Introduction
From being a student in the business program I have found that the courses in the MSM program has material that identifies key theoretical concepts and tools of strategy as well as some of the key issues facing business managers and leaders in today’s competitive business world. Therefore, to learn new management and leadership skills as well as how to be an effective business leader, you need to practice. Studying and analyzing a case study allows us to engage in the practice of strategic management by putting ourselves in a decision maker’s position and forcing us to deal with real life business scenarios facing actual managers and leaders in the workplace. However, to be an effective manager or leader you have to have control. Daft (2012) said managers approach to control is changing in many of today’s organizations. Thus, the case study of Lincoln Electric will help me to understand and identify the type of control process approach is used, why it works well for the organization, as well as identify why the control process approach wasn’t successful overseas.
Problem
Upon evaluating Lincoln Electric is doing very well as an organization in the United States but not so much internationally. It is concluded that this organization uses the decentralized approach for control. Daft (2012) stated that decentralized control utilizes rules and procedures only when necessary. The decentralized control approach managers rely on shared goals and values to control employee behavior. Daft (2012) also explained that with decentralized control power is more isolated and based on knowledge and experience as much as position. Joseph (2008) elaborated that decentralization is a type of organizational structure in which daily o...
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...is little room for error which means the basic processes and more detailed operations are in place. The benefits to a decentralized control structure are more flexible and open to change. There is room for innovation and individual thought processes that could benefit the company as a whole or even one straightforward task. However, it is contingent upon taking socio-cultural differences into consideration when dealing with international organizations. For this reason, the most prosperous and successful business must be aware of changes in the cultures and societies in which it does business. As society and culture change, businesses must become accustomed to stay ahead of their competition. Therefore, to becoming an effective business leader, I must be able to analyze and evaluate all circumstances and situations that presents whether nationally or internationally.
The modern world has experienced tremendous changes, which have contributed to changes in people living in the global world. These changes have mainly been brought by globalization, which is a major phenomenon in the 21st Century. Leaders across various professions, businesses, and governments need to cope with globalization since it forces them to cross borders more often and communicate or conduct business with people from other cultures. This process involves developing necessary skills for working effectively in the modern complex world. Actually, the ability of these leaders to work effectively not only requires the development of essential skills but the application of leadership principles in the global work environment. In essence, leaders must develop their ability to apply leadership principles across culturally diverse workforce in today’s global work environment.
The Lincoln Electric Company is the largest manufacturer of welding machines and electrodes in the world. Since its inception in 1895 the company has been on a stable path of progress. First under the management of founder John C. Lincoln and since 1914 under James F. Lincoln, John's younger brother. One of James's early actions as the head of the company was to create a committee consisted of elected representatives by the employees of the company, that were to advise Mr James in the affairs of the firm. They were called the Advisory Board and this was one of the smartest decisions that James F. Lincoln made regarding personnel. This was one of their prerequisites to progress and success and this is what makes them unique to this day. James F. Lincoln died in 1965 and it is obvious some people thought that the famous Lincoln standards would no longer be upheld, that profits would decrease and their employee bonus-plan might cease to exist. Contrarily to what people thought, the company remained strong decades after its founding father died. Moreover, the firm has seen higher profits and bonuses every year after that. Lincoln market share which was 40 percent before, remained stable for years and years. The company's philosophy still continues to be
General Motors has made great progress towards diversity however, it took the lawsuit in order for the company to do so. Adding females and minority to the upper management. Had the HR department of General Motors followed the EEOC regulations, this lawsuit could have been avoided.
The United States located electronic company Electrocorp faced the problem of declining profitability due to rising production costs, specifically high wages, costly worker's safety and environmental standards. In order to solve this problem Electrocorp is deciding whether to relocate some of their plants to South Africa, Mexico, or the Philippines.
The Company observes the practice of decentralization where the responsibility and authority in all decision-making for the divisions’ operations lie in its respective division managers, except those relating to overall company policy.
1. How was Lincoln able to grow and prosper for so long in such a difficult commodity industry that forced out other giants such as General Electric, Westinghouse and BOC? What is the source of Lincoln’s outstanding and enduring success?
As we learn from the case study, the Lincoln Electric Company is the largest global manufacturer of machines for welding, which are used in all kinds of construction projects. This means that the company has a large global presence and many employees, so its culture affects thousands of its workers. Even though it is now 2014, the company still has a large market share and very satisfied employees, so clearly the culture leaves employees satisfied and motivates them to work hard for the company.
Organizational culture is imperative to the success of the organization. The strength and core values of the organization is supported by the organizational culture. This allows for organization to operate in a specific manner that is specific to that organization and can pave the path for success. Company founders are passionate about their vision and mission and they elude that passion into their employees. When that passion and mission is successfully implied to the employees the company strives in it 's path to success. Founders of companies are the continuing influence for the company to succeed. They pour the foundation of organizational culture so that the vision of their passion is directed in the right path. Organizational culture
Organizational structure can be defined as the “formal arrangement of jobs within an organization” (Robbins & Coulter, 2009, p. 185). Having a defined and unified structure helps employees work more efficiently. Jacques Kemp, former CEO of ING Insurance Asia/Pacific, realized this need early on in his role. The company had been performing well and recently acquired another insurance company to become “one of the largest life insurance companies in Asia-Pacific” (Schotter, 2006, p. 4). However, Kemp’s proactive personality led him to seek out ways to achieve more efficient coordination between the regional office and business units (Robbins & Coulter, 2009). Kemp noticed that “most business unit managers did not even know the current corporate standards” and he began searching for a way to manage the managers (Schotter, 2006, p. 5). ING Insurance Asia/Pacific’s organizational structure was mechanistic and fairly well structured, but for a company that had recently been involved in a major acquisition and was divided across 12 geographically dispersed markets there was a great need to tweak this structure to unify the company (Schotter, 2006). If I had been in Kemp’s position as CEO, I would have made modifications to the organizational chain of command, formalized business processes, and used technology to stimulate collaboration amongst the region to help this company overcome organizational design challenges.
To compete in a global economy, organizations of all types are focusing on improving productivity, quality, and service. In each of these areas it is important to tap the talents of the available human resources in these organizations. Effective leaders must understand and depend on the interrelationship among organizational structure such as power, authority, influence and leadership. In addition how it abides in organizations and how it move others to accomplish the organization goals.
The report highlight’s the essential aspects of the control process. In terms of concurrent feedback as well as feed forward, that companies can use to implement so that they can have better outcomes in terms of efficiency of the business. Consequently the report underlines as well as emphasizes of the many contributing factors of these controls. The authors have contrasting views on the control models of an organization, they believe that in order to create an effective control process, and organization first needs to determine its strategic plans for instance in terms of what it is and where is it going.
In this case study I will be discussing advantages and disadvantages of electric cars. Electric cars are cars that are powered by electricity. Electric vehicles are an important part of cutting emissions and reducing global warming. The battery of an electric car stores electrical energy. The electric motor is coupled to the wheels through gears; it converts 59-60% of electrical energy into the wheels. The battery runs the motor which allows the car to move. Electric cars are necessary as they will save money, because electricity is cheaper than gas. Also electric vehicles will help reduce global warming and pollution. However, some people say that electric cars still have environmental costs. The electricity used to recharge EV batteries has to come from somewhere in the world, and now, most electricity is generated by burning fossil fuels. Although electric vehicles are classified as green cars, purists will not appreciate the toxicity of the batteries.
Formed in 1895, The Lincoln Electric Company is a model of the Human Resource Management. James F. Lincoln the founder set out to organize the company. He had a strong believe that the customer came first, employees second, then the stockholders. Therefore, profits are to be last, it was preferable to give the customer the best product available at a reasonable price.
Leadership is one of the most important facets in organizations. In most cases, leaders act with respect to organizational culture as well as the codes of conduct that determine the manner in which leaders relate with subordinates. Leadership entails the use of effective communication skills to get activities done in the workplace and to ensure that employees shelve their individual interests for the sake of their organizations’ shared targets. It is the role of leaders to ensure that consumers attain high quality products and services by making certain that members of their firms’ workforce are fully motivated to work effectively and utilize resources in an efficient manner (Bass, 22). With the increasingly sophisticated nature of the corporate world, leadership should not be based solely on the desire to control and coordinate affairs within the workplace, but leaders should also exhibit positive examples and continually monitor the changing trends in corporate governance to initiate the most relevant guidelines. Competitiveness can only be attained when leaders are in a position to set the right standards in their firms and coordinate affairs appropriately by understanding consumer and employee needs.
In the twenty first century, leaders are required to build a greater impression in which people believe in strategy, trust in management decisions, and trust in their work. Once people believe in management choice, there will be enthusiasm inside an organisation. Such an environment helps the organisation growing or flourish. A doing well leaders create a surroundings in cooperation inside and outside the organisation. (Subir chowdbhury management, 21c financial times prentice hall (2000)