The Strategy Of Lincoln Electric

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.

The founders of the Lincoln Electric Company left a legacy of an organization culture that promotes high productivity through sound management policies which have stood the test of time. The exponential growth of the company after the death of James F. Lincoln was a direct result of the establishment of a rich culture mix based on values that were widely shared and accepted by the members of the organization. Management empowered employees to become part of the decision making process through the contribution of ideas through the Advisory Board which was elected by the employees from amongst themselves. Reward management systems and all the other artifacts of the Lincoln Electric’s distinguished strong organizational culture will be analyzed in greater detail in this essay.

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.

Lincoln comment that labor and management are properly not warring camps;they are parts of one organization in which they must and should coorperate fully and happily has made an easy effort to organize employees in the organization.

Primary features of the Lincoln Electric business model and employment system are displayed through the company’s overall strategy, philosophy, compensations and benefits policy, leadership, and communication within and outside the organization.

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.

In conclusion, this incentive system was crucial for Lincoln Electric Company’s success. However, it is difficult for the others to copy because it is based on the culture of competition and justice, which was set up in the very beginning. In the future, the effects of this system might be comparatively lower because machines, which don’t have incentive, are replacing workers in production. However, it still has advantage as there are people in the company, and their innovation in production line design will also benefit the company for long.

The written assignment of this week is going to focus on a very well known and well organized company. The Lincoln Electronic Company is the world largest manufacturer welding machine and electrodes. Since it has been created by the Lincoln family, the company has known enormous success, in this essay I going to look at some critical elements contributed that company’s success; such as:  The continuing influence of the founders of the company.  The incentive management plan.  The performance appraisal system.  The way people communicate in the company.

The Lincoln Electric was founded in 1895, and is the world leader in the design,

Lincoln's competitive advantage lies mainly in its effective compensation and benefits system which put forth three main elements to spearhead the company's efforts. The trinity of elements comprised of piecework, bonus system and guaranteed employment. Piecework provided workers with a sense of autonomy in that now, workers can earn as much as they are willing to work for. The bonus levels in Lincoln far exceeded those of industry peers and were based on their contributions in the form of output, ideas, cooperation, dependability and quality. Consequently, the benefits provided by Lincoln were not extensive as they saw higher wages as substitutes for things such as insurance,

Elements of Lincoln Electric’s management system that made it so popular in the U.S. such as piece-rate work, bonuses, and

In Lincoln Electric, communication steps between the CEO and production workers are set-up very simple as it only has two to three steps in maximum. Flexibility of organisational operation would be maximised through the horizontal organisation structure. Good communication between the upper and lower sides also has been subserved. Consequentially this simple and flexible organisational structure helps the employees to solve the issues occur in the workplace subjectively with authority. This kind of organisational structure was possible since the CEO and the management of the company understands the importance of employees and believes in employee’s participation in trouble shooting process. It was also possible since the employees themselves too were willing to accept such an organisational

The Lincoln Electric Company is the largest manufacturer of welding equipment in the world. John C. Lincoln founded the company in 1895 and incorporated it in 1906 where he moved it “from his one-room, fourth-floor factory to a new three-story building he erected in East Cleveland.” (Sharplin, 1989, A Historical Sketch pp. 1.). In 1907 John’s younger brother joined the company and in 1914 became the general manager and vice-president. It is here where the company began to define its culture with James instituting an employee elected advisory board who would be tasked with keeping James apprised on the operation of the company. This committee was also to be the voice of the employees to the executive team, a practice that is still performed today with twice-monthly meetings. The incentive programs set forth in these early years have laid the groundwork for sustaining high production levels while engaging employees in the feeling of pride and ownership of their and the company’s success. Many of the original incentive programs have changed little over the years and they continue to influence Lincoln Electric today.

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.