1. What types of control described in the chapter— feedforward, concurrent, or feedback—are illustrated in this case? Would you characterize Lincoln’s control approach as primarily bureaucratic or decentralized? Explain your answers.
2. Based on what you’ve just read, what do you think makes the Lincoln System so successful in the United States?
3. What is the problem with transporting Lincoln’s control systems to other national cultures? What suggestions would you make to Lincoln’s managers to make future international manufacturing plants more successful?
4. Should Lincoln borrow money and pay bonuses to avoid breaking trust with its U.S. workers? Why or why not?

Imagine having a management system that is so successful people refer to it with capital letters—the Lincoln Management System—and other businesses benchmark their own systems by it. That is the situation of Ohio-based Lincoln Electric. For a number of years, other companies have tried to figure out Lincoln Electric’s secret—how management coaxes maximum productivity and quality from its workers, even during difficult financial times. Lately, however, Lincoln Electric has been trying to solve a mystery of its own: Why is the company having such difficulty exporting a management system abroad that has worked so well at home?