RICARDO SEMLER: A REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF LEADERSHIP
NIKHIL MOHAN (1814095)
UNIVERSITY CANADA WEST
PROFESSOR DILJOT KAUR SOIN
ORGB 601
JULY 31 st
, 2019
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RICARDO SEMLER: A REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF LEADERSHIP 2
INTRODUCTION
Samco was founded by Antonio Semler who had come to Brazil after serving in WW2, Antonio used his knowledge in shipbuilding to manufacture turbines used in ships. Antonio Semler transferred majority shares to his son's name when Ricardo Semler was 21 years old, due to the differences in their thinking for the future of Samco as Ricardo believed in diversification and
Antonio believed in having a single product line. Ricardo took over as CEO and was considered to be very goal-oriented and self-driven. He fired 60% of Samco's top management staff on the first day itself, however, Samco had a very vibrant growth after Ricardo took over. Ricardo was so focused on the expansion of the business that he was not at all concerned about his health.
While a visit to a US-based factory, Ricardo fainted and was found to be due to a high level of stress. After which Ricardo focused on changing the work culture of Samco and his other businesses to be more employee-friendly and to bring a positive change on how employees perceive work.
Three major reforms that he introduced were:
1st Change: Abolished fixed shift timing
2nd Change: Dress Code
3rd Change: Changes in the car parking and workspaces
RESULT:
Were not accepted overnight workers union objected to abolition of home time security check- due to stealing of drilling machine.

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THE COMPANY THAT RUNS ITSELF
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A search committee was created from within the employees to
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Workers were given control of how the plant was set up & run.
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Employees suggested a system of a manufacturing cell.
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Each responsible for each batch that they produce.
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Need for quality control decreased.
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HR department reduced from 90 to 2.
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Worker led hiring system came.
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Job rotation was encouraged.
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Equal profit sharing to all employees.
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Subordinates played a key role in evaluating bosses.
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Employees rated their manager 2 times/year.
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Employees were let to set their own salaries.
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By 1989, Semco had one of the highest growth rated in Brazil.
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Won national award for labor relation.
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Sales rose from 4 Million to 35 Million.
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From 1 factory, 100 employees to 6 factories 830 employees.
LUMIAR SCHOOL
Lumiar school was an entirely different school as compared to traditional schools which are teacher-centric, whereas lumiar schools were student-centric. The running model of this school was derived from the successful reforms initiated by Ricardo in Semco.

RICARDO SEMLER: A REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF LEADERSHIP 4
Lumiar school was founded with little help from the Gates Foundation and Harvard Education.
Lumiar school made students the center of the learning experience rather than teachers, by bringing in the below-mentioned changes:
1.
Children were allowed to choose their own subjects.
2.
The focus was also on joint development.
3.
Vote collectively on their group creativities.
4.
The subjects were based on current interest if students.
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The teacher was divided into Tutor and Master where the tutor was responsible for creating a good environment for children to learn and the master would teach children out of their passion for the subject that they were teaching.
THE NEW SEMCO MODEL
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Focused on finding the right fit between the job and the person.
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Also introduced voluntary job rotation to make each and every employee know the processes and roles that are there in the organization, this would help them in job growth as well as self-satisfaction.
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Semco still follows the policy of letting employees hire and evaluate their bosses.
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It still has a non-territorial, open office space.
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Meetings were open to any employee of any position in the hierarchy.
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Everyone is allowed to attend budget meetings where target and quotas were decided.
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Participants at the meeting can come and go as they like.
Ricardo is still a strong believer in workplace democracy.

RICARDO SEMLER: A REVOLUTIONARY MODEL OF LEADERSHIP
REFERENCES
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William W. Maddux, Elin WilliamsRoderick SwaabTanure Betania. (n.d.). Ricardo Semler: A
Revolutionary Model of Leadership. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/product/ricardo-semler-arevolutionary-model-of-leadership/INS517-PDF-ENG