The life cycle of an entrepreneurial idea. The study of trends and patterns of development of entrepreneurial structures at different stages of the life cycle of an organization

The life cycle of an organization is a set of stages and stages through which an organization passes during its functioning: birth, childhood, youth, maturity, aging, rebirth.

At present, there are two main models life cycle organizations that were proposed by Larry Grainer and Itzhak Adizes.

The essence of these models is that the life cycle of an enterprise is a sequence of successive stages or stages that have certain characteristics.

One of the models of the life cycle of the organization was proposed by Larry Grainer. The author of the model consistently distinguishes five stages, calling them "growth stages". Each stage is both a consequence of the previous one and the cause of the next stage.

Larry Greiner's Organizational Life Cycle Model

Stage one: growth through creativity. The rapid growth and development of the enterprise over time burdens the manager's control over the activities of subordinates. Professional guidance is required, as the idea and creativity that started it all is no longer enough.

Second stage: growth through directive leadership. It starts with building an organizational structure and delimiting the powers of all employees of the organization. There is a system of encouragement, punishment and control system. There are prerequisites for improving the functionality of employees through the delegation of authority.

Third stage: growth through delegation. In a growing organization, power is primarily delegated to the heads of various departments to penetrate new markets and develop new products. Appears new system work motivation, such as bonuses and participation in the company's profits. But at insufficient control top managers and field managers, there are inaccuracies in the plans and methods for achieving the goals of the organization. A control crisis sets in, which is resolved by the development of coordination programs.

Fourth stage: growth through coordination. The coordination activity consists in the fact that insufficiently centralized divisions are combined into product groups, a complex system of distribution of the company's investment funds between its business units is introduced. Gradually, the enterprise is faced with the problem of an overly complex system of planning and distribution of money, as well as an overloaded control system. Its reaction to market changes slows down significantly, which causes a drop in the level of organizational efficiency.

Fifth stage: growth through cooperation. The management of the organization decides to make the control system more flexible. Internal teams of consultants are being introduced, who do not manage departments, but help managers with professional advice. Any new ideas and criticism of the old system are encouraged.

L. Greiner notes that an organizational crisis, as a rule, is characterized by a decrease in performance below the margins of profitability, a loss of a place in the market, and the possibility of an organization's death.

Developing the ideas of Greiner, I. Adizes suggested that the dynamics of organizational development is cyclical. He laid this idea in the basis of the theory of organizational life cycles. According to the Adizes model, shown in fig. 2, ten regular and successive stages can be distinguished in the life of an organization.

Rice.

Stage one. Nursing. Nurturing is a stage in the birth of an organization. It has not yet come into being physically and formally, but the enthusiasm and business idea for its existence has already arisen. During this period, there are mainly discussions about the future of the organization, during which the founders lay the "theoretical" foundation of the new company. There is an attempt to "sell" the idea of ​​its future success. But an organization is born only when the idea has received a positive assessment among like-minded people of the founder, certain internal obligations have been formulated regarding its implementation, and there is a willingness to take the risk of founding a new business. If these conditions are met, the organization has a chance to successfully start its operation in the market.

Stage two. Infancy. At this stage, attention moves from ideas and opportunities to the results of production - the satisfaction of the needs for which the company was created. The company in infancy has a fuzzy structure, a small budget, and business procedures are practically absent. The organization is very personal. Everyone calls each other by name, subordination is weak, there is no system for hiring and monitoring the implementation of tasks. Moving an organization from vision to action requires a result-oriented leader at the head of the company. He must consider that the higher the risk a company takes on, the higher the foundation required. There is not enough money at this stage - and this, by the way, is quite normal.

Stage three. Childhood ("come on, come on"). Due to fuzzy fixing official duties different functions are often performed by one employee. This means that the company is organized around people, not tasks. And although the founder of the organization makes attempts to delegate authority, the adoption of all significant decisions does not occur without his direct participation. The reason for this is the leader's fear of losing control. On the this stage the company only reacts to the opportunities provided by the external environment, but cannot yet foresee them, the consequence of which is the action by trial and error.

Stage four. Youth. At this stage, the company receives its second birth, in which the fundamental foundations of the organization undergo fundamental changes. This process takes longer and more problematic than the previous ones. Conflicts are becoming characteristic, especially between employees. The goals of the company become contradictory, the system of remuneration and incentives does not meet the needs of the company. In order to move easily to the next stage, it is necessary to involve all staff in the ongoing changes, since employees are still in the stage of rapid growth, and they want to simultaneously transfer some of the authority to them and maintain the same growth rate. But these two requirements cannot be met at the same time.

Stage five. Rise. Reaching optimal combination between self-control and flexibility, the organization enters a flourishing stage. Being at this stage, the organization is characterized by the presence of job systems and high organizational culture; the structure of the organization becomes more complex; planning is being established, development prospects are clearly defined; the company is focused on customer satisfaction; there is a steady increase in sales and profits. The heyday of an organization is a process of steady growth. It is an indicator of the viability of the organization, the ability to achieve effective results in the short and long term.

Stage six. Stabilization (Late flowering). The stabilization phase is the first stage of aging in the life cycle of an organization. The company is still strong, but is already beginning to lose flexibility. There is a loss of the spirit of creativity, innovation is reduced and the changes that led it to flourish are no longer encouraged. As soon as flexibility decreases, the organization becomes mature. It is still result-oriented and well organized and managed, but there is less conflict than in previous phases. There are changes in the distribution of company profits.

Stage seven. Aristocracy. This stage of the life cycle of an organization is characterized by the following features: the organization has significant financial resources, and the money is mainly spent on strengthening the system of control, insurance and development; there are certain traditions, formalism in dress and treatment is included in the custom; a corporation may acquire other companies to gain new products and markets, or in an attempt to "buy" entrepreneurship.

Stage eight. early bureaucracy. The main distinguishing feature of the organization at the stage of early bureaucratization is a lot of internal conflicts between employees of the company who have accepted open form. Gradually, the internal policy is increasingly moving the company away from meeting the needs of the end user.

Stage nine. late bureaucracy. At this stage, the company does not create the necessary resources for self-preservation. The bureaucratic organization has many systems with a weak functional orientation. The lack of a company's market orientation, customer satisfaction, focus on solving internal problems and the prevalence of excessive formalization of the company leads to the inevitable death of the organization. Even a small change in external environment can lead to the destruction of the company.

Stage ten. Death. The death of the customer-centric enterprise occurs as soon as customers stop using services en masse this enterprise. If this does not happen due to the fact that the organization provides a monopoly product or is supported by the state, then its death can be delayed in time. In this case, the degree of bureaucratization will increase and eventually reach its climax anyway, which will lead the organization to inevitable death.

In practice, the theory of Adizes and his model of the life cycle of an organization gives very tangible results. The model allows you to predict the development of events and the occurrence of critical situations, which means that it makes it possible to prepare for them properly.

Organizations are born, develop, succeed, weaken and eventually cease to exist. Few of them exist indefinitely, none live without change. New organizations are formed daily. At the same time, every day hundreds of organizations are liquidated forever. Those who can adapt thrive, those who are inflexible disappear. Some organizations develop faster than others and do their job better than others. The leader must know at what stage of development the organization is, and assess how the adopted leadership style corresponds to this stage. That is why the term is widely used life cycle of organizations as predictable changes with a certain sequence of states over time. Applying the concept of the life cycle, it can be seen that there are distinct stages that organizations go through, and that transitions from one stage to another are predictable, not random.

The life cycle of an organization is directly and closely related to product life cycle- a time interval that includes several stages, each of which is distinguished by a special nature of the process of changing the volume of production over time. It should be distinguished: the full life cycle of products; life cycle of products in the field of production; life cycle of consumer products. The complete product life cycle includes the time of creation, the duration of production and the time of operation of products by consumers. This concept is used to plan marketing and supply and sales activities, organize after-sales service for products, select adequate forms of management and create the necessary structural links.

The concept of the life cycle has received a lot of attention in the market research literature. The life cycle is used to explain how a product goes through the stages of birth or formation, growth, maturity and decline. Organizations have some exceptional characteristics that require some modification of the life cycle concept. One of the options for dividing the life cycle of an organization into appropriate time periods provides for the following stages.

1. Entrepreneurship stage. The organization is in its infancy, the life cycle of products is being formed. The goals are still fuzzy, the creative process flows freely, moving to the next stage requires a stable supply of resources.

The organization must establish relationships, establish itself, create a certain image for itself, become attractive to consumers or new members. The founders of the organization direct all their energy to technical activities, they try to release as many products as possible. Young organizations are informal and non-bureaucratic. Work time unlimited. Control is carried out by personal observation of the founders of the work of the organization. Growth is provided by the creation of a new type of product or service.

A crisis. When an organization begins to grow, the increase in the number of employees creates problems. Creative, technically oriented company owners are faced with the need to organize the management of their organization. But they must at the same time continue to increase the rate of production growth. During this crisis, entrepreneurs must adjust the structure of their organization to the demands of continued growth, or bring in strong managers to do so.

2. Stage of collectivity. Develop innovation processes the previous stage, the mission of the organization is formed. Communication within the organization and its structure remain essentially informal. Members of the organization spend a lot of time developing mechanical contacts and demonstrate high commitment.

Collective stage. If an organization overcomes a leadership crisis, it acquires strong leaders and begins to develop clear goals and directions for development for itself. The organization is divided into divisions. A hierarchy of power is established, certain people are assigned to certain jobs, THE FIRST SIGNS OF THE DIVISION OF LABOR APPEAR. The employees of the organization identify with its mission and spend long hours in the workplace trying to help the organization succeed. Each employee feels part of the team and communication and control is carried out at an informal level, although a small number of formal systems are already emerging.

A crisis. The need for delegation of power. If a new business develops successfully, workers at the lower level of the hierarchy at some point may feel constrained by the limitations of a rigid vertical management system. Lower-level managers gain experience and self-confidence and want more freedom of action. When top managers, who have so far been successful due to their rigid management style and control over the entire organization, refuse to transfer part of the responsibility to other hands. There is a crisis of autonomy. Senior managers want to make sure that all parts of the organization are moving in the right direction. The organization must find mechanisms for coordinating and controlling the work of departments without the direct participation of lower managers.

3. The stage of formalization and management. The structure of the organization is stabilized, rules are introduced, procedures are defined. The emphasis is on innovation efficiency and sustainability. Bodies for the development and decision-making become the leading components of the organization. The role of the top management of the organization is growing, the decision-making process is becoming more balanced and conservative. The roles are specified in such a way that the departure of certain members of the organization does not cause serious danger for it.

At this stage, new rules, formal procedures, technical guidelines and control systems appear and are put into circulation. Communication becomes less frequent and more formal. The staff of the organization is expanding due to engineers, specialists in human resources and other support workers. Top managers begin to focus only on strategy development and planning, leaving direct control firm to middle managers. To improve coordination, product development teams or other decentralized working units may be formed. Compensation systems based on company profits can be introduced to ensure that managers work together for the benefit of the entire organization. As long as the new systems of coordination and control remain effective, they allow the organization to grow further by establishing communication mechanisms between its top management and production units.

A crisis. Too much paper. At this stage in an organization's development, new systems and programs abound, which can create a suffocating environment for mid-level employees. The organization seems overly bureaucratic. Attempts by specialists to interfere in the decision-making process irritate middle managers. Innovation is slowing down. The organization becomes too large and complex for formal management to be successful.

4. Structure development stage. The organization increases output and expands the market for the provision of services. Leaders identify new development opportunities. Organizational structure becomes more complex and sophisticated. The decision-making mechanism is decentralized.

Resolution of the paper crisis is possible only through a new vision of the concepts of cooperation and teamwork. Each of the managers develops the ability to deal with problems and work together with others. Bureaucracy reaches its natural limits. Social control and self-discipline reduce the need for additional formal control. Managers learn to work within the bureaucratic system without complicating it. Some formal systems can be simplified and replaced by management teams or temporary task teams. To achieve coordination and facilitate joint work teams are often created from representatives of different functional units. In addition, the organization may be broken up into many small divisions in order to adopt the philosophy of a small firm.

A crisis. The need for a second wind. After an organization reaches maturity, it may enter a period of temporary decline. The need for renewal may arise every ten or twenty years. The organization discovers its mismatch environment or perhaps it becomes too clumsy and too bureaucratic and must go through a stage of rationalization and innovation. At this time, senior management is often replaced. However, if the new management manages to breathe life into the company, this is still not enough. The leader must consolidate success and keep the company afloat. If a mature organization is not subjected to periodic renewal, it will inevitably decline.

84% of new businesses that operate normally for a year fail in the first five years of their life because they are unable to make the transition from the entrepreneurial stage to the collectivity stage. As the organization enters the next stages of the life cycle, such transitions become even more complex. Those organizations that cannot successfully solve their problems associated with the transition to a new stage of the life cycle, thereby limit their growth and may even fail.

5. Decline stage. As a result of competition, a shrinking market, an organization is faced with a decrease in demand for its products or services. Leaders are looking for ways to hold markets and seize new opportunities. The need for workers, especially the most valuable specialties, is increasing. The number of conflicts is often on the rise. New people are coming to leadership in an attempt to curb the downward trend. The mechanism for developing and making decisions is centralized.

When creating an organization, when the creative process flows freely, the desire for stable and sustainable development is manifested. It accomplishes two goals: providing access to necessary resources and mastering the mechanism of competition. key role here plays the analysis of the situation, obtaining objective information.

Turning to the creation of conditions for economic growth, to ensure High Quality goods and services, the organization must choose the type of management that meets the characteristics and objectives of this stage. The main criterion in choosing the type of management should be to maintain a stable balance between constancy and innovation, the implementation efficient operation in the present while planning for the future. The maturity of the organization is manifested in the fact that the emphasis is on the effectiveness of innovation and stability, the output increases and the market for the provision of services expands, leaders identify new opportunities for organizational development. All this is aimed at ensuring the strategic viability of the organization, maintaining and strengthening a stable position in the market. At the stage of maturity, it is especially important to periodically and timely adjust the management structure of the organization, abolish bodies that have completed their task, introduce new divisions into the structure in a timely manner, create temporary target structural units to solve certain problems, allocate specialists to analyze the state of affairs and develop development prospects etc.

The concept of the life cycle indicates the most characteristic symptoms of the collapse of the organization, manifested at the stage of decline. These include, in particular:

Decrease in demand toughens competition and complicates its forms;

Increasing the competitive power of suppliers;

The role of price and quality in competition is increasing;

Increasing complexity of growth management production capacity;

The process of creating product innovations becomes more complicated;

Decreasing profitability.

The stages of the life cycle of an organization can be represented in more detail Childhood. This is a dangerous period because the largest number failures occur during the first years after the emergence of the organization. It is known from world statistics that a huge number of small-scale organizations fail due to the incompetence and inexperience of the management. Every second small business fails within two years, four out of five fail within five years of its existence. The task of this period is to achieve rapid success, and its goals are a healthy existence and development, and not simple survival. Often all the work is carried out to the limit, so as not to lose the pace of increasing success. Management is carried out by an active and prepared leader and his initial team.

Adolescence. During this transition period growth of the organization is carried out, as a rule, unsystematically, jerkily. The organization is increasingly gaining strength, but the coordination is lower optimal level. More organized procedures are gradually replacing the risky passion for success. Planning, development of budgets and forecasts is being established. The recruitment of new specialists is expanding, which causes friction with the former personnel. The founders of the organization are forced to play the role of direct managers rather than entrepreneurs, carrying out systematic planning, coordination, management and control.

early maturity. The hallmarks of this period are expansion, differentiation, and possibly diversification. Structural divisions are formed, the results of which are measured by the profit received. Many commonly accepted methods of performance evaluation are used, job descriptions, delegation of authority, performance standards, expertise, organization of training and development. However, tendencies towards bureaucracy and the struggle for power, localism and the desire to achieve success at any cost are beginning to appear.

The rise of strength. Having shareholders on the board, the organization sets the goal of balanced growth at this stage. Structure, coordination, stability and control should be as important as innovation, improvement of all parts of the organization and decentralization. Concept accepted structural divisions, the results of which are measured by the received profit. New products, market and technology must be managed and qualifications management personnel- more polished. With the acceleration of growth compared to previous stages, the organization often overestimates its successes and capabilities.

Full maturity. With competent, but not always responsible leadership, the organization operates almost on its own. Quite often an undesirable state of general complacency is established. Despite the fact that income levels are quite acceptable, growth rates are slowing down. The organization may deviate from its original goals under the influence of public opinion. However, the weaknesses are too obvious. These symptoms are often ignored by management.

Aging. This stage would never have come if the leadership of the organization was constantly aware of the need for renewal. Competitors invariably bid for the organization's market share. Bureaucratic red tape, a strategy that is not always justified, an inefficient system of motivations, a cumbersome control system, a closeness to new ideas - all this, taken together, creates the conditions for "blockage of the arteries." As practice shows, it is very difficult to stop and stop doing unproductive work. As a result, the organization gradually begins to disintegrate. She is forced to either accept a rigid system of renewal, or die as an independent structure, merging into the corporation that acquires it. The organization rolls back, and the struggle for its survival begins again.

Update. The organization is able to rise from the ashes like a Phoenix. This can be done by a new team of managers authorized to carry out reorganization and implement a planned program of internal organizational development.

Numerous studies show that organizations during the life cycle confidently develop when they have a sound strategy and efficient use of resources; are being rebuilt when they cease to meet the chosen goals; perish when they are unable to perform their tasks.

On the stage of creation The leader of the organization must:

Carefully study consumer demand for a given product or service in specific markets;

Collect and evaluate information about the activities and intentions of competitors, compare it with the capabilities, available resources and company strategy;

Weigh the need and feasibility of increasing the potential of the company and making appropriate adjustments to its strategy;

To accept necessary measures to attract additional resources through internal and external sources;

Rationally organize the management process, including the placement of personnel, the creation of a system of responsibility, a reliable decision-making mechanism, a system of motivations and incentives.

On the growth stages Organizations in the foreground in the activities of the leader are:

Decision social problems team, allowing to consolidate and develop the interest of employees;

Ensuring a balance between current and innovative promising activities, between improving the quality of products and services and the search for new areas of capital investment;

Optimization of the ratio between centralization and decentralization in the management of the company, the introduction of progressive management structures, information technologies etc.

On the stages of maturity The head of the organization must:

Systematically and as a matter of priority, monitor the behavior of competitors and, if necessary, make changes to long-term plans organizations;

Analyze the necessity and possibilities of technical re-equipment of production, increase the level of technological and design preparation of production;

Together with consumers, determine the production and scientific and technical policy of the organization;

Create the necessary conditions to maintain and strengthen the intellectual potential of the organization, the effective work of target teams, the use of matrix structures, etc.

On the decline stages organization there is a certain centralization of company management and in these conditions the head:

Considers the possibilities of saving all types of resources and focusing the company's activities on the direction that promises the greatest return in the shortest possible time;

Examines the possibility of merging with other companies, narrowing the range of products, if this will preserve and effectively use the existing potential while minimal losses;

Begins to implement changes in the organization and methods of enterprise management, in establishing relationships with new markets and suppliers.

Undoubtedly, all stages of creating your own business are extremely important, but the decisive one is the substantiation of entrepreneurial ideas, since it is at this stage that the economic interest (motives) of entrepreneurs in the implementation of specific types of activities (specific goods, works, services, information, technologies, etc.) , but the main thing is that the idea must be implemented in the results that will be recognized by the market. The idea should be based on a simple and essential market principle: find a need and satisfy it.

The entrepreneurial idea is a reflection in the mind of the entrepreneur of the inherent desire of the consumer to have one or another product that will be produced by the entrepreneur. Thus, an idea is a clear idea of ​​how and by what specific actions of an entrepreneur the need of a potential buyer can be satisfied.

The activity of the entrepreneur involves the creation of a base of ideas that could form the main or additional profile of the production of services or intermediation. The accumulation of ideas can be both current and prospective. For each idea, the entrepreneur makes a decision whether to proceed or not to proceed with it. practical implementation.

The following stages of development of an entrepreneurial idea are distinguished.

Stage 1. The birth of an entrepreneurial idea. The main role is given to the flow of information, and not necessarily in any particular area. Of course, experience in a particular field will also contribute to the emergence of a new entrepreneurial idea, based on knowledge of the needs of the target group of customers.

Stage 2. First expert review ideas. It is supposed to collect a variety of opinions about the need to develop an entrepreneurial idea that has arisen, about its relevance to the market, taking into account future prospects.

Stage 3. Obtaining market information (revealing the relationship between supply and demand, determining the price). Maximum full review competitors and detailing already existing goods (services)-analogues or goods (services)-substitutes, will allow you to determine the key parameters of the products of the work of the future enterprise as accurately as possible. Wide selection marketing tools presents an assessment of the market according to various indicators (Appendix D).

Stage 4. Calculating the cost of implementing the idea. This stage corresponds to the beginning of business planning, namely the determination of the required amount of investments, to further determine the sources of financing and the possibility of earning a profit. At this stage, it is necessary to separate and predict the costs necessary to launch an entrepreneurial idea (start-up capital, capital investments), and current income and expenses for the functioning of the business. Taking into account the gradual launch of the enterprise into operation, it is possible additionally in the amount start-up capital take into account the content of the business in the first period of work (several months, years).

Stage 5 Expert evaluation of stages 3 and 4. Peer review at this stage differs significantly from the previous one, as it involves a more professional look at the results of collecting marketing information and estimating costs. At the same time, this peer review aims to establish the compatibility of the idea with the possibilities of the entrepreneur.

Stage 6 Making an entrepreneurial decision. Preparation for the practical implementation of the idea. This stage is transitional for the implementation of detailed business planning, in case of a positive decision of the entrepreneur. That is, making a decision by an entrepreneur comes down to continuing to work on an idea or discarding it and moving on to understanding another entrepreneurial idea.

So, an entrepreneurial idea is a new form of economic activity identified by an entrepreneur, which combines the potential or real needs of the market for certain services (or goods) with the entrepreneur's ability to produce these services (goods) and receive additional income from innovation (innovation).

In accordance with the modern market approach, the following basic principles of the organization of modern entrepreneurial activity and, accordingly, the choice of an entrepreneurial idea:

1) produce only what the consumer needs;

2) enter the market not with the offer of goods and services, but with the means of solving consumer problems;

3) organize the production of goods after the study of needs and demand;

4) to concentrate efforts on achieving the final result of the production and export activities of the enterprise;

5) use the program-target method and A complex approach to achieve the set goals;

6) focus the activities of the enterprise as a whole and the marketing service in particular not on a momentary result, but on a long-term perspective of effective communications based on the implementation strategic planning and forecasting the behavior of goods on the market;

8) take into account the social and economic factors of production and distribution of goods at all stages of their life cycle.

Any idea can be put into practice economic activity with varying degrees of efficiency. At the same time, each entrepreneur selects and works out his own technique for implementing the idea. To implement the idea, it is necessary to draw up a general scheme that includes the main stages and processes of interrelated actions aimed at achieving a specific result (business planning).

Eltsova Evgenia Sergeevna, PhD student, St. Petersburg University of Economics and Management, Russia

Study of trends and patterns of development of business entities at different stages of the life cycle of an organization

Publish your monograph good quality for only 15 tr!
The base price includes proofreading of the text, ISBN, DOI, UDC, LBC, legal copies, uploading to the RSCI, 10 author's copies with delivery across Russia.

Moscow + 7 495 648 6241

Sources:

1. Adizes I. Corporate Life Cycle Management / Per. from English. under scientific ed. A.G. Seferyan. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2007. - 383 p.
2. Mintzberg G. Structure in a fist: creating an effective organization / Per. from English. ed. Yu.N. Kapturevsky. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2004. - 512 p.
3. Mintzberg G., Alstrand B., Lampel D. Schools of strategies. Strategic safari: a tour through the wilds of management strategies. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2000. - 336 p.
4. Shirokova G.V., Merkuryeva I.S., Serova O.Yu. Features of the formation of life cycles in Russian companies // Russian magazine management. - 2006. - T. 4. - No. 3. - P. 3–26.
5. Filonovich S.R. Using Life Cycle Models in Organizational Diagnostics. Sotsiologicheskie issledovaniya. - 2005. - No. 4. - P. 53–64.
6. Stupakov V.S., Tokarenko G.S. Risk management: Proc. allowance. – M.: Finance and Statistics. - 2005. - 288 p.
7. Kunin V.A. Formation of a system of business performance indicators // Uchenye zapiski St. Petersburg Academy of Management and Economics. - 2011. - No. 1. - P. 48–57.