Lincoln Electic company Case studies

Essay by alao_jummyUniversity, Bachelor'sA+, May 2008

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Company History and ProfileLincoln Electric Company was founded in 1895 and today is the world leader in the design, development and manufacture of arc welding products, robotic welding systems, plasma and oxyfuel cutting equipment. Headquartered in Cleveland, the Company has manufacturing operations, joint ventures and alliances in 19 countries and a worldwide network of distributors and sales offices covering more than 160 countries. Lincoln has a global work force of more than 7,000.

StrengthsThe Lincoln Electric Company is considered a leader and an innovator in its industry due to its dedicated and talented workforce, superior technology, worldwide manufacturing capability, commitment to quality, strong distribution and customer service, and an incentive performance system. (Gerdel, 1983). Lincoln's commitment to providing the most innovative, cost-effective, quality welding and cutting solutions is one that has guided Lincoln for more than 100 years. This Coupled with its technological leadership and worldwide manufacturing and distribution resources enables Lincoln to provide competent and reliable solutions for each of Lincoln's customers.

Lincoln's gains reflect the dedication and drive of its highly skilled and productive global workforce. Lincoln employees have high levels of productivity and morale and are the highest paid of any rust-belt employees in the world. (Levering, Robert, and Moskowitz, 1993).

According to Posner (1988), security of employment signals a long-standing commitment by the organization to its workforce. Norms of reciprocity tend to guarantee that this commitment is rapid. This commitment was met even in the face of temporarily slow demand, and, many observers believe that, as a result, trust between employees and the organization increased substantially.

The incentive management system has been in place at Lincoln since the early twentieth century. It has resulted in one of the oldest "pay for performance" systems in the country, frequently used for benchmarking by other businesses and studied...