Question

Read the following case and answer the questions that follow.

Can employees really manage themselves? At W.L. Gore and Associates, self-managed teams have helped create a thriving business that has operated profitably for more than 50 years. Gore is a manufacturer that develops innovative solutions for demanding environments. Focusing primarily on protective fabrics, Gore products might be found in clothing worn on a hike up Mt. Everest or in medical implants for the human body. You may have encountered their best known product, Gore-Tex fabric, in a pair of gloves that keep your hands warm in even the coldest temperatures. Self-management is not just a trend at Gore, it is a management structure that has been in place since the company was founded in 1958. The company has no titles, no bosses, and no hierarchy. Employees work in self-managed teams of 8 to 12 employees and they make all of the decisions, including hiring and pay. This structure was created by company founders Wilber Bill Lee and Genevieve Gore when they established the company to combat traditional management practices and encourage innovative thinking. There is a CEO and some respected leaders, but otherwise no clear management structure exists. The current CEO Terri Kelly stepped into the role in 2005 after 22 years with the company. While she is in charge, she was selected in a peerdriven process.

Why does it work? In this self-managed environment, employees are committed to make the organization a success and everyone is working in the company’s best interest. Employees are all partial owners of the company, which encourages them to focus on the company’s success. Each employee has the freedom to decide what they will work on, but then also must make a commitment to deliver. There are leaders in the organization, but they are determined by who is willing to follow them. The test of leadership is, if you call a meeting, does anyone show up? Self-management could easily turn into chaos, especially with more than 10,000 employees. However, Gore has a culture that reinforces the expectations for performance of the self-managed teams. The company has established norms of behavior and expected guidelines to follow. It often takes more time for decisions to be made because of the need for team buy-in when making the decision. But once decisions are made, actions are completed more quickly because the buy-in already exists. The self-managed teams at Gore aren’t built easily. They spend a lot of time coming together building relationship and building trust. This foundation of trust helps the team work better together, as everyone knows everyone else is working toward the same goals. Could any company duplicate Gore’s management practices? Probably not, say many management experts. Self-managed teams aren’t effective in just any company. Self-managed teams are most appropriate in organizations where innovation is strategically important. They are also a useful structure in environments that change rapidly. Finally, in order for selfmanaged teams to be a success, a company must also have strongly shared values that direct work activities.

Required

(a) Would you want to work at W L Gore and Associates? Why or why not?

(b) Explain why self-managed teams are effective at Gore.

(c) What are the challenges for organizations that have self-managed teams?

Answer 1

Answer: (a) Yes I will like to work at WL Gore and associates because of the unique self managed team culture it has. Today’s economy is guided by innovation and free thinking. The organizational culture at Gore provides this feature and can help me in developing myself as an innovative worker. I feel that I will be able to learn better team work at Gore as the teams operate mainly based on the relationships they develop. I also feel that working at Gore will improve my leadership skills as at Gore leaders are not appointed but they earn that status by their influence.

(b) Self managed teams are effective at Gore because of three reasons. Firstly it is an innovation driven company. In such companies the self managed teams are more effective. Secondly, the company has a clear organizational culture for supporting this structure. There are established norms for behaviors and expected guidelines to be followed. Thirdly there are established expectations about performance. The people are free to take their own decisions but they need to perform.

( c) There are four major challenges which are faced by the organizations having self managed teams. Firstly there is no centralized decision making and all the employees take different types of decision. This can result in loss of direction for the company. The second challenge is that there is no fixed leadership and hence in the absence of such leadership it is difficult to arrive at consensus. Thirdly the team formation in such companies may take more time as compared to the other organizations. Fourth and the most important one is that this can result in the chaos in the company.