IMAGINE THIS KIND OF WORKPLACE...
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No fixed working hours
No fixed CEO
No HR department
No five year plan
No job descriptions or permanent positions
No dress code
No written rules or policy statement
Is this a recipe for chaos?
This is just what RICARDO SEMLER
is Famous for!
It might sound totally ridiculous,
but is has been proven to WORK!
WHO IS RICARDO SEMLER?
Selmer has grown a collection of companies
from real estate to inventory service to industrial
equipment and document management.
He focuses on less by what business they are in,
but how about they go about their business.
At 46 Semler is a leading proponent and tireless
evangelist of what has variously been called
participative management, corporate
democracy, and “the company as village.”
For nearly 25 years, Ricardo Semler, CEO of
Brazil-based Semco, has let his employees
set their own hours and wages.
THE RESULT- increased productivity,
long-term loyalty and phenomenal growth.
This website profiles Ricardo Semler and provides a good overview and
practical examples of his work.
http://www.cioinsight.com/c/a/Expert-Voices/Ricardo-Semler-Set-Them-Free/
Ricardo Semler is a true visionary who advises businesses on how they can
significantly improve performance by restructuring relationships with their
people.
His presentations invariably spark creative and productive thinking about how
to lead and manage.
Ricardo Semler is president of Semco S/A, based in Brazil, and the author of two
books: Maverick and The Seven-Day Weekend. Maverick has been published
in 16 languages and sold over one million copies. The phenomenal success of
the book demonstrates an eager interest in workable alternatives to
conventional management wisdom. Hundreds of executives from other
companies have visited Ricardo’s firm to study his success.
He has been profiled in more than 200 magazines and newspapers, including a
special edition of Time highlighting future world leaders. He was named one of
the "Global Leaders of Tomorrow" by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.
http://www.strategy-business.com/article/05408?pg=0
Article from which provides background information on Semler and details the history of
his method of business and his achievements.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=gJkOPxJCN1w
Interview with Ricardo Semler, Chairman of Brazilian Company Semco, a democratic
workplace. Aired on Australian ABC television 7:30 Report March 2007
Semler’s six principles that guide his
always experimental company:
1. Don't increase business size unnecessarily
2. Never stop being a start-up
3. Don't be a nanny to your workers
4. Let talent find its place
5. Make decisions quickly and openly
6. Partner promiscuously, you can't do it all yourself.
GLOBAL CASE STUDY
The MONDRAGON Corporation is a corporation and federation of worker
cooperatives based in the Basque region of Spain. Its foundations are based on
the early work of a young Catholic priest José María Arizmendiarrieta.
The MONDRAGON Co-operatives operate in accordance with a business
model based on ‘People and the Sovereignty of Labour’, which has made it
possible to develop highly participative companies rooted in solidarity, with a
strong social dimension but without neglecting business excellence. The Cooperatives are owned by their worker-members and power is based on the
principle of one person, one vote.
Scholars such as Richard D. Wolff, American professor of economics, have
hailed the Mondragon set of enterprises, including the good wages it provides
for employees, the empowerment of ordinary workers in decision making, and
the measure of equality for female workers, as a major success and have cited
it as a working model of an alternative to the capitalist mode of production.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mondrag%C3%B3n_Cooperative_Corporation
AUSTRALIAN CASE STUDIES
There are a number of organisations within Australia that have adopted
principles and structures.
Many credit unions and building societies have a genuine memberbased business model where the focus is less on profit and more on
providing better products for their customers (whilst also maintaining a
competitive presence in the financial services sector.
One organisation of note is Bendigo Bank. This former building society set
out to address what it perceived as a move by the larger banks to
withdraw their services from less populated areas.
Other Australian examples include not for profit employment agencies
and worker cooperatives.
Example provided on an employment related cooperative in NSW.
http://labourcooperative.com.au
CRITICISMS OF THE MODEL
Semler’s business practices appear to contradict those shown in approaches
taken with capitalism and many multi-national organisations.
Detractors of Semler’s employee-centric model have questioned whether
Semler’s business practices are simply another clever way of increasing
profits and that the employee first approach is not as transparent as it may
appear.
Participative management has inspired a fiercely dedicated following, and
many managers find it appealing and compelling in principle, but it is often
dismissed as utopian and naive in the real world of conventional workplaces.
Semler has joint ventures with multinational corporations, most of which are
publicly traded. These entities tend to practice a diluted version of the
democratic workplace.
The following article looks at cooperatives like ‘Mondragon’. Some of the follow-up comments
generate significant debate. Some readers liken the cooperatives to communism (but perhaps
neglect to mention the key difference is state-owned versus worker-owned enterprises).
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jun/24/alternative-capitalism-mondragon
SEMLER’S VIEW ON EDUCATION
Ricardo Semler believes education needs
to change with the times, and that his
innovative approach to business can in
fact work in changing education.
SEMLER SAYS;
“Children are born learning to learn”
“Where in our school system do we have a place for intuition?”
“What are children retaining?”
DOES HE HAVE A POINT?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pla
yer_embedded&v=yU32Q2vRfiA
IMPLICATIONS FOR EDUCATION
Ricardo Semler and the Mondragon models have set up their own schools
and universities that appear to based on educating in the form of making the
learners active versus being passive participants.
Educators have discussed the importance of hands-on learning and how it
impacts on providing a holistic education that creates a life-long learner.
The process of education is not about supplying students with lumps of
information to be regurgitated on demand.
It is about enabling students to learn how to learn.
It is also about giving them opportunities to hear what others have learnt
(knowledge) and to then discuss, argue, and reflect on this knowledge to
gain a greater understanding of its truth for them and of how this knowledge
will be of use to them.
“If we want our children to apprehend the variety of human experience
and learn how they can contribute to it, we must give them -- and their
teachers -- the opportunity to do so”.
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-Maurice Holt
http://www.bluegum.act.edu.au/links/Maurice_Holt_Slow_Schools.pdf
As an educator the impacts could be
summarised in the broader curriculum and
how it is delivered
This includes:
connection to knowledge, tradition, moral purpose and all
that is important in life
• In a sense ‘real- hands on’ learning
• Ecological literacy, enabling students to learn how to learn
• Leading a skilful life, doing no harm and having respect for
all living and non living things.
http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2007/s1864738.htm
Interview with Kerry O’Brien. Gives a good overview but also
mentions his unique schooling system and the process of
learning the active(doing) Vs passive (being told).
IN OUR SCHOOLS
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Discussions on different approaches to business and government.
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Research different occupations/local businesses and their
structures/practices.
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Discussion on ethical issues associated with business and government
practices. How realistic and workable is Semler’s model?
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Work experience programmes structured with an awareness of
employee and employer responsibilities.
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Students could look into some of the stated benefits of Semler’s model
and how this can be applied to their lives both now and in the future
(more efficient work practices and less time at work could lead to more
positive social interactions outside of work.
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Cooperative practices put into practice in the school (Student
Representative Councils / other student organisations.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
 Highlights Semler’s Sucess, message and credentials
http://www.leighbureau.com/speaker.asp?id=186
 Leading by Omission- Semco Story, Employee motivation and
revolutionary model
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ0FQR2gXe0
 Inspiring Lecture
http://37signals.com/svn/posts/649-inspiring-ricardo-semler-lecture-at-mit
 Videos
http://vimeo.com/14332684
A FINAL THOUGHT TO PONDER....
“It’s a free market as we can make it.
People bring their talents and we rely
on their self interest to use the
company to develop themselves in
any way they see fit”
Ricardo Semler