This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Shamrock organization" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR(January 2022) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
The shamrock leaf shape is a symbolic representation of an organization with three types of workforce, having a main body and connected lobes that together form a whole.
The term was invented by Irish academic and management author/philosopher Charles Handy.[1] He believed that people were the most important resource within any organisation, unlike F.W. Taylor who believed in tall hierarchical structures where workers were closely supervised. Handy believed in meeting the needs of workers through job enrichment. He did not believe in jobs for life but contracts or short-term jobs were more appropriate. He suggested that non-essential work should be contracted to specialist people who could work more productively and efficiently. In his book The Age of Unreason he uses the shamrock design to demonstrate three types of people linked to the organisation with different expectations and managed and rewarded differently. This style is known as "The Shamrock Flourish".
Shamrock organizations have an organizational structure with three distinct parts. The first part, or leaf, represents the core staff of the organization. They are likely to be highly trained professionals who form the senior management. The second leaf consists of the contractual fringe and may include individuals who once worked for the organization but now supply services to it. These individuals operate within broad guidelines set down by the organization but have a high degree of flexibility and discretionary powers. The third leaf describes the consultancy (professional/high-tech). These workers are sufficiently close enough to the organization to feel a degree of commitment to it, ensuring they maintain a high standard of work.
Handy defines the shamrock organisation as a 'core of essential executives and workers supported by outside contractors and part-time help'. This structure permits the buying-in of services as needed, with consequent reductions in overhead costs.
The first leaf of the shamrock is the professional core. It consists of professionals, technicians and managers whose skills define the organisation's core competence. This core group defines what the company does and what business it is in. They are essential to the continuity and growth of the organisation. Their pay is tied to organisational performance and their relations will be more like those among the partners in a professional firm than those among superiors and subordinates in today's large corporation.
The next leaf is made up of self-employed professionals or technicians or smaller specialised organisations who are hired on contract, on a project-by-project basis. They are paid in fees for results rather than in salary for time. They frequently are remote workers. No benefits are paid by the core organisation, and the worker carries the risk of insecurity.
The third leaf comprises the contingent work force, whose employment derives from the external demand for the organisation's products. There is no career track for these people and they perform routine jobs. They are usually temporary and part-time workers who will experience short periods of employment and long periods of unemployment. They are paid by the hour or day or week for the time they work.
A fourth leaf of the shamrock may exist, consisting of consumers who do the work of the organisation. Examples are shoppers who bag their own groceries and purchasers of assemble-it-yourself furniture.
Outsourcing. Many companies, without going as far as the shamrock model, have made significant use of outsourcing for a range of services. Outsourcing can be used for peripheral activities such as catering and, less commonly, for mission-critical ones such as IT services. Successful outsourcing depends on three things:
(a) The ability to specify with precision what is to be supplied
(b) The ability to measure what is actually supplied and thus establish the degree of conformance with specification
(c) The ability to make adjustments elsewhere if specification is not achieved.
^Handy, Charles. 2002. The Age of Unreason. London. 2nd ed. Arrow
and 25 Related for: Shamrock organization information
The shamrock leaf shape is a symbolic representation of an organization with three types of workforce, having a main body and connected lobes that together...
A shamrock is a type of clover, used as a symbol of Ireland. Saint Patrick, one of Ireland's patron saints, is said to have used it as a metaphor for the...
Frank Shamrock (born Frank Alisio Juarez III; December 8, 1972) is an American former professional mixed martial artist. Shamrock was the first to hold...
locations. Stringer put Shamrock in charge of overseeing Bernard in obtaining disposable cell phones used by the organization. Stringer insisted that...
Howser (February 8, 1975 – August 18, 1998), known by his ring name Shane Shamrock, was an American professional wrestler best known for his time Maryland...
Ken Shamrock (born Kenneth Wayne Kilpatrick; February 11, 1964) is an American retired professional wrestler and mixed martial artist. He is best known...
Among the ideas he has advanced are the "portfolio career" and the "shamrockorganization" (in which professional core workers, freelance workers and part-time/temporary...
larger and heavier opponents. He was also known for his rivalry with Ken Shamrock, whom he beat in UFC 1 and then fought to a draw in the rematch for the...
The Shamrock Club of Wisconsin is the oldest and largest Irish American membership organization in the State of Wisconsin. It was founded on March 17...
the organization was the first of its kind and featured fighting with no closed fisted strikes to the face, and boasted early MMA names Frank Shamrock, Vernon...
International is JAL and the designator is Japan Air, but Aer Lingus is EIN and Shamrock. Thus, a Japan Airlines flight numbered 111 would be written as "JAL111"...
The Diamond Shamrock and Kwik Stop Boycott was a protest organized by the Nation of Islam against the Diamond Shamrock gas station in Dallas, Texas. The...
or organizations are Pancrase, Fighting Network RINGS, and Shooto, where many fighters still considered themselves to be shootfighters. Ken Shamrock is...
co-promoted (Dynamite!! USA, Strikeforce Shamrock vs. Baroni, and Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Le) with other MMA organizations. Two events were shown initially...
record of 17–0 before moving to mixed martial arts. He defeated Frank Shamrock to become the second Strikeforce Middleweight Champion before vacating...
pay-per-view draw of 2006 for his fights with Liddell, Forrest Griffin, and Ken Shamrock. Ortiz is the CEO of Punishment Athletics MMA equipment and clothing line...
and the United Kingdom. In 1993, Masakatsu Funaki, Minoru Suzuki, Ken Shamrock, Takaku Fuke, and others from the shoot-style Fujiwara Gumi wrestling promotion...
with Bellator MMA going on to defeat MMA icon and long time veteran Ken Shamrock. He died suddenly in 2016. Kimbo Slice was born Kevin Ferguson in Nassau...
continuously operating ballet company in North America. It was the first organization to be granted a royal title by Queen Elizabeth II and has included notable...
various terms, symbols, and images in order to identify itself, including shamrocks, swastikas, and other symbols. In order to join the Aryan Brotherhood...
Strikeforce, a mixed martial arts organization based in the United States. The first event, Strikeforce: Shamrock vs. Gracie, took place on March 10...
Heavyweight – Ken Shamrock beginning October 14, 1993 at Pancrase: Yes, We Are Hybrid Wrestlers 2 Light heavyweight – Frank Shamrock beginning December...
smartest and most skilled fighter in Pancrase next to Ken Shamrock". Not only the organization's co-founder and most popular fighter, Funaki was also one...
for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the...
persona in response to the September 11 attacks. He fought bouts with Ken Shamrock and Yoshihiro Takayama during his two years in Pride. He departed the promotion...