Tool Box
Issue No. 26 - December/January 2005/06
Deloitte maps evolutionary path
Professional services firm Deloitte has released another in its handy Reality of Growth Guide series of handbooks for growing businesses.
The eighth Guide, titled Evolution, not revolution… for a better business structure, details how managers have to keep their business flexible, entrepreneurial and fast-paced, whilst simultaneously fostering an innovative culture, if they want to succeed.
But the Guide also suggests that the more successful you are at fostering a fast-paced, innovative culture, the sooner you will need to adapt to the next phase, where deeper functional expertise will be required as the ‘daily grind’ of running a bigger, more complex business distracts key performers from their roles and responsibilities.
This Evolution breaks organisational design down into a number of steps including:
- The four stages of evolution for a growing business
- Inherent characteristics, benefits and potential risks of each stage
- The impact on culture, control and bureaucracy
- Ensuring survival through the 10-step reality check.
“For small to medium growing businesses, developing the right structure is often a balancing act between creating and sustaining an entrepreneurial culture, maintaining control and minimising bureaucracy,” Deloitte partner and Growth specialist David Whitbread says.
“Choosing the right organisational structure makes employees aware of their responsibilities, affects how decisions are made and influences a company’s culture.
“Employees need to understand their role in the evolutionary process or else risk fast-tracking their business onto the endangered species list.
“As an organisation grows, it should be constantly evolving including establishing cross-functional teams that divide and conquer; avoiding management build up; outsourcing to stay lean, agile and responsive; using technology and o...
