Compensation At W. L. Gore

CASE STUDY

W.L. Gore & Associates is a company well known for its GORE-TEX fabric for protective outerwear. In 2006, the company ranked fifth on Fortune’s list “100 Best Companies to Work For.” It was the eighth year in a row the firm had made the list. One of Gore’s hallmarks is innovation. Rather than job titles, bosses, and organization charts, Gore uses a team approach, with leaders, sponsors, and team members.

The goals of Gore’s compensation plan are internal fairness and external competitiveness. Gore uses two approaches to achieve these goals. The first is straightforward and typically used by companies: comparing pay at Gore with pay for comparable jobs at other companies. That takes care of the external competitiveness part. It is the internal competitiveness part that is different at Gore. The process works like this: Associates (co-workers) on the same team rank each other based on contributions to the company for the year. Team members can provide comments to support their rankings and identify strengths or areas for improvement of the associates they rank. This information is then used for determining raises.

Answer the following questions by applying the concepts learned in Chapter 10. Also, conduct literature reviews on the subject of discussion and use to support your case study answers:

Provide a critique of the compensation practices at Gore, indicating the pros and cons of each approach.
Do you think that Gore can achieve its goals of internal fairness and external competitiveness with the two approaches used?
Would you want to work for this company? Why or why not?