Page 60 - (DK) The Business Book

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IN CONTEXT
WITHOUT CONTINUAL FOCUS
Business growth
GROWTH AND KEY DATES
1972 Larry Greiner outlines
five stages of business growth,
PROGRESS, SUCCESS and their related crises, in
“Evolution and Revolution
as Organizations Grow.”
HAS NO MEANING 1988 Macedonian business

expert Ichak Adizes writes
THE GREINER CURVE Corporate Lifecycles, in which
he describes the growth of
corporations as a series
of five “S” curves.
1994 Professor David Storey
claims that all forms of “stage”
models have limitations. He
suggests looking at growth
through categories of
companies instead: failures,
trundlers, and flyers.
1998 In a reprint of his 1972
article, Greiner updates his
theory and adds a sixth stage
to the Curve.

side from the financial
rewards that they offer to
A entrepreneurs, start-ups
can be exciting places to work.
Amid the chaos, continual change,
ever-evolving policies and
procedures, and the abundance of
work required, these environments
buzz with energy, initiative, and
ideas. But as business growth
places increasing pressure on
people and systems, excitement
can turn into frustration.
Periods of chaos often occur in
a start-up’s early life. As it matures,
the new business will pass through
various conceptual thresholds. In
1972 Larry Greiner identified these
as “crises of growth,” which he