Lincoln Electric-Analysis
Submitted by: Rahul Agarwal
1. Put yourself in CEO John Stropki's shoes. Should Lincoln Electric expand into India by investing in a major production facility there?
Ans. An Indian expansion through an investment in the major production facility is the most logical step for Lincoln Electric in pursuance of its long term strategic goals. The company needs to be free from its dependence on North American sales; the sales in the North American markets are stagnant whereas other markets especially the Asian markets are growing significantly faster. Its long term financial targets which include sales growth double the rate of growth in worldwide industrial production, operating margins over 15%, earnings
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Ans. Lincoln has not been very successful in making successful and profitable acquisitions outside of North America, especially when the company has tried to enter a market strictly through the acquisition route. Inexperience of Lincoln’s executives with trade-unions and lack of knowledge of labor practices and laws in other countries proved major stumbling blocks in the effort to integrate the new acquisitions into Lincoln’s distinctive management culture. Local managers and employees are not convinced that these practices are appropriate for their local environment. As a result the Lincoln has realized that it would rely more on joint ventures and strategic alliances rather than an acquisition. In consonance with its investment philosophy Lincoln would only go forward with an acquisition only if it is immediately accretive, the investment had a minimum internal rate of return of 10%, increasing it to over 18% in 3-4 years also the acquisition should be done at less than 8XEBITDA. Since India is a booming market, Lincoln would not be able to achieve its initial investment goals, any acquisition would require paying up a premium. One of the target companies is already owned by the competitor and other local target had a company of family ownership and dispersed ownership structure.
Expansion in India through a Greenfield project is also not a viable option since it is expected that Lincoln will face the same problems which it had faced when it tried to
Lincoln Electric (LE) has been a producer of electrical and welding technology products since the late 1800's. The company remained primarily a family and employee held company until 1995, then approximately 40% of its equity went to the public. James Lincoln, one of the founders, developed unique management techniques that effectively motivated the employees. These management techniques were implemented as an unusual (for the era) structure of compensation and benefits called "incentive management". The incentive management system consisted of four key areas: factory jobs based solely on piecework output; a year-end bonus that could equal or exceeded an individual's regular pay; guaranteed employment; and limited benefits. Management
What do you think of Lincoln’s emerging international strategy by the mid-1990s? Does this company have a competitive advantage that can be transferred to the global environment? How is Massaro’s recent overseas initiative different from Lincoln’s earlier failed approach?Lincoln Electric: Venturing Abroad
Included by Lincoln Electric was a dialogue of one or two interviews they held, which at once caught my attention, inquiring questions that were unfair and not legal that I thought was very unprofessional to question as to how much earnings did you bring in last year, and what was the monies used for or what are your feels as to joining a union. (using few words). Their, has been employers who actually got serious consequences for asking such question, simply, because if a person is denied employment they may try to sue just based on the questions asked during the interview. Among other things, I don't feel it is fair for upper-level management to have the right to cut hours without prior notice because many employees' necessities of life
It would be very feasible for Fairchild to find an Indian partner for a joint venture
Haspeslagh and Jemison (1987), argue that what determines the success of a acquisition is not the actual purchase itself, but the development of the acquisition strategy the supports. Unfortunately, many executives face the acquisitions as an end, not a means to achieve that end. According to this author, the acquisition is only one strategy business growth. There are others as internal growth, joint venture, partnership, franchise and strategic alliance. All should be evaluated by the company before implementing a business development strategy. A proper analysis of the acquisition goes beyond the study's own candidate company. It must include a contribution from the analysis of potential acquisition for the strategic development, as well as
1. Should Lincoln Electric (LE) expand into the Indian market by investing in a major production facility there?
With the years going by, Lincoln Electric Company, despite its excellent performance in production, has been growing in a very steady speed, and never really grew to a large scale company.
Irrespective of your answer to the first question, suppose Lincoln Electric does expand into the Indian market by investing in a production facility: Should they enter through acquisition, Greenfield, or joint venture? What factors inform your decision among these entry modes?
Market entry strategy involves the essential requirement for a company to get into international level. The need of involving other companies whereby two companies join together is referred to as joint venture entry. They get into a similar market and make the same production with the aim of sharing risk and at the same time they share the profit according to their terms of agreement (Kretzberg, 2007). Therefore, Lincoln Electric Company has a chance to join with other company to venture in the Indian market.
Michael Gillespie, The Lincoln Electric Company’s new president for the Asia Region, was “encouraged to develop plans to open welding consumables factories in several Asian countries” by the new CEO, Anthony Massaro, and Gillespie had specifically “turned his attention to plans for Indonesia [O’Connell,[1] main reference, p 1].” We worked with Gillespie to prepare for the September 1996 meeting with Massaro and the presidents of the other worldwide regions. We analyzed Lincoln’s current capabilities and its past experiences and prepared a transformative plan based on business concept innovation [Hamel[2], ch 3], documented by this report, with a three pronged approach for the Asia Region. The first
All the founders of the company had a great deal of continues influence on the positioning of the company today, form John C. Lincoln to James F. Lincoln. John C. Lincoln started it all and James F. Lincoln, who is the younger brother of John, took over the company to another level. One of James Lincoln 's early actions as head of the firm was to ask the employees to elect representatives to a committee that would advise him on company operations. The Advisory Board has met with the chief executive officer twice monthly since that time. This was only the first of a series of innovative personnel policies that have, over the years, distinguished Lincoln Electric from its contemporaries.
In order to make future international plants more successful than previous acquisitions, Lincoln Electric’s managers may consider re-evaluating their management control approach; carefully evaluating the international labor laws and regulations of the plant prior to deciding whether or not to invest in it; and providing increased training and development to managers and workers of both the parent company and host company to ensure understanding of both sides’ cultural values and beliefs.
The discussion between promoters of best practice and best fit approaches has sparked widespread controversy in the human resource management (HRM) area. The topic has gained much scholarly attention because it not only addresses a theoretical controversy but also possesses a high degree of practical managerial significance. The essay has the aim to analyse best practice and best fit approaches in HRM of a multinational enterprise. The reader receives insight into Lincoln Electric's organization through a case-study analysis of practical HR approaches serving as a basis for developing practical managerial implications in the last part of the paper.
This internationally competitive industry and sustainable growing economy of India shows the bright future of FDI in India. India is estimated to require around US $ 1 trillion during the 12th Five-Year Plan period (2012–17), to fund infrastructure in sectors such as roads, airports and ports. The government is in the process of liberalizing FDI norms in construction activities and railways, which could attract more investments to meet the target.
Look towards frontiers out of India- Ashok Leyland recently said quite emphatically- “Leaving aside the large demand markets, which also have large manufacturers to support themselves, there are still 45% of developed markets left for our company to explore. This is especially when there is an estimated