Gore-tex Case Study

GORE-TEX CASE STUDY by [Name] Course Professor’s Name Institution Location of Institution Date Gore-Tex Case Study Introduction left6766560Source: The Engineer (2020)0 Source: The Engineer (2020)left38804850Innovation plays an integral role in the growth and performance of companies in today's business environment, which is characterised by rapid technological advancement. As informed by Trott (2021), innovation has become a part of every organisational culture, with the ability to change and evolve being necessary for survival. With competitors seeking to advance products that meet customers' evolving needs, firms that do not manage innovation effectively are likely to be left behind. One company that has utilised the value of innovation for growth and success is W.L. Gore & Associates, which is responsible for famous Gore-Tex products (Trott, 2021). Founded in 1958 in Newark, Delaware, Gore-Tex has grown to operate on five continents with more than 13,000 advocates (employees) helping it generate annual revenues of $4.8 billion (Gore, n.d.). The company has regularly been recognised as a great workplace (The Engineer, 2020). Gore-Tex manufactures numerous products that cut across different industries, meaning it has varied and diverse competitors (Trott, 2021). Some key competitors of the organisation include Bayer, Coming, Du-Pont, Dow, and Hoechst (Trott, 2021). The company's products target a variety of fields, including medical devices, electronics, polymer processing, and performance fabrics (Gore, n.d.). The company has experienced tremendous success since its formation, which is largely attributed to innovation. It is imperative that the success continues into the future. The first part of this paper examines how leadership and innovation processes have contributed to the success of the company so far. The second part explores how Gore-Tex leaders can continue the innovation to ensure the sustainability and success of the company in the future. How Leadership and Innovation Processes Have led to success Organisational Heritage 29051254645660Bill and Vieve Gore (The Engineer, 2020)00Bill and Vieve Gore (The Engineer, 2020)Several factors can be attributed to the success of Gore-Tex, but perhaps the most important one is the organisation's heritage. According to Trott (2021), a firm’s heritage is vital to its technological capabilities as it fosters and promotes the recognition of the value of innovation. As revealed in the case, one of the factors that make Gore-Tex successful is its heritage that encourages the development of superior products. In essence, the success of the company is owed much to the founders, Bill and Vieve Gore, whose leadership instilled a culture of innovation right from the firm’s beginnings. 2895600210312000As noted by The Engineer (2020), back in 1958, the founders set a culture of innovation, which still guides the operations of the company today. According to Gore (n.d.), the founders believed that human beings have a natural capacity to solve problems creatively and that, given the right environment, they can attain unlimited possibilities. In essence, the heritage of the company, courtesy of the entrepreneurial and creative founders, has been instrumental in its success. According to Trott (2021), a firm's previous experience with innovative products promotes its technology and R&D capabilities, which in turn contributes to turning technology into marketable products. In the case of Gore-Tex, its early roots are characterised by innovative products, which laid the foundation for more groundbreaking products. Bob Gore’s 1969 discovery that Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) could be stretched to create a strong and microporous material led to the development of breathable fabric, Gore-Tex (Trott, 2021). As revealed in the case, the company integrated its unique technical capabilities into numerous different products and set new standards for protection and comfort (Trott, 2021). As shown in the figure below, the discovery of expanded PTFE (ePTFE) gave rise to the company’s thousands of products. Therefore, the company's heritage, characterised by creativity and innovation, has played a significant in its success over the years.381006783705Source: The Engineer (2020)0Source: The Engineer (2020) Unique Organisational Structure The company’s unique organisational structure with no hierarchy has also been significant to its success. As noted in the case, the unique structure came about due to Bill Gore’s frustration with the bureaucracy present in large corporate organisations (Trott, 2021). Bill Gore’s leadership was thus instrumental in shunning the traditional organisational structure characterised by hierarchy and deciding to implement a non-hierarchical structure. As per the case, the leader created a flat lattice organisation with neither predetermined communication channels nor chains of command. Such an organisational structure contributes to innovation to a great extent. As noted by Trott (2021), flexible organisation structures characterised by the absence of hierarchy and formality support innovation more than those with mechanistic structures. Several elements revealed in the case indicate that Gore-Tex is more organic than mechanistic, a factor that has contributed to innovation and, consequently, the success of the company. A key feature of organic structure is open communication channels where information flows freely throughout the company (Trott, 2021). In the case of Gore-Tex, there are no predetermined communication channels, and associates communicate directly with one another. Unlike a mechanistic organisational structure, where authority for decisions is based on a formal management line, in an organic organisational structure, decisions are based on one's expertise (Trott, 2021). This is exactly the case for Gore-Tex. As noted by The Engineer (2020), the company's culture allows associates to pursue projects that are of interest to them. Those working closely on a project are involved in decision-making, meaning that knowledge trumps authority when it comes to decision-making (Trott...