groups of people. However, this does not mean that they do not make good team
members, as a team when you include extroverts who take pleasure in activities that involve
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large social gatherings, public demonstrations, and business or political groups they will balance
Gore could also match up personality types of his employees who have the elements that
have a core self-evaluation of locus of control. Such as, internals who are individuals who
believe that they control what happens to them rather than externals who are individuals who
believe what happens to them is controlled by outside forces like luck or chance (Robbins &
When looking at personality types from this perspective we see that it is application to
Gore’s low hierarchy that internals will be more favorable in his structure because by having the
ability to be in control of their lives more they will work well in the environment because they
have the freedom to collaborate with their team with confidence. Whereas, externals who will be
less favorable of their low hierarchy because they will feel the need to be controlled by outside
forces. This will inhibit their ability to work proficiently due to freedom of the boundaryless
Cohorts such as boomers, xers, and nexters are an important personality trait in which
Gore may consider employing due to each generations upbringing and style of work ethics. For
example, boomers will be less favorable of their job because terminal values such as a sense of
accomplishment and social recognition rank high with them. Unlike the xers, who may be more
favorable to Gore’s work environment because they enjoy team-oriented work much like the
nexters, these employee's coming from these groups will fit best (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p.124).
3. What are some advantages and disadvantages of Gore’s structure from a company
organization for the company are eliminating chain of command, having limitless spans of
control, and replacing departments with empowered teams. It also removes vertical boundaries,
which flatten the hierarchy while status and ranks are minimized (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p.553)
“Obviously, team-based structures and boundaryless organizations are going to have minimal
formalization and centralization. This could create some coordination and control problems for
manage conflicts over coordination and control” (Clayton State University, 2009).
From an employee’s point of view, the advantage of Gore’s structure is that it allows
them to be involved and participate in decision-making. His structure eliminates bureaucracy and
hierarchy that stifle creativity and adaptation. In addition, employees enjoy being part of an
model, which consists of having supervisors helping you find their way around the workplace.
With Gores structure, everyone’s like a supervisor, so those who are not used to this type of
structure must take some time to adjust (Robbins & Judge, 2007 p.567)
4. How might Gore’s organizational design affect its relationships with external companies that
An article from the “Human Resource Planning” written by Jodi Barnes Nelson
summarizes the meaning boundaryless organization as, “A boundaryless organization is one that
focuses on permeating all internal and external boundaries (e.g., those between functions, the
organization and its suppliers, even between nations) with free movement of ideas, information,
It is through this term and prevalent structure in which is revising the way many businesses are
now operating. In fact, while no company can completely be free of hierarchy, boundaryless structure
businesses are influencing traditional organization much like those who follow boundaries and are
hierarchical.
Hierarchical businesses in nature that normally has implication due to lack of flexibility
are now loosening the boundary’s that were once keeping them behind of those businesses who
are profiting due to faster flow of communication throughout their company to meet the needs of
Since the coining of the term by Jack Welch of GE, many firms has adopted and executed the
principle to break the vertical, horizontal, external, geographic boundaries and now weep the benefits of
meeting the needs of customers today by gaining speed, flexibility, integration, and innovation (Pang, ).
References
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and-Extroverts.htm
609Nelson, J.B. (1997, December 1). The boundaryless organization: implications for job analysis,
http://www.allbusiness.com/human-resources/workforce-management-hiring/654447-1.html
610Pang, L., Dr. (). [FLAT AND BOUNDARYLESS STRUCTURES.].. Retrieved 8/09/09, from
http://mysite.verizon.net/lpang10473/web/ldc_flat.htm
590Robbins, S.P., & Judge, T.A. (2007). Organizational Behavior(12th. ed.).Prentice Hall.