Harvard Study Case Study: The Lincoln Electric Company

The Lincoln Electric company, under the leadership of James F. Lincoln saw a major shift in the way business was to be directed and operated with visionary mind-set emulating companies like Ford, Wal-Mart, Merck, 3M as focus was towards the customer’s needs and employee’s compensation. Philosophically customer needs become critical as the reason for being in business and the employees also being the vehicle in achieving the needs of the customers as the case study by Sharplin, A (1989, p.3) clearly positions the companies aspirations. James Lincoln places much importance on the relationship with employees that is guided by mutual respect and individual effort.

Every organization has values and beliefs that define what they do and how they do things in the organization. These values have significant influence on how the employees behaves and the general performance of the organization – it is these set of values and beliefs, rooted deep in the company’s organizational structure that depict the “dos”, “don’t” and the “hows”, of the organization and these unequivocally represents the culture of the organization. This concept became popular in the 1980s when Peters and Waterman in their book: “In search of Excellence” presented the profound argument that, the success of any organization is inextricable linked to the quality of its culture. (Carpenter, M., Taylor, B., Erdogan, B. 2009 p183). The purpose of this paper is an attempt to analyse the impact diverse cultures played in the success of the Lincoln Electric Company.

Honesty and integrity were also important aspects of Lincoln’s leadership. He understood that honesty was the best policy. Leaders are supposed to do the right thing and being honest is part of that. A truthful leader will have greater respect from his subordinates and they will also have more trust in a leader they can believe. In order to be known as honest Lincoln knew his words, deeds, and actions would need to be beyond reproach so he even refused to have dealings with dishonest people. He knew he needed to lead by example and if he was known to associate with questionable people that it could damage what he was trying to accomplish. Lincoln knew that honesty and integrity were qualities that will help a leader hold an organization together. He had firsthand experience at this by trying to keep our country united.

Lincoln treated those he worked with well. Then again, he did get furious and baffled, so he figured out how to channel those feelings. He was known to take a seat and compose what he alluded to as an issue "letter" to the individual he was furious with. In the event that he did lose his temper, Lincoln would catch up with a kind motion or letter to tell the individual he was not holding resentment.

In his book, Phillips delves into the leadership qualities embodied by Lincoln and explores Lincoln’s own leadership style as it related to both his early career as a lawyer and later, into Lincoln’s political life. Through his research into this book, Phillips relates how Lincoln developed strategies for management based upon his own early lessons in life. Phillips then demonstrates how Lincoln used this knowledge to not only convince the public he was the right man to lead the nation as president, but also to win the Civil War.

To begin, I definitely support Lincoln’s “honesty is the best policy” statement. No matter the situation, as a business owner or leader of the country, you need to be honest with your people. Someone who is honest builds a very good reputation for themselves. As a benefit of honesty, an honest person is therefore trustworthy and this

The basic principle behind Lincoln’s leadership style was to subtly influence the everyday life of his followers through frequent in person interactions. Lincoln perceived it to be important to maintain casual relationships with his subordinates and treated each individual with the same respect and manner regardless of their position. He ensured he visited wounded soldiers in the hospital or attended funerals regardless of the importance of that person to his office. Such display of empathy and care ensured trustworthiness, loyalty, and respect from his subordinates.

The Lincoln Electric Company was a legacy company from which the families ' personal values were incorporated in the beginning and continue to be the fundamental beliefs compromising the company 's culture. By creating and implementing a culture of service, respect, and loyalty, the Lincoln Electric Company has become an institutional leader in American business standards. Lincoln 's culture cannot be summarized by a single dimension of cultural analytics because of its multifaceted culture that is innovative, outcome-oriented, people-oriented, and team-oriented

In chapter two of Lincoln on Leadership, Lincoln is described in detail for his compassionate and caring nature. He was said to contain this particular nature by the fact that he maintained alliances, took time out of his schedule to stay in contact with his people, and he granted many pardons as a result of his kindness. I find the utilization of compassion and a caring nature provide the

The case of Lincoln Electric Company is an interesting one, starting from the very early beginnings when the company was run by the brothers, the original founder John Lincoln who decided to concentrate on inventions and R&D side of things, who handed the helm over to his brother, James Lincoln. The management system and underlying philosophy at Lincoln can be characterized by clarity and commitment. The system was instituted with clear priority and purpose and the management had confidence and courage to commit to the decisions they made. The order of priority, namely customers first, employees next and stockholders last, makes any subsequent decision making simple. The values that founded this order of priority, as well as benefits provided to each of these categories, are based on Christian values, but the empathetic approach that results is most certainly beneficial to anyone in any of these categories. The caring attitude and evident sincerity that was demonstrated by actual implementations not only convinced all those concerned that these were not merely slogans and publicity stunts but became beliefs share

Lincoln serves their customers first, and stockholders last. Lincoln's goal is to evolve continually to offer better quality products at a lower price point. These views have not changed since the very humble beginnings of the company. The company's motto is the actual is limited, but the possible is immense. James Lincoln began managing this business by asking employees to elect members to weigh in decisions about company operations in a twice-monthly meeting. This practice still continues. The turnover is nearly nonexistent, with the exception of retirements and employee relocations. And the list of benefits available to employees is extensive, including job security for a guaranteed amount of hours and stock purchase option, bonuses, and

Donald T. Phillips’ book, Lincoln on Leadership, explores the life and practices of Abraham Lincoln as the leader of the United States of America. Without question, Lincoln’s legacy lies as one of the greatest leaders in the history of the country. Lincoln’s style of leadership, which facilitated his accomplishment of one of the most complicated tasks in a divided country, have only recently become the foundation for developing concepts of leadership in both private and public organizations. Throughout Lincoln on Leadership, Phillips discusses over one hundred of Lincoln’s principles of leadership and practices, practices which still inspire and motivate persons in all aspects of society.

Besides, managers in Lincoln Electric Company were not high in the sky, they worked and lived with workers in daily life, they had free atmosphere at work and they strengthened the feeling that workers were managing themselves.

Though, in reading the Lincoln Electric Company Harvard Case Study by Arthur Sharplin, add up to what I learned from chapter eight this week, I can realize the that the organizational culture is the cornerstone for the growth of any organization. The success of Lincoln Electric Company is due to the environment that is previously established by the Lincoln’s family. If we look at in the introductory of the Harvard case study, Arthur Sharplin states that “The Lincoln incentive management plan has been well known for many years. Many college management texts refer to the Lincoln plan as a model for achieving high worker productivity.” (pp. 1). This is to say that they have already set some policies to make the company what it has always been since its creation.

For over 150 years, American historians have portrayed Abraham Lincoln as a visionary and ethical leader. Indeed, his opposition to slavery and push for emancipation perhaps made him the statesman best suited to lead the nation during its most tragic time in history. No other U.S. President had ever, or has since, faced the dilemma of leading the country in the midst of an intense Civil War. The purpose of this essay is to show how Lincoln was both a visionary and ethical leader and why that is relevant to me. First, this paper will explain how Lincoln’s transformational leadership approach of inspirational motivation synthesized with his effective use of change management. Second, this paper will explain how Lincoln’s critical thinking skills impacted his ethical decision making. Finally, this paper will explain how these concepts are relevant to my leadership. Now I will discuss why Abraham Lincoln was a visionary leader.