Each organization is a kind of living organism that goes through certain stages in its development. It all starts with the birth of the company, after which it gradually gains strength and influence, achieving prosperity and power. However, any life cycle of an organization has its end, after which it, in the end, disappears from the consumer market. To better understand the factors that influence this process, you should carefully analyze all the activities of the company in stages.
So, you should start with a review of the main stages that any organizational structure created with the aim of making a profit as a result of doing business is going through:
- Stage of origin. Initially, an idea appears that is related to the satisfaction of any need identified in society. After that, there are enterprising people who can put this idea into practice, as a result of which a business is created, the main goal of which is to meet the needs of a particular sphere of the population in any economic field. The organization’s life cycle at this stage includes registration, search for investment sources, staff recruitment and entering the production market.
- Stage of collectivism and focus on a single goal. After the company began its entrepreneurial activity, the team begins to gradually unite in a single team. In any case, every competent leader strives for this, since only in a reliable team new and promising ideas are born aimed at achieving the maximum success of the company. A good example here can be the leading American and European companies, in which the paramount role is given to personnel, therefore, the life cycle of the organization must necessarily include this critical period, on which, in fact, the future of the company depends.
- The stage of formalization and acquisition of a certain structure. The next step is the gradual improvement of the organizational system, which consists in the emergence of new departments, the merger or division of the studied areas, the approval of the charter, certain rules and the life credo of the company. Informal customs and laws also appear here that can further stimulate both executive staff and management. Here, the organization’s life cycle begins to resemble a young and promising company, which has approved the main command staff and is successfully gaining momentum.
- Stage of improvement. At this stage, the organization reaches the peak of its success, taking a leading position in the market for the sale of certain products or the provision of the necessary services. Here, however, executives should by no means slow down the growth rate of a company, since non-embodied ideas that can be suggested by your employees and not realized due to a halt in intensive development can be used by your competitors who are breathing in your back. This should be taken into account, and the vigorous activity of the company at this stage should include the search for new needs of the population and the offer of new types of goods and services.
For a better understanding of everything that happens with the company, it is better to use the analogy with the period of a person’s life, because in this case you can more clearly imagine all those tasks and goals that the company faces at every step of its development. So, the stages of the organization’s life cycle include the following steps, where the main goals of the company will be shown:
- birth - goal: survival and profit maximization;
- childhood - the goal: short-term profit and its gradual optimization;
- adolescence - the goal: accelerated growth and planned profit;
- maturity - goal: systematic growth and good position;
- flourishing - goal: balanced growth and social responsibility;
- full maturity - the goal: the maximum improvement of products and services, as well as the search for new approaches in the organization of production. If necessary, complete re-equipment of the company with technical resources
In conclusion, it should be said that each leader needs not only to know certain stages of the life development of the company, but also to take into account the goals and objectives that the organization faces at each stage. The successful life cycle of an organization, exemplified by Coca-Cola and Mcdonalds, proves that with competent leadership, you can stay afloat for many decades after its founding. The main thing is to apply a flexible approach and have a competent marketing strategy that will periodically transform the company to the needs and requirements of the population.