Page 76 - MS Year in Review 2020

Additional Factors of Relevance. In addition to the factors identified above and

confirmed by empirical research, through our actual experience in working with
organizations for more than 40 years, we have also identified to additional factors
of relevance to building a sustainably successful organization. These are

“leadership” and what we term “financial results management.”

“Leadership” refers to the process through which an organization’s senior

managers articulate, provide, and manage an enterprise’s overall vision, core
values (culture), organizational development, operations, and change
(adaptation). “Financial results management” refers to the planning and control of

financial results. We have actually conducted empirical research to assess the
impact of leadership on organizational development, which in turn, impacts financial
59
results.

DEVELOPMENTAL EMPHASIS AT DIFFERENT

STAGES OF GROWTH

The emphasis that should be given to each task differs depending on the size of the

firm. Organizations experience developmental problems if their infrastructure is not
consistent with their size. The coincident relationship with size and organizational

structure leads to an organizational life cycle model that complements the
60
Organizational Development Pyramid.
A detailed description of this model is beyond the scope of this article, but it is

examined in detail in Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle, Growing Pains: Building
61
Sustainably Successful Organizations. In brief, each stage of growth is viewed as

59 Flamholtz, E. (2011) “The Leadership Molecule Hypothesis: Implications for Entrepreneurial
Organizations,” International Review of Entrepreneurship. Volume 9, Issue no. 3, pp. 1-23;
Flamholtz, E Kannan-Narasimhan, R. (2013) “Examining the Leadership Molecule: An Empirical
Study of Key Leadership Roles in Rapidly Growing Entrepreneurial Businesses,” International Review
of Entrepreneurship. Volume11, Issue no. 2, pp. 1-22.
60 See Eric G. Flamholtz (1995). Managing Organizational Transitions: Implications for Corporate and
Human Resource Management. European Management Journal, 13 (1), 39-51
61 Eric G. Flamholtz and Yvonne Randle, Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful
organizations, Fifth Edition, Wiley, 2016, Chapters 3-4.

75
© Management Systems Consulting Corporation, 2020. All rights reserved