reed article $"$ Companies ot Work For" list every year since $1998.$ Its best ranking was as No$.2$ ni $2005,$ and ti was No$.12$ ni $2016.$ Not surprisingly, employees tend to remain at Gore once hired. The annual turnover rate is about $3\%.124$

Structure, Culture, and Values Leadership Conviction

Bill Gore wanted to start a company that was free from

bureaucracy and a command and control style of leader$-$ ship. He felt that this was the best way ot foster creativity, engagement, and innovation. He was a strong believer in autonomy and creating an environment ni which people flourished. To support this philosophy, the company estab$-$ lished a unique organizational structure and cultural values.

Gore's organizational structure is referred to as ateam$-$ based "lattice" organization. "There are no traditional orga$-$ nizational charts, no chains of command, nor predetermined channels of communication." Employees, who are all called associates, are accountable to the members of their multi$-$disciplined teams. Teams form in an ad hoc fashion around perceived "opportunities," and leaders emerge. $125$ "Leadership opportunities at Gore are based on how much of a 'followership' someone has among co$-$workers. Gore also uses peer assessments to determine compensation," according to Fortune. $126$

Associates are "responsible for managing their own workload" and for independently making commitments

that support team goals. Goals are not dictated from the top down. Rather, associates establish their own commitments,

and these percolate upward to form corporate forecasts.

High$-$quality relationships "with each other, with customers, with vendors and suppliers, and with our surrounding communities" are essential at Gore. Associates are encouraged to "build and maintain long$-$term relationships by communicating directly." Face$-$to$-$face meetings and phone calls are preferred over less rich media, like e$-$mail and texting.

The company established a set of fundamental beliefs to help embed its desired culture:

$$ Belief in the individual: fI you trust individuals and believe in them, they will be motivated ot do what's right for the company.

$$ Power of small teams: Our lattice organization harnesses the fast decision$-$making, diverse perspec$-$ tives, and collaboration of small teams.

$$ Al ni the same boat: Al Gore associates are part own$-$ ers of the company through the associate stock plan.

$$ Long$-$term view: Our investment decisions are based on long$-$term payoff, and our fundamental beliefs are not sacrificed for short$-$term gain.

How Does it All Work?

Associates are not hired for specific jobs. Rather, they are "hired for general work areas. With the guidance of their

sponsors $[$everyone has a sponsor, whose goal is to help people succeed$]$ and a growing understanding of opportu$-$

nities and team objectives, associates commit to projects that match their skills. $...$ Sponsors help associates chart a course in the organization that will offer personal fulfill$-$ ment while maximizing their contribution to the enter$-$prise." They do this by actively providing feedback on performance and personal development and by helping associates network with others.

Bill Gore also believed ni keeping operational facilities small due to his focus on high$-$quality interpersonal relationships. He observed that ti was hard to know everyone once the number of employees at a facility exceeded $150-200$ people. The company thus splits up people at a facility once it reaches this size by creating a new location. The final piece of the cultural puzzle involves a set of guiding principles that Bil Gore called freedom, fairness, commitment, and waterline:

$$ Associates have the freedom to encourage, help, and allow other associates to grow in knowledge, skill, and scope of responsibility.

$$ Associates should demonstrate fairness to each other and everyone with whom they come in contact.

$$ Associates are provided the ability to make own commitments and are expected to keep them.

$$ A waterline situation involves consultation with other associates before undertaking actions that could impact the reputation or profitability of the company an$"$ Answer the following questions using the textbook material from Chapter $8$ or Organizational Culture, use critical thinking skills and write in APA format.

$1.$ Decide which one of the $12$ ways to embed organizational culture has Gore used to create its current culture and write $1-2$ paragraphs discussing this with a heading identifying which one of the $12$ ways you chose. Provide examples to support your conclusions.

$2.$ Decide which one of the $3$ types of organizational design discussed in the chapter is most similar to Gore's lattice structured write $1-2$ paragraphs discussing this with a heading identifying which one of the $3$ types you chose. Provide examples to support your conclusions.

$3.$ Discuss in $1-2$ paragraphs whether Gore's structure more organic or mechanistic. Use a heading to identify this last section of your paper.Read