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W.L. Gore

Taken from Boddy, D. 2005; Management, An Introduction, 3rd Edition; Pearson Education Ltd, 2005, Harlow

W.L Gore and Associates is a remarkable example of a business organized around team principles.   While working as a scientist at Dupont Corporation, Bill Gore became convinced of the potential value of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), commonly known as Teflon, as an insulating material for wire.   This led him and his wife Vieve to begin W. L. Gore and associates in Newark, Delaware, in 1958.   The company has grown to the extent that in 2004 the plants in Livingston and Dundee, Scotland, were ranked by The Sunday Times as ‘Britain's Best Company to Work For' and the company also featured in Fortune magazine as one of America's 100 Best Companies to Work For (ranking twelfth in the list).   The company is owned by the Gore family and the associates (see below).

In 1969 their son, Bob Gore, discovered that PTFE could be stretched to form a strong porous material, which enabled the company to broaden the range of its electronics products to include new applications such as medical implants, high-performance fabrics and solutions to environmental pollution.   The business is well known for the GORE-TEX * brand, under which many of their products are marketed.   GORE-TEX*   fabric works in a wide range of temperatures, does not age, is weather durable, porous and strong.

The focus of the business is the development, manufacture and engineering of products and technologies based on PTFE and other fluroplastics for a wide range of applications.   It has four product divisions:

• Electronic products: special cables and cable assemblies for the aviation, aerospace, automation, telecommunication, medical and IT industries
• Medical products: vascular grafts, implants, patches and dental implants
• Fabrics: branded high-performance fabrics for sportswear, leisurewear, work and protective wear.
• Industrial products: filter media and gaskets in environmental...