Page 68 - MS Year in Review 2020

PART I. FRAMEWORK FOR BUILDING

SUSTAINABLY SUCCESSFUL ORGANIZATIONS℠

The framework has been created over the past 40 years from a combination of
empirical research and experience using that framework. The framework itself has

three related parts including:

1) an “organizational effectiveness model,”

2) a “stages of growth model,” and
3) a “model of organizational dysfunction (‘growing pains’)” caused by
disequilibrium when the development of an organization’s infrastructure

does not match it stage of growth.

Each is described and examined below.

ORGANIZATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS MODEL

The theoretical framework underlying the “organizational effectiveness model” was

previously developed by Flamholtz (1995) and is reviewed briefly below. A more
40
extensive discussion can be found in Flamholtz (1995) or Flamholtz and Randle
(2016). By definition, this discussion is necessarily conceptual, though I have
41
minimized the extent of the theoretical discussion as much as possible.

The Foundation of a Business

All business or economic organizations are based upon a conceptual foundation,
which is either explicitly defined or implicitly understood. This is termed “the

business foundation.” The business foundation, in turn, consists of three related

40 Flamholtz, E. (1995). Managing Organizational Transitions: Implications for Corporate and Human
Resource Management. European Management Journal, 13(1), 39-51.
41 See Eric Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle, Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful
Organizations, Wiley 2016.

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