The Lincoln Electric Company 's Aspects Of The Company

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.

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.

The founder, James F. Lincoln used his Christian upbringing as the basis for his vision of how he defined entrepreneurial success. The customers ' needs are first priority, the employee second, and the stockholders are last. Quality and cost efficiency are the two most important factors considered in their product engineering and manufacturing. The hierarchy is stringent, however, the culture of the company is greatly people-oriented. This company has a strong culture that is instilled in new employees from the beginning and continuously practiced by every member of every facet in the organizational structure.

merit pay plan, the bonus plan, and the management style it is clear to see that the Lincoln

The Lincoln Electric Company is a welding company that has been around since the late 1800’s. Not only are they known for their prospering business, but they also are known for their management plan. A company’s culture has so much to do with their success, and The Lincoln Electric Company is definitely a business to look up to in that regard. They are a company that succeeds through their sturdy history, their incentive plan for their employees, their management style, and much more.

Mr. James C. Lincoln started the Lincoln Electric Company with an initial investment of two hundred dollars in 1895. (Company History , n.d.) (Sharplin, 1989) His goal was to design and sell an industrial motor. Mr. John C. Lincoln decided to hire his younger brother Mr. James F. Lincoln in 1907, handing all management capabilities over to him in 1914.

The Lincoln Electric Company Since 1895, located in Cleveland, Ohio, the Lincoln Electric Company “ the world’s largest manufacture of welding machines and electrodes” was able to create the ideal organization throughout several aspects of the company’s culture. Its founders, first John C Lincoln and James Lincoln, who later joined the company as the General Manager, had one duty to get done; to ask his employees to elect a committee that would give him advice in regards to the company’s operations. Since then, an organization structure was performed. Lincoln Electric Company separated itself from the competitors for its innovative policies.

In 1989, Arthur Sharplin produced a case study, Sharplin (1989), outlining the organizational structure and culture of the Lincoln Electric Company. This report will be focused on analyzing Sharplin’s case study to discern aspects of the Lincoln Electric Company’s culture. First, we will discuss John & James Lincoln and their influence on the development of the culture of the company. We will discuss their Christian influence, and how applying the golden rule of doing to others as you would have them do to you, helped them shape their company. Additionally, we will discuss the company performance appraisal system, the way people communicate in the company, the merit pay plan, the bonus plan, and finally, the management style. After

In conclusion, Schein (1992) defines the organizational culture as shared assumptions and beliefs about the world and their place in it, the nature of time and space, human nature, and human relationships. Organizational culture have distinct dimensions that can be defined and measured. This is important to know in order to develop and use change strategies of the culture.

brother join the company and subsequently became general manager and vice president in 1914. One of James early actions was to have a committee that would advise him on company operations. Employees was asked to elect representatives to the committee. They met twice monthly with the executive officer ever since. A welding school was formed in 1917 and still continues today. In 1918 an employee bonus plan was initiated then discontinued. It returned later on however. In 1934 the bonus plan was purposed by the advisory board, their has been a bonus every year since then. In 1919 the Lincoln Electric Employees Association was formed providing health benefits and social activities. This has continued today with added functions. The board of directors started a suggestion system that is still in effect today. At least since 1935 Lincoln productivity has been well above the average productivity vs. similar companies.

Founded in 1895 by John C. Lincoln, the Lincoln Electric Company is a high-quality manufacturer of welding machines and welding equipment based out of Cleveland, Ohio. Lincoln Electric was founded upon a strong foundation of competitive logic, using many levels of synergy in its manufacturing process to create the highest quality welding equipment and the lowest costs. Through the company’s unique management system and vertical integration strategies, they have created and maintained a strong competitive advantage in the welding industry. Lincoln has outlasted and defeated multinational competitors to become the world’s leader in welding technology and equipment.

How this culture came to be in the Lincoln Company begins with the founder’s values and principles. When James Lincoln

In the Harvard case study from 1985, Arthur Sharplin gives us a great overview about the history and governance of the Lincoln Electric Company. The company was founded by John C. Lincoln at the beginning of the 20th century and he was later joined by his brother James F. Lincoln (Sharplin, 1985, p. 1). We can already see that John C. Lincoln had a strong desire for his company to succeed because he continually looked at how he could improve the company. This is shown in his opinion that worker input is important (Sharplin, 1985, p. 2). In the book, Principles of Management, Carpenter, Taylor, Erdogan (2009, p. 187 – 189), introduce us to a variety of profiles of Organizational cultures. The first impression from reading the early history of the company from the Harvard Study could be that the Lincoln Electric Company is an “aggressive” company, however, a person would err in their conclusion. The Company actually is “outcome” oriented. What does that mean? It means that a company, in this case the Lincoln Electric Company, has a culture that is geared towards accomplishing goals (Carpenter, Taylor, Erdogan, 2009. p. 188), this is due to the people that first ran the company John and James Lincoln.

The idea of "organizational culture" refers to the personality of an organization, and the personality is build up by a group of people with differences. Each individual of the organization plays a uniqueness role. Organizational culture is defined as an assembly of traditions, values, procedures, conceptions and postures with engenders the context of activities in the organization (Schein, 2012). Organization culture is likewise significant part of management as it is the hinge which decides the function of the organization.

Soon his younger brother came on board as the Vice President and General Manager. John was an engineer and inventor by heart so he eventually backed away from his company and handed over the reigns to his younger brother James. James initially came into the company in 1907 after leaving school due to Typhoid Fever. During the beginning of his stay he elected an advisory board for the employees voices to be heard. This board met with the Chief Executive Officer twice a month, and the tradition has stayed since.