Maverick

This is an account of an extraordinary company "turnaround" achieved by the ultimate in participatory management. Ricardo Semler inherited his family company, Semco (manufacturer of marine pumps, industrial dishwashers, truck filters and mixing equipment), when he was aged 19. By 1980 it was on the brink of bankruptcy - but a decade later, during a period of savage recession in Brazil, it had been transformed into a rapidly growing company with profits of 10% on sales of $37 million. This was achieved by Ricardo Semler throwing out the rule book: getting rid of all manuals and written procedures. Workers make the decisions previously made by their bosses. Assembly-line workers can come and go as they please set their own schedules and production schedules. Every corporate decision is put to the vote. Some workers even set their own pay levels. This was all achieved by a series of 30 programmes designed to change the entire working environment. Ricardo Semler is Chief Executive Officer of Semco, a Brazilian manufacturing company.