Description:
<jats:p>The focus of this study was on successful, small, rapidly growing
firms and on people who manage (entrepreneurs/ CEOs) or help manage
(interventionists/consultants) these firms. Investigates the structural
(complexity, formalization and centralization) changes that occur in
firms as they move from the start‐up stage to the growth stage of
development. One reason these structural changes were examined was that
rapid growth often strains organizations′ existing structures and, in
turn, threatens their very existence. Further, little empirical
information exists about structural changes in small, growing firms.
Using a sample of Inc. 500 firms, finds support for the hypotheses that
organizations in their growth stage will exhibit greater complexity,
greater formalization, and less centralization than in their start‐up
stage.</jats:p>