| Evolution and revolution as organizations grow. 1972. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 10179654 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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The influence of history on an organization is a powerful but often overlooked force. Managers, in their haste to build companies, frequently fail to ask such critical developmental questions as, Where has our organization been? Where is it now? and What do the answers to these questions mean for where it is going? Instead, when confronted with problems, managers fix their gaze outward on the environment and toward the future, as if more precise market projections will provide the organization with a new identity. In this HBR Classic, Larry Greiner identifies a series of developmental phases that companies tend to pass through as they grow. He distinguishes the phases by their dominant themes: creativity, direction, delegation, coordination, and collaboration. Each phase begins with a period of evolution, steady growth, and stability, and ends with a revolutionary period of organizational turmoil and change. The critical task for management in each revolutionary period is to find a new set of organizational practices that will become the basis for managing the next period of evolutionary growth. Those new practices eventually outlast their usefulness and lead to another period of revolution. Managers therefore experience the irony of seeing a major solution in one period become a major problem in a later period. Originally published in 1972, the article's argument and insights remain relevant to managers today. Accompanying the original article is a commentary by the author updating his earlier observations. |
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Authors:
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L E Greiner |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Biography; Classical Article; Historical Article; Journal Article |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Harvard business review Volume: 76 ISSN: 0017-8012 ISO Abbreviation: Harv Bus Rev Publication Date: 1998 May-Jun |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 1998-06-26 Completed Date: 1998-06-26 Revised Date: 2005-07-14 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 9875796 Medline TA: Harv Bus Rev Country: UNITED STATES |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 55-60, 62-6, 68 Citation Subset: H |
Affiliation:
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Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA. |
Export Citation:
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APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex |
| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Administrative Personnel
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history Commerce / history*, organization & administration, trends Creativeness Decision Making, Organizational History, 20th Century Humans Models, Organizational* Organizational Culture Organizational Innovation* Personnel Management Planning Techniques Total Quality Management / history United States |
| Personal Name Subject | |
Personal Name Subject:
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L E Greiner |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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