W.L.Gore Inc Swot Analysis
SWOT Analysis Strengths The 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. Weaknesses The main limitation that W.L. Gore faces revolves around that fact that their products stem from a single source of technology a€” 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 companya€™s 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 companya€™s 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. Opportunities An 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 cablea€™s 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.Threats The 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.
