Semco

Diversified industrial and service conglomerate. Semco Partners is the successor to Semco Group, a centrifuge manufacturer founded in the 1950s by Antonio Curt Semler. In the 1980s Antonio’s son, Ricardo Semler, took over the firm, modernized management practices, and expanded the company’s range by moving heavily into the service sector, including environmental consultancy, facilities management, real estate brokerage, and inventory support.

  • C. Manufacturing
  • Brazil

  • > 500

  • Profit

Teal Practices

Board meetings often seem like mysterious occasions where big decisions affecting workers are taken in secret. At Semco, extra seats are available for the first two employees to show up. And they have full voting rights. Semco claims two benefits: first, it debunks some myths about boards (people learn these meetings are as boring as most others); second, it forces discussions to be pragmatic, sometimes by adding a fresh perspective.[1]

Notes and references

  1. Ricardo Semler addressing Zappos all hands meeting. May 2015. ↩︎