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WL Gore & Associates
Edgardo
Donovan
MGT 501
Organizational Behavior
Dr. Ken
Myers
Module 5
Case Analysis
Monday, March 20, 2006
WL Gore &
Associates
However,
there is a financial incentive for associates wanting to be part of a winning
company. (
WL
Gore exemplifies a long-term established international company which
aggressively builds on a corporate culture geared towards incentivating a sense
of ownership, job empowerment, and entrepreneurial out-of-the-box-thinking
among all of its employees. The company
structures its human resources compensation structure to match external market
demand for highly skilled workers while implementing an internal stock options,
profit sharing, and bonus scheme to incentivate strong individual
contributions. This creates a faster paced more aggressive environment which unexpectedly
results in higher employee job satisfaction and lower turnover rates as well.
The
entrepreneurial spirit which inspires people to greater levels of creativity,
innovation, and hard work without guaranteeing financial success or security is
a powerful force that many organizations want to cultivate among their
respective workforces. Traditionally, when we think of the entrepreneurial spirit
we think about one of the hundreds of thousands of small groups of people who
start a company each year in an attempt to become one of the handful of
companies that achieve viable long-term term success. The spirit of the
entrepreneur is a mix of euphoria and desperation where huge amounts of private
capital, constituting in many cases the entire financial future of the owners, are
wagered on the dream of success. The work ethic and overall dedication that
usually accompany such huge leaps of faith in private human industry are
tremendous and may seem to contradict the personal interest incentive at the
base of capitalism. Why would so many people risk so much and work so hard if
the odds of getting compensated adequately for ones efforts are so meager?
This cannot solely be explained by money but by the accomplishment, accelerated
learning, and the sense of purpose that accompanies these types of ventures. Every
now and then groups of entrepreneurs that started companies like IBM,
Microsoft, Ford, are General Electric are able to build upon the level of
innovation of the entrepreneurs of their generation and truly change the world.
"The annual sales of £26m and a five per cent staff
turnover confirms staff are happy to work at Gore. I believe people want to
feel involved and important. They know what is happening in the workplace and
believe they can make a difference to the overall operation of the company. No
system is perfect. We are here to make money and have fun. WL Gore provides a
vehicle for our associates to do that." (
The
nurturing of a corporate culture that is supportive of an entrepreneurial
culture is not only manifested at startup companies but also in larger established
companies like WL Gore and Associates (Cba.uri.edu). This is
done primarily by upholding financial incentives like profit sharing, stock
options, and performance bonuses. An almost equally important component to
nurturing the entrepreneurial mindset is by cultivating a sense of mission in
the organization. Guy Kawasaki, one of the senior managers at Apple Computer in
the early 80s outlines the almost evangelistic approach touted by company
founder Steve Jobbs in instilling the exciting ambition among Apple employees. They
felt responsible for changing the face of human existence through the
innovative marketing of new personal computing technologies to businesses and
the consumers.
Success
in the marketplace, financial incentives, a sense of mission, the opportunity
for great riches through stock options, and overall prestige of an organization
make it easier to nurture an entrepreneurial work force. Companies like Apple
Computer, Microsoft, Yahoo, and many others were able to get many of their
employees to consider working 80-90 weeks as a normal part of their career
plans.
The
problem with having a work force which works at these very intense levels is
the risk of premature corporate burnout. It seems that WL Gore and Associates
has not experienced this problem which could signify that they have found a
congenial balance of nurturing an
entrepreneurial culture within an overall work-life equilibrium.
WL
Gore exemplifies a long-term established international company which
aggressively builds on a corporate culture geared towards incentivating a sense
of ownership, job empowerment, and entrepreneurial out-of-the-box-thinking
among all of its employees. The company
structures its human resources compensation structure to match external market
demand for highly skilled workers while implementing an internal stock options,
profit sharing, and bonus scheme to incentivate strong individual
contributions. This creates a faster paced more aggressive environment which
unexpectedly results in higher employee job satisfaction and lower turnover
rates as well.
I. Works Cited
Moore,
A. Simply the best.
Personnel Today. Harvard Business Review, 2004.
II. Works Consulted
Cba.uri.edu. Organizational Culture- The Social Inducement System. Cba.uri.edu, 2006.