F. Kenneth Iverson

F Kenneth Iverson (September 18 1925 – April 14 2002) is credited with transforming Nucor Steel from a nearly bankrupt company in the 1960s into the largest and most successful steelmaker in the United States. Trained as a metallurgist, he became a very successful leader and businessman. His management philosophy has been used as a model for other companies around the world.

Management Philosophy

Iverson vigorously advocated a lean management staff, decentralized decision-making structure, and egalitarian work environment. At Nucor, he brought the number of levels of management down to 4 - a janitor was literally four promotions away from the CEO's job. Furthermore, he located the corporate headquarters far away from any production facilities and gave each mill great leeway in its own marketing and production decisions. Under his leadership, Nucor did away with executive perks such as reserved parking spaces and special health benefits, and Iverson is known to have personally answered his own phone whenever he was in the corporate office- where a staff of 22 was sufficient for managing the entire multibillion dollar corporation.

Iverson wrote a book about his business philosophy "" (Iverson with Varian, 1997). He graduated from Cornell University in 1946.

References

* [http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/dick.rumelt/Docs/Cases/KIversonX.pdf UCLA School of Business Management Profile]
* [http://www.anbhf.org/laureates/keniversen.htm American National Business Hall of Fame]