What Is Lincoln Electric Vision Statement

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.

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 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

Lincoln electric’s approach to management contributes to its employee’s high motivational rate. According to (Draft, 2010), Lincoln electric motivates it’s staff with “strict performance goals to achieve pay, precisely defined task and a powerful incentive control program which is based on a piece-rate bases and merit-pay which is based on performance”(p.562). Other motivating factors are annual bonuses and stock purchase plans which all employees are offered (Draft, 2010). Another contribution to its success is their organizational culture which is “based on openness, trust, shared control and an egalitarian spirit” (p. 562-563).

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.

“We will distinguish ourselves through an unwavering commitment to our employees and a relentless drive to maximize shareholder value”; as found within Lincoln Electrics’ Vision Statement (Lincoln Electric 1999-2016). The beliefs and values transferred from company founders and instilled into employees can have an overwhelming impact on corporate culture. By establishing a positive corporate culture one can influence exceptional company performance. This is clearly demonstrated by Lincoln Electric Company, from its early days until its present day. I will present how the Lincoln Electric Company has done just that!

The idea that stuck out the most about the Lincoln Electric Company is that they obviously have a strong culture that all levels of employees are proud to be a part of. According to Carpenter, Taylor, and Erdogan (2010), “culture is a more powerful way of controlling and managing employee behaviors than organizational rules and regulations” (pg. 193, para. 2). The Lincoln Electric Company encompasses facets of multiple types of cultures instead of adhering to only one.

As stated in the assignment profile, Lincoln Electric is considered one of the best managed companies in the world. I believe this to be partially attributed to their hiring process. Lincoln Electric has strict requirements to weed through unqualified candidates who will not buy in to the company culture of excellence. This is an especially important aspect of their hiring process particularly due to the fact of leadership – a trait that plays a vital role in implementing and sustaining a company’s culture.

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 Lincoln Electric Company 's culture is a wonderful example of how to create an exceptional culture within your business. Lincoln Electric has been a leading manufacturer in welding machines and electrodes for over 100 years. During this impressive tenure, the Lincoln Electric Company has adhered to its founders’ philosophy that the customer always comes first, the employee always comes second, and stockholders come third. This philosophy is upheld throughout the entire organization, from the executive team down to its factory line workers and is evident in their daily business culture. Displayed through a plethora of initiatives; including employee compensations, a concentration on productivity, encouragement of management and supervisors to participate in active leadership and a general appreciation for its employees ' input and feedback; the working culture in this organization is the backbone of the company’s continued achievements. Through the demonstration of their philosophy, Lincoln 's founders and management team have created a culture that has become a timeless model of employee productivity for the world.

The Lincoln Electric Company has been built on clear and solid ethical principles. The reason for its centenarian success can be found in the fact that the ethic culture of respect and customer orientation fostered by its founder has remained unchanged. James F. Lincoln had a strong Christian background that guided his culture and vision. As he wrote, “The Christian ethic should control our acts. If it did control our acts, the savings in cost of distribution would be tremendous. Advertising would be a contact of the expert consultant with the customer, in order to give the customer the best product available when all of the customer 's needs are considered. Competition then would be in improving the quality of products and increasing efficiency in producing and distributing them; not in deception, as is now too customary. Pricing would reflect efficiency of production; it would not be selling a dodge that the customer may well be sorry he accepted. It would be proper for all concerned and rewarding for the ability used in producing the product” (Lincoln J. F., 1961. p. 64). The culture of the Lincoln’s brothers was centered on satisfying the customer’s needs. Their efforts were not devoted to increasing profits rather to a constant search for cheaper and more effective products that would improve customer’s satisfaction. For the Lincolns customers represented the reason for the company’s existence. He made sure that this philosophy permeated the company until the very last

Lincoln Electric was founded by John C. Lincoln, an engineer and inventor, and was then managed later by his brother, James F. Lincoln, starting in 1907. James applied his christian principles to business management and how the company would be run as a whole. The core of these business practices revolved around honesty and service to the customer and employee. The assumption that he had about his employees was that they required a steady income just as much as the business did, and that the employee and manager should work as a team to be most effective. The employee does not wish to support shoddy work, just as management does not want to pay for shoddy work, and that customers want the best possible value. This translated into the mindset that customer satisfaction is the top priority, employee satisfaction is the second priority, and that stockholders are the third priority.

Aside from it, this essay will enumerate the golden rules of the company, which I believe the core of its success. This will base on the Case Study of Arthur Sharplin from Harvard University in 1989. In the concluding part, I will describe based on what I learned from this case study about the kind of management style does Lincoln Electric Company

Chapter eight in our text talks about how “culture, or shared values within the organization, may be related to increased performance” (Carpenter, M., Taylor, B., Erdogan, B. (2009). Principles of Management. Nyack, NY: Flat World Knowledge, pdf page 192) and how those cultures can make or break a company. It is these shared values from those who lead that allow their employees to know acceptable and unacceptable behavior. There is also mention of how a leader’s style can motivate and inspire employees, or it can make employment uninventive, humdrum and cause the employee to be unimpressed and bored. The text also tells us how business culture is invisible, but it is extremely powerful. It sounds to me that James Lincoln, younger brother of John Lincoln who was the founder of Lincoln Electric Company, had the right culture for their business. Right from the start James Lincoln was determined to improve his older brothers small company and help it grow.