It is a fundamental truth that
every organization like a living organism has a natural life cycle and that it
goes through predictable and repetitive patterns of behavior as it grows and
develops. At each new stage of development the organization faces a unique set
of challenges. How well or poorly management addresses these challenges and
lead a healthy transition from one stage to the next has a significant impact
on the success or failure of that organization.
Courtship
At this stage, the company is not
yet born. It exists as a gleam in the founder’s eye. The focus is necessarily
on dreams and possibilities. The primary goal of this stage is to build the
founder’s enthusiasm and commitment to his dream. The higher the risk the
deeper the commitment needed.
A pre establishment phase when
ideas and possibilities are discussed to start the venture.
Infancy
Infant organizations are
necessarily action oriented and opportunity driven. The focus instantly
chargers from ideas to actions. The time for talking is over. It is time to get
to work and produce results (sales and cash).
Action time when venture is
started. A few policy system, procedures or budgets. When companies start
business and cross pre establish phase.
Go and Go
A go and Go organization is a
company that has a successful product or services, rapidly growing sales and
strong cash flow. The company is not only surviving its flourishing. Key
customers are raving about the product and ordering more. Even the investors
are staring to get excited. With this success everyone quickly forgets about
the trials and tribulation of infancy.
The company is not surviving its
growing.
Adolescence
During the adolescent stage of the
organizational life cycle, the company is reborn. This critical transition is
much like the rebirth a teenager goes through to establish independence from
their parents. The phase demand delegation of authority professionalism and
setting of new goals. In Adolescence companies like merger, and Acquisition.
Prime
Prime is the optimal on the
lifecycle where the organization finally achieves a balance between control and
flexibility. Prime is actually not a single point on the lifecycle curve.
Instead it is best represented by a segment of the curve that includes both
growing and aging conditions.
Stable
The company is still strong but
it starts to loss flexibility. Companies that are in stable phase have started
to lose their vitality and are aging. Stable companies are often cash rich and
having strong financial statements.
In this phase, companies try to
safe their market share rather than try to increase their market share.
Aristocracy
Money is spent on control system.
Emphasis on how things are done rather than why it is done. In this stage
company focus become increasingly short term. For the most part its goals are
financially oriented and low risk. With less of a long term view, the climate
in an Aristocratic organization is relatively stable.
Early Bureaucracy
Companies in this stage focused
on who caused the problems, rather than on what to do about them. In this stage
the head offices distribute powers to subsidiaries
Bureaucracy
Although it should be dead the
company in Bureaucracy is kept alive by artificial life support. The company
was born in Infancy, it was born in Adolescence and its third birth is in
Bureaucracy when it gets an artificial continuation on its life. In
Bureaucratic model companies highly emphasize on distribution of power to their
subsidiaries and subsidiaries further distribute power to the departments.
Death
Death occurs when no one remains
committed to sustaining the organization. Monopolies and government agencies
that are quarantined from competitive pressure. Bureaucratic organizations may
survive for years ineffectively and inefficiently. Death occur when companies
start to lose their market share.
Reference
Adapted
from The Pursuit of Prime, by
Ichak Adizes. Copyright ©1996 by Ichak Adizes. Published by arrangement with Knowledge Exchange LLC
,U.S.A. All rights reserved.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment