Lincoln Electric Case Study Summary

An Analysis of Lincoln Electric Company’s Culture through Assessment of its Case Study

After thorough investigation of the Lincoln Electric Company’s (LEC) Harvard Case Study, certain understanding and reflections may be made about the company’s culture from a multi-faceted perspectives such as the visual aspects of culture and its maintenance dynamics as observed in the textbook’s Chapter 8.( Carpenter, Taylor, & Erdogan, 2009)

Continuing Influence of Founders at Lincoln Electric

It is easily evident from the case study that the diverse aspects of LEC’s operations --- from investors, employees, and customers to how the senior management conducts and approaches its business --- all reflect the philosophy, vision, and ideals of its founders:

The policies regarding its employees in aspects such as: annual incentive bonuses, stock option schemes (making employees the owners), medical and post retirement plans, the piecework pay system, the collaborative employee- supervisor relationship, the open door policy, the job security; these policy aspects regarding the personalized care of the employees may be considered to be one of the biggest competitive edge and core competency of LEC which has produced extremely committed workforce who would go to any achievable limits to fulfill the firm’s objectives. This was clearly evident from the employees’ interviews where they described how they go to extra mile within LEC and how other companies in the industry might not command the same dedication and commitment.

The principles guiding the policy of reducing the cost of procured inventory and its operational emphasis for minimized wastage reflects how LEC is a conscious establishment which does its best to reduce the burden of prices from its customers while at the same time being able to maintain the highest standards of quality

Lincoln, to move from his one-room factory from fourth floor to a three story building, held symbolic visionary meaning that LEC would be a strongly knitted, passionate, and well coordinated endeavor.

The absence of the warehouse at its main-plant’s premises at Cleveland and flow of materials directly from a half- mile dock represents LEC’s diligence and efficiency which further illustrates how the firm conducts its operations which vigorously minimizes its cost, to the optimum levels possible. It demonstrates the observer how it has been able to transfer the minimum costs, in the form of prices, to the firm’s customers.

The functional nature of administrative offices including the non-carpeted office of the President conveys a strong message of the utmost commitment of firm’s personnel, from the senior management to the machine worker, to the company’s visionary philosophy to operational excellence.

The “factories within a factory” (as cited in Sharplin, 1989 ) structural layout suggests that all the major components of the firm’s desired products are manufactured and built in the overall operational architecture of the firm from basic materials, strengthening its robust policy of guiding its precious processing