Share your general reaction to this case study. Do you think Basecamp’s approaches to work design and HRM are transferrable to other organizations, or do you think they’re unique to Basecamp? Explain your answer.

Basecamp, formally known as 37Signals, was founded in 1999 by Jason Fried, Carlos Segura, and Ernest Kim.

The company started as a website redesign firm. By 2003, its client list had grown and the founders started looking for collaboration software they could use to manage the projects on which they were working. They looked at the software that was available and nothing fit their needs. The existing project management software broadcast project schedules, included Gantt charts, and focused on numbers.

What they needed was a program that would allow them to talk to their clients, deliver work, get feedback, and keep everyone on the same page. So rather than compromising, they built their own project management software strictly for internal use. As they started using it with clients, clients started asking them where they could get it. A lightbulb went off, and they decided to offer their software for sale, naming it Basecamp.