W.L. GoreEssay Preview: W.L. GoreReport this essayCase Study #1 – W.L. Gore and AssociatesIntroductionW.L. Gore and Associates is a company started in 1958 by Bill and Vieve Gore. Bill Gore was a prior employee of Du Pont who saw innovative ways to work with a substance known as PTFE (Teflon). When Du Pont was not interested in exploring his ideas, he started his own business.
W.L. Gore and Associates has diverse, high-tech product lines that range from electronic products, to vascular grafts, to apparel, and also to dental floss. The range of products shown by the company can be credited in part to an unconventional management style, which they term “lattice” structure, under which the company is organized. In this structure, there is no hierarchy and little organized direction, so employees are free to explore their own projects and create their own goals.
This case study will first perform a SWOT analysis of the W.L. Gore company, then identify how certain key issues in marketing are handled within the organization. Concepts explored will include strategic marketing management, marketing ecocyles, and marketing segmentation. Finally, some conclusions and recommendations will be made regarding the information gleaned from the analysis.
SWOT AnalysisStrengthsThe first and most apparent strength of the W.L. Gore company is its diversity of products. The company is able to market to a variety of industries on a global level, including electronics, medical industry, IT, aeronautics, and telecommunications. This diversity affords the company some protection financially should there be any negativity in a given market segment.
Another important strength of the company is its strong growth and financial performance over the long-term. According to the information presented, it has been profitable for 37 years and has consistently ranked in the top 10 percent of Fortune 500 companies for return on assets and sales.
One final strength that W.L. Gore possesses is its large quantity of patents, proprietary intellectual information, and trade secrets. Having high-tech products with this sort of piece attached to it effectively creates a barrier of entry for competitors. This, in turn, helps the company strengthen its market share.
WeaknessesThe main limitation that W.L. Gore faces revolves around that fact that their products stem from a single source of technology – PTFE. By working only with this substance, the company limits itself to some degree because of its dependency on PTFE. I think this limits the companys future potential for growth, especially if competitors begin to use some more advanced variation of the product or if industries in which W.L. Gore is present begin using better technology.
Another weakness is the companys size as compared to its competitors. Additional research outside of the article indicated some of its competitors are companies like Worthington Industries and 3M, both of which are many times larger than W.L. Gore. This may limit its ability to compete effectively at some point.
OpportunitiesAn area for opportunity and growth was mentioned in the information while relating a story regarding product champions at the organization. W.L. Gore was trying a new product that was a hydrocarbon leak-protection cable. This cables purpose is to detect in-ground leaks of substances like gasoline. Products such as this, which are linked to the protection of the environment, will most likely become a future growing market for the company as environmental regulations increase and continually become an area of focus for the government and special interest groups.
Additionally, PTFE is continually being found to be superior to plastic due to its flexibility and ability to withstand extreme conditions. If W.L. Gore can continue to find innovative ways to use PTFE, they will have a huge and almost unlimited area of opportunity.
ThreatsThe substance PTFE is essentially Teflon, a product that has recently come under attack and additional regulations. My local media has been especially focused on the Du Pont plant in the Marietta, Ohio region and the emission and pollution Teflon is causing. The substance has been found to be present in drinking water sources and its effect on humans appears to be negative. I think this is a potential threat to W.L. Gore since it is possible that additional regulations on substances such as PTFE could be implemented. New regulations often are very costly to comply with, and the price for non-compliance, even if accidental, could be equally as high.
Another threat to W.L. Gore related to this would be its medical equipment segment, which is not only highly competitive, but that also faces strict regulatory requirements. The FDA has stringent guidelines for medical equipment and the healthcare industry as a whole. The medical equipment arena is also one renown for costly lawsuits when errors or malfunctions occur.
Strategic Marketing Plan and Marketing ManagementW.L. Gore is a perfect example of how once a company defines its overall goals in a strategic marketing plan, those principles flow down into other levels of the company, complementing and working seamlessly with the marketing management plan. The three key elements of the strategic market plan are (1) offering the best value of products in the market segments it competes; (2) getting customers to understand the quality and performance of Gores products; and (3) becoming a leader with unique products in each segment. Based on these three broad principles, the marketing management plan then proceeds with the details of marketing the products. Again in this area, the organizational culture and setup is reflected.
The Strategic Market Plan should be a highly specific and well integrated plan to help companies identify and differentiate their strengths in any area. The business model, business model and strategy should be defined not just by one concept, it should be incorporated into a whole series of plans that all of the stakeholders agree are right for the business (read: very specific, very specific, very specific). The strategic model is not limited simply to just one individual, it may include the entire entire company, with many employees who are equally qualified to handle the entire business. For example, if there are many senior GIs, there could be many of them. The strategy should focus on both the goal and the objectives of each GIs. All of this is accomplished through good business people and good people doing the right things for the company.
The Strategic Plan should also be developed in a “first year” scenario to help companies maximize their potential from the first, to the second, and finally every one of the following year. Each business, no matter what area they are in the business, is going to have their own strategic market plan that can be adapted from one of those types of planning.
Note that the strategy is an integrated plan that represents each team’s individual needs, whether directed toward individual products or service options or an integrated team plan or the marketing management plan. The goals of each team, as defined by the plan, must be aligned to the company’s overall core business objectives such as:
Ensure the team is engaged and well-prepared for and capable of doing the right thing
Know the team has a specific business structure, to which they can implement an organizational focus that focuses on those individual business areas that have different needs and desires and all of which need to be identified within the plan with each team
Provide the team with a comprehensive knowledge of current market trends and expectations, current market trends, market insights and how the team is adapting to them
Provide feedback in an understandable and professional and accessible way to stakeholders to improve the team’s overall decision making and decision making in order to grow its overall customer base
Identify and understand the business challenges that the team can face and address them
Understand the role the teams play, such as their ability to identify and address any and all of the challenges the team faces
Provide input regarding the team’s goals and objectives; and for each of the following year, the entire business plan should be developed, reviewed and approved to determine which specific businesses the plan is focused on and which are unique to the company. The plan should contain:
A strategic plan outlining the group’s needs for each business and what their areas within the plan would require
A blueprint of how each of the companies operating in the plan might function without the constraints they should impose on their business
A list of strategic projects the plan will include such as a roadmap to reach its goal by the end of the first year of taking over the business
A list of potential business developments including products and services based on the
The Strategic Market Plan should be a highly specific and well integrated plan to help companies identify and differentiate their strengths in any area. The business model, business model and strategy should be defined not just by one concept, it should be incorporated into a whole series of plans that all of the stakeholders agree are right for the business (read: very specific, very specific, very specific). The strategic model is not limited simply to just one individual, it may include the entire entire company, with many employees who are equally qualified to handle the entire business. For example, if there are many senior GIs, there could be many of them. The strategy should focus on both the goal and the objectives of each GIs. All of this is accomplished through good business people and good people doing the right things for the company.
The Strategic Plan should also be developed in a “first year” scenario to help companies maximize their potential from the first, to the second, and finally every one of the following year. Each business, no matter what area they are in the business, is going to have their own strategic market plan that can be adapted from one of those types of planning.
Note that the strategy is an integrated plan that represents each team’s individual needs, whether directed toward individual products or service options or an integrated team plan or the marketing management plan. The goals of each team, as defined by the plan, must be aligned to the company’s overall core business objectives such as:
Ensure the team is engaged and well-prepared for and capable of doing the right thing
Know the team has a specific business structure, to which they can implement an organizational focus that focuses on those individual business areas that have different needs and desires and all of which need to be identified within the plan with each team
Provide the team with a comprehensive knowledge of current market trends and expectations, current market trends, market insights and how the team is adapting to them
Provide feedback in an understandable and professional and accessible way to stakeholders to improve the team’s overall decision making and decision making in order to grow its overall customer base
Identify and understand the business challenges that the team can face and address them
Understand the role the teams play, such as their ability to identify and address any and all of the challenges the team faces
Provide input regarding the team’s goals and objectives; and for each of the following year, the entire business plan should be developed, reviewed and approved to determine which specific businesses the plan is focused on and which are unique to the company. The plan should contain:
A strategic plan outlining the group’s needs for each business and what their areas within the plan would require
A blueprint of how each of the companies operating in the plan might function without the constraints they should impose on their business
A list of strategic projects the plan will include such as a roadmap to reach its goal by the end of the first year of taking over the business
A list of potential business developments including products and services based on the
Because the company utilizes a lattice structure, it is set up to encourage creativity and innovation. A key component in the marketing plan is the use of “Product Champions” as leaders of marketing campaigns. These leaders are not assigned this position due to ranking, but instead naturally evolve because of their intense interest and fundamental beliefs in the value and use of a product. With this as a starting point, the enthusiasm and commitment of this person creates a trickle-down effect and leads to a “whatever it takes” attitude to bring a product successfully to market.