Fetch Growing Pains: Building Sustainably Successful Organizations Formulated By Eric G. Flamholtz Shown In Document
Unfortunately, the author wrote in a very academic style, which made this an excellent book if you wanted to be lulled into sleepiness, but a lessthanideal book if you wanted to be engaged in understanding new concepts.
The author kept talking about what he was going to tell you in chapteror, to the point where you just wanted him to
get to the point, And when he referred to the growth stages of companies, he called them stageor, when it would have been much more helpful if he had referred to them as the "Expansion stage" or the "Professionalization stage.
" Maybe that seems picky, but it really bogs the reading down,
On the plus side, the content and ideas were fascinating, The company I work for is experiencing growth pains, and I had many "aha" moments reading this book, It all makes a lot more sense now, There are many case studies, which, though dated generally from thes, are still helpful in understanding how the concepts fit into real life situations,
If you can wade through academic writing, this book is worth the effort, but it can be a very tedious challenge to get to those intriguing concepts.
Who should read this book
Growing Pains about practical aspects of scaling up an organization, What to do and what to focus on at different stages of growth, Helpful for entrepreneurs scaling their companies and managers responsible for devising organizational systems planning, management and operational systems, defining culture in growing companies,
Contents
Described stages of organizational growth and typical problems and solutions at each stage
Management in a pill: strategic planning, organizational structure, management/leadership development, control and performance management systems, culture management.
Transition to a public company
Tips for family run businesses,
Key takeaways
The authors worked as consultants e, g. for Starbucks where they were implementing the principles from the book, There are lots of practical examples of e, g. goal planning, management and organizational models, The book gives a quite complete overview of different aspects of organization management from the growing/scaling aspect, Very informative. Painfully dry, but if you can get past that, this book provides a comprehensive overview of organizational transformation and the leadership required to manage it, While I agree with other reviewers that the writing is too academic, the content is fascinating, A great look into how organizations evolve, Textbookish analysis of growing pains in small companies, Some good stuff on how to spot emerging growth problems and how to evolve the company culture as it scales
A mustread book on organizational behavior and design for knowledge workers, managers, executives, and entrepreneurs.
An insightful and practical toolkit for managing organizational growth
Growing Pains is the definitive guide to the life cycle of an organization, and the optimization strategies that make the organization stronger.
Whether growth is rapid, slow, or not occurring at all, this book provides a host of solid tools and recommendations for putting everything in order, Now in its fifth edition, this invaluable guide has been fully updated to reflect the current economic climate, and includes new case studies and chapters discussing nonprofit life cycle tools, leadership challenges and the "leadership molecule", and realworld applications of the frameworks presented.
The latest empirical research is presented in the context of these ideas, including new data on strategic organizational development, Minicases that illustrate growth management issues have been added throughout, with additional coverage of international entrepreneurship and companies that provide a frame of reference for the perspective being developed.
Growing pains are normal, and a valuable indicator of organizational health, but they indicate the need for new systems, processes, and structure to support the organization's size.
This book provides a practical framework for managing the process, applicable to organizations of all sizes,
Some companies, even after brilliant beginnings, lose their way as growth throws them for a loop.
Growing Pains identifies the underlying factors that promote long term success, and gives you a framework for successfully managing the transitions of growth,