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Organizational Life Cycle, a model that compares the growth and development of an organization to the biological stages of human growth and development, was first alluded to in the mid-1900's. In 1983, Management Science published a summary of Organizational Life Cycle models by Quinn and Cameron where they stated, "changes that occur in organizations follow a predictable pattern that can be characterized by developmental stages. These stages are sequential in nature; occur as a hierarchical progression that is not easily reversed; and involve a broad range of organizational activities and structure." The main premise of the model is that the internal and external forces effecting organizations are different depending on the stage of the individual organization. In the simulation that was provided, these stages were categorized as start-up, growth, maturity and decline.
When an organization is first created it is categorized as being in the start-up stage. Using the biological comparison of the Organizational Life Cycle Model, this stage compares to the rapid growth seen in early childhood. An organization in this stage would be small and non-bureaucratic with decisions being made by individual leaders in a highly reactive way. At this stage, the business is often the result of one visionary leader or a small group of leaders. It is characterized by a lack of formal structure, rules, financial resources and coordination of tasks. A manager in a start-up organization would need to spend many hours involved in every aspect of the business. There are no other levels of management to delegate tasks to and no infrastructure to suppor ...