5858
W I T H O U T C O N T I N U A L
G R O W T H A N D
P R O G R E S S , S U C C E S S
H A S N O M E A N I N G
THE GREINER CURVE
A
side from the financial
rewards that they offer to
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 heIN CONTEXT
FOCUS
Business growthKEY DATES
1972 Larry Greiner outlines
five stages of business growth,
and their related crises, in
“Evolution and Revolution
as Organizations Grow.”1988 Macedonian business
expert Ichak Adizes writes
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.