Gore & Associates In the mid 1940s, Bill Gore was working at Dupont on a product known colloquially as Teflon, but chemically as polytetraflurothylene (PTFE). Gore believed that PTFE had good insulating capabilities and wanted to use it to insulate cables and ribbon cables in computers. With his son acting as muse, Gore was able to get PTFE to stick as insulation on a cable. When Dupont would not agree to fabricate products using the newly formulated PTFE, Gore quit and began working out of his basement. After a number of very lean years, a $100,000 deal clinched by Gore's wife, Vieve, gave the company much needed funds for operations.

The company operates eight divisions with product specialties: "Electronic, medical, waterproofing, fabrics, fibers, industrial filtration, industrial seals, coatings, and microfiltration." The electronics division manufactures wires and cables known for reliability and heat-resistance -- that were used in aerospace, the space program, defense, computers and telecommunications. Lifesaving vascular grafts and cardiovascular patches were made by the medical division. Gore may be most noted for its eponymous Gore-Tex fabric line.

Company Size

One of the reasons that the lattice structure works at Gore is because the number of associates at a given facility is purposefully kept small. Gore believes that informality and a sense of being close-knit are fostered in smaller associate...

In 1991, Gore had over 5,300 associates and 44 global plants.
Technology as the common link. From the first days before the company was even an entity, technology provided an avenue for innovative thinking to contribute value to the market. Bill Gore capitalized on his technical training and the technical expertise that he developed at Dupont. The company holds 155 patents and yet has no formal research and development department. The concept that all associates are capable of innovative thinking has paid off tremendously, in terms of company profits but also in terms of products entering the market with the potential for greatly improving people's lives, health, and safety.

Culture that drives Innovation.

There has been no unionization at Gore, as it is contraindicated. The associates basically own the company and, further, because management is integral to the lattice structure and functioning, there is no sense of us (the workers) against them (the management). Bill Gore believed that thick layers of management stifled the creativity of associates. Creativity was an attribute that Bill Gore held was inherent in all people. He encouraged innovation at all levels, and expected his associates to have a stake in applying their creativity, from original idea all the way to the production of a profitable product.

The Belief System and Guiding Principles

One of the most telling Gore…