different types of companies in many different places in the world has led us to write this book to help present and potential entrepreneurs and CEOs of established companies (as well as their employees, advisers, bankers, and venture capitalists) understand the pitfalls typically faced by organizations at different stages of growth and to explain how to become sustainably successful over the long term. It is also intended to help governmental policymakers understand the causes of the premature demise of entrepreneurial companies that are so vital to our economy. Although this book will not solve all the problems faced by companies, our experience (as well as the positive feedback we received about the previous editions) indicates that if the ideas and methods described in this book are applied, organizations will have a significantly improved likelihood of sustainable success.
While earlier editions of this book focused almost exclusively on the transition from what we have termed an “entrepreneurship to an entrepreneurially oriented, professionally managed business” (organizations from start-up to approximately $100 million in annual revenues), this edition focuses on all stages of growth. We have also included new ideas and concepts (which we have developed over the past few years) as well as new examples and cases of companies – not just in the United States, but also in several other countries around the world. Stated differently, the strategic intent is to refresh the book and make it even more relevant to organizations through their entire life cycle from inception to decline and revitalization.
Intended Audience
This book is addressed to anyone interested in organizational success and failure. This includes the owners, managers, and employees of companies ranging from start-ups to global leaders to those in need of revitalization. The concepts, frameworks, and tools described in this book will also be of interest to investors, bankers, and venture capitalists, and to students and management scholars who are interested in answering the fundamental question, “Why, after successful or even brilliant beginnings, do companies often lose their way with many (if not most) even experiencing decline and bankruptcy?”
To answer this question, we identify the underlying factors that promote long-term success and describe what organizations must do to successfully manage the transitions they face as they grow. Case studies of companies at different stages of growth – drawn from a wide variety of industries – are included to illustrate different aspects of the transitions that must be made over the entire life cycle of organizations. The cases also show how the frameworks provided in this book can be used as conceptual maps of what needs to be done by an organization at each developmental stage. In addition, the book specifies the adjustments the founder or the CEO of an entrepreneurial company needs to make so that he or she can grow with the organization (as Howard Schultz did at Starbucks) and not be left behind.
Overview of the Contents
While this edition of Growing Pains focuses on the entire life cycle of an organization (versus exclusively on the transition from an entrepreneurship to a professionally managed organization) and what it takes to build a sustainably successful enterprise over the longer term, its title has remained unchanged. The title Growing Pains is still very relevant, even for the advanced stages of growth, and even when growth has ceased. For the absence of growth is, in a sense, a growing pain as well. Our research and practical experience in working with a wide variety of organizations over almost 40 years suggest that all organizations experience growing pains as a normal part of their development. Growing pains indicate that the company has outgrown its infrastructure and that it must develop new systems and processes, as well as a new structure, to support its size. When organizations ignore growing pains, significant problems and even failure can result.
The book's underlying framework and content are applicable to all organizations, from very small startups to very large companies, nonprofits, and even mega-companies such as IBM, Johnson & Johnson, and Walmart. In earlier editions, Starbucks was used as an example of a rapidly growing entrepreneurial company that had applied many of the concepts and methods in this book. Today, Starbucks has joined the elite group of world-class giants. The concepts, frameworks, methods and tools described in this book are still relevant to Starbucks and to other organizations of all sizes.
This book is divided into three parts. Part One begins with a chapter that provides an overview of the issues facing entrepreneurs and CEOs as they attempt to grow their organizations. It examines both the personal and the organizational issues and related transitions required. This is followed by four chapters that focus on frameworks for understanding organizational effectiveness and transitions: an organizational effectiveness model, an organizational life-cycle model, and a model to explain the origin and underlying causes of “growing pains” that occur when an organization has not developed the “infrastructure” required by its size and complexity at a given stage of growth. The organizational effectiveness model, termed the Pyramid of Organizational Development (discussed in Chapter 2) explains the variables that must be managed by companies to give them the optimal (most likely) chance of long-term success. The life-cycle model (discussed in Chapters 3 and 4) identifies seven stages of growth from a new venture (corporate birth) to an established organization in decline and requiring revitalization. Chapter 3 focuses on the first four stages of growth from a new venture to a mature organization, while Chapter 4 focuses on the advanced stages of growth in the organizational life cycle. The growing pains framework is discussed in Chapter 5.
Part Two presents the most significant managerial tools that can be used to build sustainably successful business enterprises: strategic planning, organizational structure, control/performance management systems, management and leadership development, and corporate culture management. Although the tools of planning, structural design, and the like may be, at least superficially, familiar to some readers, our approach to these key components of a management system differs in some very important respects from others; there is also an integrative aspect to the set of management systems components overall.
Part Three deals with some special issues and topics relating to organizational development and transitions. It includes a chapter dealing with the application of the concepts and frameworks to nonprofits. It also introduces the concept of a leadership molecule and deals with the key aspects of strategic and operational leadership. Finally, Chapter 13 presents several comprehensive case studies of companies that have used the concepts, methods, and tools described in this book to support their continued success.
Key Differences
This fifth edition of Growing Pains differs from the fourth edition in several important respects. Although the overall direction and thrust of the book have been retained, all chapters have been revised to include updated material, updated references to companies, and new case studies, as appropriate. However, in some instances we have kept certain examples because they are “classic,” or prototypical, of the points we want to make, because there are no better current examples, or because of their historical significance.
Three new chapters have been added that focus upon: (1) how to use the frameworks, tools, and methods in nonprofits (Chapter 11); (2) specific leadership challenges and how to create a “leadership molecule” (Chapter 12); and (3) comprehensive case studies of the applications of our frameworks and tools and results of those applications in selected organizations worldwide (Chapter 13). In addition, we have cited new empirical research that has been published during the past several years that supports the framework and ideas presented in the book. Specifically, we present new data on “strategic organizational development” (in
