3 ms·

W.L. Gore and Associates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WL_Gore_and_Associates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WL_Gore_and_Associates) is a big company that appears

by crasch4 19y ago

W.L. Gore and Associates (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WL_Gore_and_Associates http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WL_Gore_and_Associates) is a big company that appears to try hard to avoid hierarchical structures. From a 2004 FastCompany article (http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/open_gore.html http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/89/open_gore.html): "So Bill Gore threw out the rules. He created a place with hardly any hierarchy and few ranks and titles. He insisted on direct, one-on-one communication; anyone in the company could speak to anyone else. In essence, he organized the company as though it were a bunch of small task forces. To promote this idea, he limited the size of teams -- keeping even the manufacturing facilities to 150 to 200 people at most. That's small enough so that people can get to know one another and what everyone is working on, and who has the skills and knowledge they might tap to get something accomplished -- whether it's creating an innovative product or handling the everyday challenges of running a business." Anyone who works for Gore care to comment on the actual practice?

PeeDee 19y ago
I worked in the Gore HK office in the late 80's and even met the man himself. He was adamant about keeping groups small; small enough that everyone knew everyone else personally. New locations would start with about 10, and whenever an office/factory grew larger than about 50 they would split into two groups of 25. Another credo was that there were no "assistants" or staff positions. Everyone either produced product or sold product. Two roles. There were however senior and junior personnel, and decisions were made by rough consensus among senior personnel. However, all remuneration was openly discussed and agreed upon by the entire group in the context of production or sales targets. I liked being there, although my role as a freelance systems analyst/programmer was not an authorised one.

by crasch4 19y ago

PeeDee 19y ago

I worked in the Gore HK office in the late 80's and even met the man himself. He was adamant about keeping groups small; small enough that everyone knew everyone else personally. New locations would start with about 10, and whenever an office/factory grew larger than about 50 they would split into two groups of 25. Another credo was that there were no "assistants" or staff positions. Everyone either produced product or sold product. Two roles. There were however senior and junior personnel, and decisions were made by rough consensus among senior personnel. However, all remuneration was openly discussed and agreed upon by the entire group in the context of production or sales targets. I liked being there, although my role as a freelance systems analyst/programmer was not an authorised one.