Ricardo Semler, president of Semco S/A, the Brazilian marine and food-processing machinery manufacturer, is internationally famous for creating the world's most unusual workplace. Semler's management philosophy of empowering employees and looking at corporate structures in new ways, is a serious challenge to the ingrained model of the corporate pyramid. At Semco, workers choose their bosses. Financial information is shared with everyone. Thirty percent of his employees determine their own salaries. And self-managed teams replace hierarchy and procedure. Semler gives you an understanding of his unorthodox management practices that help you:

• Generate success through unconventional wisdom
• Motivate employees by involving them
• Run your company in a more humane, enthusiastic and enlightened way

Semler has been profiled in more than 200 magazines and newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and Fortune. He was also profiled in Time's special edition, Time 100, which is published every 20 years to highlight leaders of the globe. He was also named one of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow by the World Economic Forum in Switzerland.

He has appeared on television and radio on four continents and has lectured to audiences around the world. He also consults with major companies, including some of the largest car companies, cable channels and telecom firms. CIO magazine, using an elite jury that included Tom Peters, Jim Champy and Michael Hammer, selected Semco as the only Latin American company among the most successfully re-engineered companies in the world. The BBC included Semco in its 'Re-engineering The Business', a series focusing on the world's five most successful management structures.

Semler was named Brazil's 'Business Leader of the Year' in both 1992 and 1990, the same year America Economia (The Wall Street Journals Spanish language magazine) named him Latin American Businessman of the Year. A Harvard Business School alumini, Semler speaks fluent English. He is vice president of the Federation of Industries of Brazil and a board member of the SOS Atlantic Forest, Brazil's foremost environmental defence organisation.

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