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Ricardo Semler

CEO and majority owner of Semco SA, a Brazilian company best known for its radical form of industrial democracy and corporate re-engineering.

Under his ownership, revenue has grown from US$4 million in 1982 to US$212 million in 2003 and his innovative business management policies have attracted widespread interest around the world. Time featured him among its Global 100 young leaders profile series published in 1994 while the World Economic Forum also nominated him. The Wall Street Journal America Economia, The Wall Street Journal's Latin American magazine, named him Latin American businessman of the year in 1990 and he was named Brazilian businessman of the year in 1990 and 1992. Virando a Própria Mesa ("Turning Your Own Table"), his first book, became the bestselling non-fiction book in the history of Brazil. He has since written two books in English on the transformation of Semco and workplace re-engineering: Maverick, an English version of "Turning Your Own Table" published in 1993 and an international bestseller, and The Seven Day Weekend in 2003.

(Profile information sourced from Wikipedia and other publicly available internet sources.)

Ricardo Semler on the web

Wikipedia: Ricardo Semler

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SEMCO

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SEMCO

Organization

Who We Are

Semco was created in the 1950s as a company manufacturing centrifuges for the vegetable oils industry. Over the years, the company has modernized by expanding its range and investing in other businesses, moving heavily into the services area always in association and partnership with world leaders.

After successfully developing several businesses in the environmental consultancy area, facilities management, real estate consultancy, inventory services and mobile maintenance services, Semco Group is currently market leader in the industrial equipment area and solutions for postal and document management.

In addition to these companies, Semco also manages a foundation which mentors and catalyses educational, cultural, environmental and strategic projects.

A company based on innovation, Semco does not follow the standards of other companies with a predefined hierarchy and excessive formality. At Semco, people work with substantial freedom, without formalities and with a lot of respect. Everybody is treated equally, from high-ranking executives to the lowest ranked employees. This means the work of each person is given its true importance and everybody is much happier at work.

Business Development

The traditional Semco Group model is to partner with foreign companies and jointly develop business in Brazil from start-up. When seeking new business, the Group looks for companies with the following characteristics:

Being one of the top two companies worldwide in their markets;
Has an important technological differential ("engineered" product or complex service);
Offers potential for fast development in Brazil;
Healthy financial situation;
Synergy with our businesses portfolio.

Why have Semco as a partner?
Semco offers its partner companies access to customers, risk monitoring, an extensive network of contacts, innovative management techniques, a brand recognized by the market and, above all, an incomparable track record of success.

What do we expect from our partners?
We seek partners who have a proven knowledge and domain of their products and services, constant investment in research and development, international references, a recognized brand and appetite for international growth.

From time to time we also analyze businesses with Brazilian domestic companies which are already established, when there is a chance for a future association with a strategic international player.

In the last two decades, Semco had a background of partnerships with the following foreign companies:

Hobart - from 1984 to 1995
Flakt - 1985 to 1992;
Environmental Resources Management - ERM (Ex-3i and currently Bridgepoint) - 1992 to 2006;
Cushman & Wakefield Inc. (Ex-Rockfeller Group and currently Grupo Ifil/Agnelli) - 1994 to 2007;
Johnson Controls (Traded on the NYSE) - 1995 to 2005;
RGIS Inventory Specialists (Ex-Impala Partners and now Blackstone Group) - 1998 to 2006;

Current partners include:

Philadelphia Mixers - since 1982;
Littleford Day - since 1982;
Pitney Bowes Inc. (Traded on the NYSE) - since 2005;
ISS (Goldman Sachs/EQT) - since 2007