Lincoln Electric Company Case Study Study Analysis

Culture is an observable, powerful force in any organization. “Made up of its members’ shared values, beliefs, symbols, and behaviors, culture guides individual decisions and actions at the unconscious level. As a result, it can have a potent effect on a company’s well-being and success” (One Page, n.d.).

Lincoln Electric Company has a very strong culture based on shared assumptions values and beliefs. This is evidenced by the attitudes of both the company management and employees towards the organization. The unchanged policies, practices and products point towards a very strong corporate culture. High employee performance and productivity over the many years of the company’s existence is also another indicator of a strong culture.

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

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.

Organization culture which is a system of shared assumptions,values,and beliefs showing people what appropriate and inappropriate behavior can best be analysed in the Lincoln Electric Company from the P-O-L-C Framework as below.

This report takes a look at the Fortune 1000 company Wells Fargo in respect to organizational culture. Every organization is impacted by the cultural environment within the organization as well as in a specific industry which can impact the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization.

This essay will explore a case study of Origin Energy to illustrate an organisation that has undergone a change. The organisational culture before and after the change will be described, management styles within the organisation will be analysed, the relationship between motivation and performance will also be explored and finally the change management strategies used by the organisation will be discussed as well. Each of these sections will be explored to support the hypothesis that culture is an integral part of an organisation. Before the individual sections are discussed however, the essay will look at the background of Origin Energy.

Established in 1895 and specialized in producing and selling electric motors, Lincoln Electric Company rapidly developed after the movement to welding equipment and consumable welding products in the USA. By 1995, this company first hit $1 billion in sales and became the world largest company in welding industry. With the differentiate strategy by providing premium -price -products , this company got 60% sales in the North American and expanded internationally since the period of 1986 and 1992. Although this company is facing problems in global expansions, its overall strategy as well as practices in human resources, marketing, technology development, and international expansions is a useful lesson for other businesses.

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

An organization’s culture is comprised of three fundamental layers: observable artifacts, espoused values, and basic assumptions. Observable artifacts consist of the physical manifestation of an organization’s culture. A few examples of these artifacts are acronyms, manner of dress, awards, stories about the organization, and published lists of values (K &K). A key observable artifact of Chrysler’s culture is the story of Peter Fong. When the U.S. Government was offering up to $4,500 in “cash for clunkers” rebates; Mr. Fong, Chrysler’s sales chief devised a plan to offer an additional $4,500 from Chrysler. Mr. Fong’s plan of doubling rebates to gain higher sales is the type of culture which led Chrysler to lower profit margins. This type of business strategy is exactly what Mr. Marchionne was trying to change. This story shows employees Mr. Marchionne’s commitment to changing the culture of the company. Another observable artifact is the weekly management team meetings that also included Fiat executives in Italy through video conference. Mr. Marchionne used these meeting to inform employees that their margins and vehicle

Lincoln Electric Company is a manufacturing company, which has been focusing on welding products for the recent 30 years. The company had outstanding brothers leading the company to success. John was a technical genius and he brought the best skills in production and James was good at management and he was working on the employees ' incentives. The company gained its reputation through the world war till present as the welding equipment supplier with higher quality and lower price at the same time. For the production aspect of welding equipment, it is an advanced production line with continuous flow with high flexibility and low idling time.

The culture that the executives wished to maintain is one of big ideas, large thinking, and a strong emphasis on creativity. It is one that opposes bureaucracy and rigidity without cause, and despises formality without passion. And it is one that strives to stay relevant, fresh,

3. Lincoln’s culture could not be imposed but must be nurtured. “Willis retained the existing managers of most of the acquired companies to take advantage of their local knowledge, but directed them to implement [underlined by author]Lincoln’s incentive and manufacturing systems [p 6].” While Willis appreciated the benefits of implementing Lincoln’s systems, he did not consider James Lincoln’s caveat that “All those involved must be satisfied that they are properly recognized or they will not cooperate – and

After analyzing the story of Lincoln Electric Company I’ve come to the Conclusion that their organizational culture they practicing is People-oriented culture. Because the company values fairness, supportiveness and they respect individual rights. There is a greater emphasis on expectation of treating people with respect and dignity.

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.