Lincoln Electric

Discussion Questions:

1. Put yourself in CEO John Stropki's shoes. Should Lincoln Electric expand into India by

investing in a major production facility there?

Putting myself in the CEO’s shoes, I believe that its of importance to consider having some

expansion to India since this is the only way this the company will be able to pursue all the long-

term goals that it has. In addition to this, its important for this company to ensure that its free

from depending mainly on North American sales as this could be slowing their growth which

would however perform better in markets that are growing in a more significant faster rate.

There are some few things which I would do as the CEO which would be ensuring that the

company gets double growth rate in terms of the global production. The company is already in a

position where it’s performing well in the Chinese market and this means that venturing into the

Indian one would bring about better positive results. The main thins which will drive this is that

India has such a promising market which makes it one of the fastest growing in the entire world

and this is something worth taking advantage of. Having the production facility here would then

mean that distribution of products could also go to more countries around the world as this would

make it a more central hub of carrying out business (Siegel, 2023).

2. If you were to expand into India, would you enter through acquisition, greenfield site, or some

type of joint venture? Which factors would inform your decision among these entry mode

choices?

My main point of entry would be through a joint venture.

The main reason why I would choose this method is because at some point the CEO Donald

Hastings made an announcement that the company would learn from past experiences and rely

more on this method as it posses less risk and could bring about more profitability and growth in

business. This will also reduce duplicative kind of production and competition which is found

between one another.

3. In which countries is Lincoln Electric likely to be most successful or least successful?

India is the country in which the company is most likely going to be successful. The main

reasons being that India’s market was the 3rd largest in Asia, its industrial growth is also higher

than the growth rate in the company as they mainly focus on construction as well as

infrastructure projects (Siegel, 2023).

4. When Lincoln Electric goes to India and other countries, what factors should determine how

much it adapts its core incentive pay-for- performance management practices to local labor

market norms?

There are some important factors that should be considered by this company the moment that

they go to other countries with India being one of them. Adaptation in a new land is something

which basically involves a number of things such as labor laws. This is the main point of concern

before anything else because one has to adjust and understand clearly how labor laws are defined

in different countries since labor makes a larger part of any business venture.

It is hence very important for Lincoln electric to make modifications to some of the main

management techniques where they will be able to easily match with those of the local market
standards so as to make sure that there is compliance with the law and rules in the country that

they intend to move to. In addition to this, putting into consideration more factors such as

cultural aspects could also make a lot of impact since every nation has its own set cultures and

norms which are clearly different from others.

When in Rome do as the romans do is a phrase that mainly tries to put across the point that

anything which is done in a foreign place will only be done by those who pay a visit and leave it

there. Its more of do what we do when you are here but once you leave, leave it behind and get

back to the normal state you were in. when looking at this matter in the case of these business,

Lincoln electric should make some constant aim of repeating their success methods that they use

in their main plant.

I believe that it would be a bit hard for the company to make use of the strategies that it applies

while back at home. This is due to the factors mentioned above which could change and it means

that the company should make use of strategies which will be aligned to the new location. Legal

regulations could be a huge challenge which would most definitely involve some change in

strategy to ensure that you are operating under the law and carrying out business which can be

considered legal and right to carry out. A good example is the pay for performance strategy

which they use at home could also be adjusted and make it align with new location requirements

(Siegel, 2023). This will be a move that will not only make the company successful but will also

put them in a better position to understand their target customers and also open even bigger

channels for expansion in the business.

 References

Siegel, J. (2023). Lincoln electric.