Facilitating control in growing organizations : A study of new requirements on systematization

Abstract: Organizational growth poses new challenges for top management. In small organizations, coordination and communication is spontaneous and require little structure to be efficient. However, as the organization grows, the increased number of individuals requires a larger amount of coordination and communication. In this study, our purpose is to increase understanding of why growing companies are experiencing challenges with coordination as well as to increase organizational control. To fulfill this, we study one organization in particular. In order to find a sustainable solution, we investigate why these challenges are experienced. We argue that addressing the underlying causes for experiencing these challenges is the most effective solution in the way that it ensures that the same challenges do not recur. Therefore, the relationship between the challenges that are articulated by the organization and the underlying causes for the challenges is central to our study. Our study shows that our object of study would benefit from an increased internal focus to enable for long-term growth. This finding supports several existing models for organizational growth. Our object of study currently employs few systematized internal processes and is in need of further systematization with regards to several aspects, such as strategy development and implementation and organizational control. Our study further shows that a lack of systematization on a managerial level leads to ambiguities that are translated to the operational level. This explains the discrepancies between the challenges that are expressed by the organization and their underlying causes.