Ricardo Semler & Semco: the Self-Managed Entreprise
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
The Good: SEMCO
International Management – MSc
Organization
A.Y. 2009 – 2010
Ettore Penazzato
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SEMCO in brief 3
2. Reorganization of the company: context, actions & impacts 4
2.1 Changing the organizational structure 5
2.2 Profit-sharing program 7
2.3 Participatory decision-making 7
3. Evaluation based on the course material 7
3.1 HRM Practices 7
3.2 Empowerment of the employees 8
3.3 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation solved by profit-sharing program 8
3.4 Self-determined Salaries: Equity theory 10
4. Considerations based on 7 S model 12
5. Conclusions & Recommendations 13
6. Bibliography 14
7. Appendix 15
SEMCO in brief
SEMCO Group, originally founded in 1953 in Brazil by an Austrian engineer by the name of Antonio Curt Semler, went into business producing centrifuges for the vegetable oil industry. In the 60’s the company changed course to find success in producing components for the naval industry of Brazil, and over the next 20 years the company, still under control by Antonio Semler, enjoyed outfitting nearly 70% of Brazil’s naval fleet. However, it would not be until the early 80’s when the founder’s son, Ricardo Frank Semler, took the reigns of his father’s company and would forever change the way the world looked at an organization, putting SEMCO on the map. (Corporate Website)
During the start of the 80’s the company began to take shape and set the foundation for years to come. It started with the idea of having differentiated businesses within the company; therefore he started a campaign to acquire manufacturing licenses from companies such as Philadelphia Mixer and Littleford Day. In 1982 SEMCO officially began producing mixers for such industries as: mining, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food. This however was just the beginning and throughout the rest of the 80’s SEMCO continued acquiring other businesses until
The Good: SEMCO
International Management – MSc
Organization
A.Y. 2009 – 2010
Ettore Penazzato
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. SEMCO in brief 3
2. Reorganization of the company: context, actions & impacts 4
2.1 Changing the organizational structure 5
2.2 Profit-sharing program 7
2.3 Participatory decision-making 7
3. Evaluation based on the course material 7
3.1 HRM Practices 7
3.2 Empowerment of the employees 8
3.3 Intrinsic and extrinsic motivation solved by profit-sharing program 8
3.4 Self-determined Salaries: Equity theory 10
4. Considerations based on 7 S model 12
5. Conclusions & Recommendations 13
6. Bibliography 14
7. Appendix 15
SEMCO in brief
SEMCO Group, originally founded in 1953 in Brazil by an Austrian engineer by the name of Antonio Curt Semler, went into business producing centrifuges for the vegetable oil industry. In the 60’s the company changed course to find success in producing components for the naval industry of Brazil, and over the next 20 years the company, still under control by Antonio Semler, enjoyed outfitting nearly 70% of Brazil’s naval fleet. However, it would not be until the early 80’s when the founder’s son, Ricardo Frank Semler, took the reigns of his father’s company and would forever change the way the world looked at an organization, putting SEMCO on the map. (Corporate Website)
During the start of the 80’s the company began to take shape and set the foundation for years to come. It started with the idea of having differentiated businesses within the company; therefore he started a campaign to acquire manufacturing licenses from companies such as Philadelphia Mixer and Littleford Day. In 1982 SEMCO officially began producing mixers for such industries as: mining, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food. This however was just the beginning and throughout the rest of the 80’s SEMCO continued acquiring other businesses until
Bibliography: Caulkin S., 2003, “Who 's in charge here? No one”, The Observer, Sunday 27 April. http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/apr/27/theobserver.observerbusiness7 Corporate website http://www.SEMCO.com.br/en/default.asp Galbraith, J. R. 1982, “Designing the Innovating Organization”, Organizational Dynamics, Vol. 10(3), 5-25. Hayton, J. 2009, Evaluating Organizational Design, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano. Hayton, J. 2009, Compensation, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano. Hayton, J. 2009, The relational perspective, Managing people and organization, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano. Kohn, A., 1993, “Why Incentive Plans cannot work”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 26(1), 77-79. Rousseau, D. M. 2004, “Psychological Contracts in the Workplace: Understanding the Ties That Motivate”, Academy of Management Executive, Vol. 18(1), 120-127. Rousseu, D. M., 1995. Violation and modification of the psychological contract, Psychological contracts in Organizations Semler, R Semler, R. 1994, “Why My Former Employees Still Work for Me”, Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72 No.1, pp.64-71. Semler, R. 1995, Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World 's Most Unusual Workplace, Warner Books, New York, NY. Semler, R. 2004, The Seven-Day Weekend: Changing the Way Work Works, Portfolio Books, New York, NY. Appendix 1 |Practices from the article |Company’s actions (Semler, 1989; Maresco, York) | 2 Hayton, J. 2009, Compensation, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano, December 11th. 3 Hayton, J. 2009, Compensation, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano, December 11th. 4 Hayton, J. 2009 Evaluating Organizational Design, Organization, Università Commerciale Luigi Bocconi, Milano, October 16 th.