W. L. Gore and Associates is the maker of Gore-Tex fabrics. The company was founded in 1958 by Bill Gore and his wife Genevieve in Newark, Delaware. Gore had been a research scientist working with fluoropolymers at DuPont. He developed a process for insulating electrical wire with DuPont's Teflon, and this became Multi-tet, the company's first product. Robert W. Gore, son of the founders, discovered that rapidly stretching PTFE under the right conditions created a very strong, microporous material. Today the company's fluoropolymer products are used throughout industry, in next-generation electronics, for medical products, and with high-performance fabrics. Robert W. Gore was inducted into the National Inventors Hall of Fame. [1] in 2006 for the invention of Gore-Tex.
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The Gore Method
Gore has repeatedly appeared on the "Best Companies to Work For" lists both in the United States [2] and several European countries. The company topped the UK Sunday Times "100 Best Companies to Work For" list for 4 consecutive years, 2004 - 2007. [3][4]. At least part of this must be attributed to "The Gore Method." Bill Gore created a flat lattice organization. There are neither chains of command nor predetermined channels of communication. There are no bosses. There are instead "leaders." Associates choose to follow leaders rather than have bosses assigned to them. Performance reviews are based on a peer-level rating system.
Product Line
The W. L. Gore and Associates product line has grown over the years at least in part due to their nurturing of associates who wish to pursue their ideas. Associates may spend ten percent of their time pursuing new ideas.
Patent
External links
- Official site
- GORE-TEX® Products
- ELIXIR® Strings
- CLEANSTREAM® Filters
- Medical Division
- Alan Deutschman. The Fabric of Creativity. Fast Company. : An article describing the Gore business culture
