THE GORE AND SEMCO ORGANIZATIONS

The Gore And Semco Organizations

Table of Contents

Table of Contents2

The Gore And Semco Organizations3

Introduction3

Discussion3

Themes In Organizational Transformation5

Redefining the Business and Focusing on the Customer5

Teaming and Supporting Nonhierarchical Structures6

Leadership and Shared Values7

A Change in Language10

New Roles For Human Resources11

Human Resources As a Business Partner11

A Focus on Career and Competency Development12

Pay for Skills14

A More Egalitarian Organization15

Conclusions15

References18

The Gore And Semco Organizations

Introduction

W.L. Gore and Semco have journeyed down the path of organizational transformation, and in each case there has been a significant shift in the role of human resources. The experiences of these companies illustrate the fact that transformation takes as many shapes as there are companies. But if we compare their experiences, a number of themes emerge that will be helpful to those whose organizations are just beginning to change. (Lancourt 1994)

We are living in what Peter Drucker calls "the Age of Discontinuity"-a time that subjects all of us to wave after wave of fundamental change and forces us to engage in what Charles Handy calls "upside-down thinking." Virtually everything we know and all our assumptions about managerial practice are being called into question, and for good reason. The old methods are no longer working well enough. The stakes are high: the questions we must answer concern the kind of fundamental redefinition of our companies that will not only liberate and support innovation at all levels of the organization, but also spur the creation of a whole new economy. (Merlyn 1994)

Discussion

Historically, our industrial wealth has been built on the exploitation and depletion of our natural resources. However, recent technological advances and increases in global developments are undercutting the very foundation of that economy. Rather than raw materials or physical assets, knowledge is now hailed as the new source of wealth and the basis for competitive advantage. But to leverage knowledge assets, we must fundamentally transform the way we organize and use this most human of resources. (Flik 1990)

In an effort to better understand how companies are approaching this challenge and what role the human resource function is playing in the transformation process, we interviewed senior executives and managers W.L. Gore and Semco -all of whom have been recognized by the business community and the press as having approached these issues in interesting, innovative, and experimental ways. (Brokaw 1990)

Clearly, these companies are doing something right. Brazil-based Semco was able to succeed in an extremely difficult market: it achieved sales and profit stability while the Brazilian gross industrial product fell by 14 percent, 11 percent, and 9 percent in 1990, 1991, and 1992, respectively, while capital goods output fell to 1977 levels and while 28 percent of its capital goods manufacturers went bankrupt. What have these companies been doing, and how has the human resource function fared in the transformation process? To answer this question, we have organized our interview data into two sections: first, an identification of those themes which appear to characterize the organizational transformation process as a whole, and second, an exploration of the role human resources has ...