What Is Your Calling? SEMCO’s Invitation to Participatory Management

Abstract

Imagine that you just sent your resume to Semco. You have been called for an interview. Once you arrive at the company, nobody is waiting to receive you. You start asking other people because there is no receptionist at the front desk either. Then you ask for the Human Resources Department, but there is no such thing at Semco. As a next step, you ask for Mrs Obrigada, the person who contacted you, and the answer you receive is even more wearisome: "She is here but I don’t know where. Since we restructured 5 years ago, these are Non-Territorial Offices ¹ and every day, no, even more often, we choose any free place to work." So what do you do? You start wandering around, without knowing that Management by Wandering Around (MWA)² is one of the management practices at Semco.