From 'Stages' of Business Growth to a Dynamic States Model of Entrepreneurial Growth and Change

Abstract

Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and developmental models of that time. However, our analysis of the universe of such models (N=104) published in the management literature shows neither a consensus on basic constructs nor any empirical confirmations of stages theory. We show that with a change in the basic assumption and two propositions of the stages approach, a "dynamic states" model of organizational growth and change can be derived that has far greater explanatory power than its precursor.

Full text

From “Stages” of Business Growth to a Dynamic
States Model of Entrepreneurial Growth and Change
Jonathan Levie
Senior Lecturer
Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship
University of Strathclyde
Livingstone Tower, Richmond Street, GLASGOW G1 1XH
United Kingdom
Phone: +44 141 5483502
Email: j.levie@strath.ac.uk
Benyamin B. Lichtenstein
Assistant Professor
College of Management
University of Massachusetts, Boston
100 Morrissey Blvd., BOSTON, MA 02125-3393
Phone: 617-287-7887
Email: b.lichtenstein@umb.edu
August 2008
Hunter Centre for Entrepreneurship
University of Strathclyde
WP08-02

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Abstract
Stages of Growth models were the most frequent theoretical approach to understanding
entrepreneurial business growth from 1962 to 2006; they built on the growth imperative and
developmental models of that time. However, our analysis of the universe of such models
(N=104) published in the management literature shows neither a consensus on basic constructs
nor any empirical confirmations of stages theory. We show that with a change in the basic
assumption and two propositions of the stages approach, a “dynamic states” model of
organizational growth and change can be derived that has far greater explanatory power than its
precursor.
Keywords: stages of growth, life cycle, new ventures, entrepreneurship theory, complexity
science
Introduction
Business growth is a core topic in entrepreneurship and organization theory (Shane and
Venkataraman, 2000; Van de Ven & Poole, 1995). Indeed, commitment to business growth is
seen by at least one influential entrepreneurship school of thought as a basic distinguishing
feature of entrepreneurial firms (Stevenson and Gumpert, 1985), and virtually all economic
models of business creation follow firm birth with firm growth (Aldrich & Reuf, 2006;
Schoonhoven & Romanelli, 2001). It is generally recognized that new businesses that do grow
contribute significantly to the economic development of regions and nations (Acs, 2006; Autio,
2007; Leibenstein, 1968). Yet most nascent and new entrepreneurs project extremely modest
growth ambitions. One very large scale cross-national study found that only 10% of all start-up
entrepreneurs expect to create 20 or more jobs within five years, representing some 75% of the
cohort’s expected total number of jobs in that time frame (Autio, 2007). In short, new businesses
that grow are seen as rare and valuable and therefore worthy of study (Delmar, Davidsson, &
Gartner, 2003; Gilbert, McDougall, & Audretsch, 2006; Leibenstein, 1987; Penrose, 1959; Shane
& Venkataraman, 2000; Stevenson & Gumpert, 1985).
Most models of new business growth assume a limited number of distinct stages through

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which businesses pass as they age (Churchill & Lewis, 1983; Greiner, 1972; Hanks, Watson, Jenson
& Chandler, 1994). The stages approach to modeling growth can achieve extremely high face
validity; 100% of founding entrepreneurs in one study were able to unambiguously identify their
company as being in one of five defined stages (Eggers, Leahy, & Churchill, 1994).
While the stages approach to modeling business growth has been increasingly criticized in the
literature (Phelps, Adams, & Bessant, 2007; Stubbart & Smalley, 1999), we show below that new
and different universal and mid-range stages models of business growth have been published more
or less continuously since the 1960s, while most entrepreneurship textbooks continue to turn to
stages models when they discuss the growth of new firms. However, the models described in each
textbook are usually different, even differing on the number of stages described, including three
(Sahlman, Stevenson, Roberts & Bhidé, 1999, p.355), four (Timmons and Spinelli, 2003, p. 276),
five (Kuratko and Hodgetts, 2007, p.610) and six distinct stages (Birley and Muzyka, 2000, p.251;
Baron and Shane, 2005, p.336). Some authors introduce their stages models in confident tones; for
example, Kuratko and Hodgetts (ibid, p. 611) write: “authors generally agree regarding a venture’s
life cycle. Presented next are the five major stages” (Kuratko and Hodgetts, ibid., p611). Others are
more circumspect, for example: “Company growth is a continuous process, so dividing it into
discrete phases is somewhat artificial. Still, many experts find it convenient to talk about six
different phases through which companies move” (Baron and Shane, ibid., p.336). Finally, some
textbook authors review several different models, and adopt a cautionary tone, as in this example:
“The models should not be applied mechanistically, but rather with judgment and discretion,
particularly with regard to sequence and timing.” (Burns, 2007, p.220). Even in this tempered
approach, however, the field retains a basic assumption that business firms grow through a more or
less common series of stages.

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Although other models of business growth exist (Bhidé, 2000; Greve, 2008; O’Farrell &
Hitchins, 1988; Schoonhoven & Romanelli, 2001; Van de Ven & Poole, 1995), the stages
approach is the most popular tool for teaching about business growth in entrepreneurship. The
questions we ask in this paper are: How accurate are these stages models of business growth?
Do companies grow through stages as assumed by these models? Is there any consensus in stages
theory? Our approach is to identify the universe of stages of business growth models, and to
perform an in-depth analysis of these 104 scholarly papers published over a 45 year period.
Previous reviews of the field (e.g. Hanks, 1990; O'Farrell & Hitchins, 1988; Phelps et al., 2007;
Stubbart & Smalley, 1999), have typically covered 25% or less of the extant studies, and
consequently have not fully revealed the historical trends in this literature. In contrast, the
comprehensive review we have undertaken allows us to trace the conceptual origins and
empirical tests of the entire disciplinary field, and examine to what degree consensus and validity
has been growing in terms of theory and its confirmation.
Our analysis suggests that after over 40 years of effort, there has been no movement towards
consensus on model features, nor has any one stages model become dominant in the field. Worse,
two of the principal propositions shared by these models appear to have no empirical validity when
tested with large samples. Despite this disconfirming evidence, new stages models continue to
appear in the management literature and in new textbooks. We conclude that stages of growth
modelling has hit a dead end, and urge our colleagues to abandon efforts to predict or test a specific
set of stages that are meant to describe the growth of business firms. In its place we offer an
alternative framework – the Dynamic States model of entrepreneurial change – which retains the
most intuitive and often accurate propositions of stages theory, while replacing its major assumption
to better align with current organizational theory and research. The Dynamic States model provides

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a new and stronger foundation for understanding business growth in theory and in practice.
Essentials of Stages Theory: What, How and Why
Theory Development in Organization Science
Although there is no “right way” to develop theory in the field of management (Bacharach,
1989; Van de Ven & Johnson, 2006; Weick, 1995), several key papers on theory development
(Ardichvili, Cardozo, & Ray, 2003; Davis & Marquis, 2005; Whetten, 1989) have drawn on the
general model by Dubin (1978), which argues that a good theory requires at least four essential
elements (as described by Whetten, 1989): What specific factors or elements are explained; How
these elements are related, and Why these relationships exist. The other elements focus on
Boundary Conditions including when, where and who. Beyond these critical elements, many
scholars argue that the validity and growth of a theoretical paradigm crucially depends on the
degree to which there is cumulative knowledge around the theory (Davis & Marquis, 2005;
Pfeffer, 1993). In our view, this would minimally require some consensus around the first three
elements of a good theory: i.e. the constructs, the logic of their relationship, and the underlying
drivers of that logic, as well as some agreement on ‘classic’ papers that describe and define those
elements for the field. In this section, we assess whether the “stages” literature meets these
criteria.
The Stages of Growth approach in Business Research
Although we have identified five different intellectual sources of stages of growth models
(see below), all of them are based on the view that organismic development is a useful analogy
for the growth of companies Often, the analogy is taken directly from the human experience of
aging, as in this example: “The life-cycle approach posits that just as humans pass through
similar stages of physiological and psychological development from infancy to adulthood, so

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businesses evolve in predictable ways and encounter similar problems in their growth” (Bhidé,
2000, p. 244). The core assumption is that “Organizations grow as if they are developing
organisms” (Tsoukas, 1991, p. 575)1, and from this assumption we can make a series of
propositions about organizational growth (Kimberly & Miles, 1980).
The first proposition is that just as in a growing organism, distinctively different stages of
development can be identified in a growing organization. The second is that, as in a growing
organism, the sequence and order in which a growing organization undergoes these recognizable
stages is pre-determined and thus predictable. The third is that just as all organisms of the same
species develop according to the same (genetic) program, so all organizations develop according
to prefigured rules that progresses from a latent or “primitive state” to one that is “progressively
more realized, mature, and differentiated” (Van de Ven & Poole, 1995, p. 515).2
These three propositions roughly correspond to Whetten’s (1989) three primary elements
of a good theory. First, the different “stages of development” correspond to the core constructs
in the theory – the What. Second, the pre-determined and linear process of developing through
these stages represents the logic of How these stages are related. Third, the generalizability of
these sequences within a defined population derives from the biological theory that the scope and
potentiality of an organism’s development is encoded within its original form. This immanent
potential becomes expressed through a “prefigured program/rule regulated by nature, logic, or
institutions” (Van de Ven & Poole, 1995, p 514). This encoded potential is the force or
underlying driver of the theory – the Why.
In summary, for the stages approach to be a “useful” theory of a business organization’s
(early) growth and development, we would minimally expect to see some shared
acknowledgement of these three basic components: namely, some agreement as to (a) What a

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stage represents, (b) How many stages there are, and (c) Why these stage transitions take place.
Similarly we would expect to see empirical confirmation of these components, or some reasoned
explanation of why such confirmation is not found in competent analyses. Progress in the field
would be indicated by evidence of cumulative knowledge across the researchers who use this
theory to explain business growth.
An Analysis of Stages Theory
Our analysis includes all the stages of business growth models that appeared in published
academic papers in journals, refereed academic conference proceedings, monographs or business
doctoral dissertations (but not student textbooks) between 1962 and 2006. We excluded stage
models of internationalization and of organizations that were not businesses. We started at 1962
because few models of corporate growth appeared in the literature before 1960 (see Starbuck,
1965 for a review of that period). Stage models published between 1962 and 2006 were collected
by scouring on-line and CD-based academic and quasi-academic management literature
databases, hand-searching management journals and conference proceedings, and back-searching
of articles referenced by stage modelers and users of stage models.
The search protocol yielded 104 identifiably separate, that is, new, linear stages of business
growth models during this 45 year period. Half of these studies (50) purport to apply to any firm;
the other half (54) specify certain types of firm, such as new, small or technology-based firms.
Although there was a lull in publication of new general stages models between 1994 and 2000,
we still found 20 new models from 1994 through 2006, reflecting the fact that the stages
approach to modeling business growth is still widely used. In the next three sub-sections, we
analyze these models according to the three questions of theory development posed above: What
is a stage? How many stages exist? Why do stages change? Our analysis shows that there is no

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consensus whatsoever in any of these issues – there is no uniform “stages theory” of business
growth.
What a Stage Represents
In our analysis of the 104 stages models, we coded each model in the following way.
Starting with the oldest model, the original description was read carefully and each time a stage
was described, the categories used to describe it were noted. It soon became apparent that some
categories were more popular than others and that some categories had sub-categories, which we
have labeled “attributes”. The description of each stage of each model was scrutinized until all
categories and attributes had been noted. These were entered on a spreadsheet, with a new row
for each attribute and a new column for each model. As a category or attribute was found in a
model description, the current list was consulted. If an equivalent attribute was already listed, the
attribute was coded as 1 in the column corresponding to that model. If it was not, a new attribute
was entered in a new row. After all attributes of all models were entered, the rows were sorted to
group attributes of like categories together.
The results of this coding – presented in Table 1 and Table 2 – show the most common
attributes of stages, and the most common categories presented in the stages papers. According
to our analysis, the most common attribute of stages models is “extent of formal systems,”
reflecting a long tradition of research on organization design (Scott, 1981; Thompson, 1967). As
the theory suggests, this focus on formalization is highly correlated with the second most
common attribute, namely organizational structure. These two are correlated with the two most
common methods for tracking the growth of businesses, namely sales growth rate, or employee
growth rate. We have coded “growth rate” as an element of the “Outcomes” category of stage
attributes – see Table 2.

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--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see TABLE 1: Most Common Attributes of a Stage
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see TABLE 2: Most Common Categories (of Attributes) in Stage Models
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Not counting the Outcomes of business growth, other frequently mentioned attributes of
stages include the complexity of design, the centralization and formality of communication, the
primary focus of the business, and the key problems that businesses tend to face as they grow.
These attributes correspond to the most common Categories described in Table 2, namely:
Characteristics of the Firm’s Management; Organizational Structure; Strategy; Problems, and
Process- and Product Characteristics.3
Beyond these lists, there appears to be no general connection between what one researcher
defines as a stage and the measures used by subsequent researchers. Reading through every
paper, we were unable to find a specific definition of a stage that emerged over time or was
utilized by any but a handful of authors. Based on this evidence, we conclude that there is no
consensus as to “What is a stage” in the stages models published to date.
How Many Stages
At the center of the stages approach is the basic question of what stages does an
organization move through in its development. Here we will focus on the 50 general models
published between 1962 and 2006, since the other 54 “mid-range” models would only be
comparable within their specific population. Our hypothesis is that if consensus has emerged
within the stages approach – if it accurately reflects a pattern in the social environment – we
should find that most models contain the same number of stages. Alternatively the field may

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have bifurcated into two schools, in which case we might expect to see two sets of stages
models, each with a different number of stages.
Our analysis, shown in Figure 1, shows that neither of these is the case, that is, there is no
consensus on how many stages a model should have. The majority of models include 3 or 4 or 5
stages; the rest have 6-11 stages. No clear preference for numbers of stages is identifiable. This
analysis is insufficient, however, as consensus can occur over time. In other words, perhaps
many models with different numbers of stages were initially proposed, but later scholars came to
an agreement. This would be shown by a decreasing variance of the number of stages over time,
ideally to a single set. Figure 2 shows this not to be the case. Based on these data we have to
conclude that there is no consensus as to how many stages there are in stages models.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see FIGURE 1: General Stage Models (1962-2006), by Number of Stages
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see FIGURE 2: First Appearance of General Stage Models, by # of Stages (1962-2006)
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How Organizations make Transitions between Stages
According to the core precepts of any stages approach, the transitions from any given stage
to the next one are defined to be linear and incremental processes (Churchill & Lewis, 1983; Van
de Ven & Poole, 1995). At the same time, we define a distinct model as one that proposes a
specific process or approach for transitioning from one stage to the next. Essentially in our
analysis of 104 stages models, all of them present a clearly defined process of transition between
stages, and/or a specific process of development overall.
Our hypothesis here is similar to the one above: if consensus has emerged within the stages
approach, we should see a decreasing number of distinct models over time, reflecting a growing
agreement about how the process of growth and development occurs over time. More likely we
would expect to find an initial increase in the number of distinct models, followed by a decrease

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in the number of models as more and more theorists agreed on one specific process, even if that
process might occur across differing number of stages. Further, we would expect that this
winnowing down would occur within industry-specific (contingent) models as well as across
general models.
Our analysis, shown in Figure 3, shows that there was no winnowing down. Specifically,
there is no consensus toward a single specific framework explaining how growth and
development occur over time. In fact, the number of transition frameworks increases over time,
showing a growing diversity and heterogeneity of developmental processes in general models
and in mid-range contingent models. Specifically, the number of distinct stage models tripled
from 11 in 1970 to 35 by 1980, then almost doubled again to 68 by 1990, and finally increased
by 53% through 2006. The number of general stages models plateaued between 1994 and 2000,
but then rose again with five new general models added between 2001 and 2006. The number of
industry-specific and mid-range models was low until the mid-1970’s, but then increased rapidly,
and overtook the number of general models in 2001. The continued production of new models,
and in particular the increase in proportion of mid-range models, suggests that consensus has not
been reached. It may be that this lack of consensus is reflected in theorists’ increasing aversion
for claiming universality for their particular model.
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Please see FIGURE 3: Cumulative Increase in Published Stage Models, 1962-2006
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Why Stages Change

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Next, we investigated how each modeler described the underlying mechanisms that explain
why businesses grow in the way that they do. Each of these mechanisms provides an explanation
for the growth of businesses, and this is why our most in-depth analysis was conducted on
conceptual foundations of each model in the literature. These foundations reflect the underlying
drivers of these stages models. Our hypothesis is that if stages models were to display increasing
consensus, successive iterations of the stages approach over time would be based on (a) a small
number of seminal models that virtually all papers referenced, or (b) a smaller and smaller
number of key sources, reflecting the process of building on the elements of the approach that
were confirmed and discarding approaches that were disconfirmed. In looking for such patterns,
we also asked: are there mechanisms that explain anything other than growth? What might such
a mechanism look like?
The first publications of each distinct model is listed in Table 3, with the authors’ names in
bold (mid-range model authors in bold and italics). (Papers cited as antecedents of models by
later authors, but which did not contain new model themselves are “intermediate links,” shown in
normal type.) All antecedents for each new model are listed in the table by order in which they
appear in the literature. Intermediate links carry the number of their original antecedent and a
letter that denotes, in alphabetical order, the order of their appearance as an intermediate link for
that antecedent. In addition, three significant sources from outside the field are also shown:
Toynbee, Rostow and Gardner. Finally, the number of links back to each model from later new
models is shown in the last column.
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Please see TABLE 3: Conceptual Lineages of Stage Models of Early Corporate Growtha
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Four of the 104 models identified in this review appear to be independent ‘source nodes’ for the

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stages literature, in that they are each cited as the bases of new models by later publications, but
they do not mention or cite each other. These are models by Greiner (1972), Christensen & Scott
(1964), Lippett & Schmidt (1967), and Normann (1977). The classic Product Life Cycle model
constitutes a fifth source. Since these appear to constitute the theoretical foundations of the field,
we examine each of their conceptual origins.
Evolution and revolution. Greiner’s (1972) model is cited as a source for model
construction by 21 later models, more than any other model. Greiner proposed that the future of
an organization may be more determined by the organization's own history than by outside forces.
He treated the organization as if it were a developing person. He then applied (1972, p. 38):
"...the legacies of European psychologists, their thesis being that individual behavior is
determined primarily by previous events and experiences, not by what lies ahead." To Greiner,
organizations faced a predictable series of life crises (revolutions), interspersed with periods of
relative calm (evolution). Greiner set out 5 distinguishable stages of sequential development that
organizations pass through on their way to a sixth, unknown, stage. The prescriptive nature and
evolution-revolution dichotomy of Greiner’s model gives it intuitive appeal. Predictable crises
can be dealt with by prescribed changes in organizational structure. Greiner's model continues to
be displayed in many textbooks and ‘how-to’ books aimed at practicing managers.
Stages of corporate development. Christensen & Scott (1964) is the second most
influential source node, with 12 citations for model construction from later new models. “The
Scott model” mirrors Rostow's (1960) "The Stages of Economic Growth" in drawing arbitrary
lines to create stages in the development of a firm from a simple to a complex organization.4
Empirically, Scott took what was common to four cases of corporate development in the United
States, as detailed in Chandler (1962). Chandler in fact never claimed that the cases he described

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were anything more than "chapters in the history” of the large American enterprise. As a
historian, he recognized that the firms he studied all operated within the same external
environment, and that other environments might spur different organizational forms.
Nevertheless, the Scott model, which was revised several times, was used as a universal
framework for many influential empirical studies at the Harvard Business School (Scott, 1973),
as well as an intuitively appealing teaching aid.
Morphogenesis. Another lineage of the ‘stages’ literature can be traced to Normann
(1977). Normann (p.45) cited Rhenman as arguing that the "morphogenesis" of an organization
is a learning process, and that similar patterns of form across organizations are a product of
similar environmental conditions. This is not quite the same as corporate development. It might
be described as ‘heavily constrained evolution.’ Normann credited Rhenman (1973) with
proposing 4 distinct stages in the development of a typical business idea, and that the
development of a new single product firm was mirrored in these 4 stages.5 The use of the word
“morphogenesis” and the predictive sequence of stages is suggestive of an organismic metaphor.
Normann is cited as inspiration for model construction by only two other stages modelers, but
one of these, Kazanjian (1988), constructed an influential model with 11 citations from later new
models.
Organizational life cycle. The Lippitt & Schmidt (1967) model is based on the idea that
firms have life cycles. This model is cited by 10 later new models as a source of inspiration.
Lippitt & Schmidt quote John W. Gardner (1965, p. 20) as justification for their use of the
organismic life cycle analogy:
"Like people and plants, organizations have a life cycle. They have a green and supple
youth, a time of flourishing strength, and a gnarled old age... An organization may go on

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from youth to old age in two or three decades, or it may last for centuries."
For some reason, Lippitt & Schmidt omitted the following middle section from the quotation:
"But organizations differ from people and plants in that their cycle isn't even
approximately predictable. More important, it may go through a period of stagnation and
then revive. In short, decline is not inevitable. Organizations need not stagnate.
Organizations can renew themselves continuously."
It appears from a full reading of his article that Gardner felt, like Penrose (1952), that the use of
the organismic life cycle analogy should not be applied too strongly to firms, since the life
‘cycle’ of a firm was not predetermined, or in Gardner’s words “[not] even approximately
predictable”. Although this undermines Lippitt & Schmidt’s justification for using the analogy,
it demonstrates the attractiveness of the organismic metaphor, and perhaps why it has survived
for so long.
The product life cycle. The Product Life Cycle (PLC) is the explicit conceptual base of
several corporate stage models in the literature (see e.g. Anthony & Ramesh, 1992; James, 1973;
Kroeger, 1974). The PLC was originally developed as an explanation of idealized product sales
behavior under increasing competitive conditions (Dean, 1950). As such, it would have more
affinity with ecological than organismic concepts of change, as Lambkin & Day (1989) have
observed. However, the developmental nature of the terms used to name various stages in the
PLC (growth, maturity, decline) appears to have resulted in it being popularly viewed as an
organismic model. For example, Dhalla & Yuspeh (1976, p. 102) state:
“The PLC concept, as developed by its proponents, is fairly simple. Like human beings or
animals, everything in the marketplace is presumed to be mortal. A brand is born, grows
lustily, attains maturity, and then enters declining years, after which it is quietly buried.”

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Assessing the Conceptual Origins of Stage models
Viewing these five explanations together, we see they all have a strong organismic flavor:
businesses, like organisms, have a growth imperative, and in most models are expected to pass
through a distinct “growth stage”. Examining them in more detail, however, we found that the
five process frameworks differ dramatically in terms of the drivers of organizational
development. “Evolution/Revolution” and the “Organizational Life Cycle” argue that stage
transitions are sparked by factors internal to the firm, whereas “Morphogenesis” and “Stages of
Corporate Development” stress environmental factors as influencing corporate growth; in
addition, the “Product Life Cycle” provides no conceptual framework for transitions. Finally, we
have found mismatches between the original sources of some of the conceptual origins of the
field and the way they were described by stages modelers who introduced them.
A deeper problem exists in the lack of apparent accumulation of knowledge over time in
these models. Specifically, just 32 other new models cite at least one of these five source nodes
(or their intermediate links), and only a further 24 have indirect links to these source nodes
through other models. Forty-four models have no model construction citations to any other
stages models at all, thus obviating any claim toward conceptual consensus.
This might be reconcilable if there was an increasing consistency within the 32 models that
do make a clear link to source nodes. Unfortunately this test is also disconfirmed. Specifically
we find that 24, or 75% of those models are linked to two or more source theories. Far from
reaching cumulative agreement in Why organizations change from one stage to the next, relatively
few modelers cite any of the main theoretical sources in the field, and most of those that do, cite
multiple and conflicting sources.

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The proliferation of different stage models in the literature and the absence of consensus
among them is astonishing when one considers that 50 of them are universal models. If all three
principal stage propositions have validity, then only one model should be correct. But which
one? A more challenging possibility is that one or more of these propositions is invalid, at least
for the case of early corporate growth. We can best explore this question empirically, by
examining to what degree the propositions of stage models are confirmed in empirical studies.
Full agreement, or increasing agreement, between propositions and results would suggest an
increasing clarity about why stage transitions happen across a range of organizations. Thus in
the next section we consider the empirical evidence for the theoretical propositions of stages
models.
An Empirical Assessment of Stages Models
Although the conceptual origins of the field appear to be in disarray, it is possible that
empirical tests will show consistent results within – and perhaps across – the source nodes of
stage models, regardless of the explanation each uses for Why predictable stage changes take
place in businesses. We thus review the empirical tests of each of the main source nodes, noting
that we have found no explicit tests of models based on the product life cycle using firm-level
data.
Evolution and revolution. Tushman, Newman & Romanelli (1986, p. 32) set out to build
on the Greiner model with data on “large samples of companies in the minicomputer, cement,
airlines and glass industries”. They found that most successful firms in their samples did undergo
transformations under crisis, but they did not necessarily follow the sequence that Greiner
specified - or indeed any one sequence. Each firm seemed to follow a different sequence of

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punctuated stages. They conclude (Tushman et al., 1986, p. 43), “There are no patterns in the
sequence of frame-breaking changes, and not all strategies will be effective.”6
Eggers et al. (1994) tested Churchill & Lewis’s (1983) five stages model (a partial
derivative of Greiner’s five stage model) on a large sample of high-potential firms. In that study,
nearly 40% of the companies sampled did not follow the predicted growth model. In response
the authors conclude: “Due to our findings revealing individual company differences in
developmental progression, we believe using “Stages of Growth” is no longer an appropriate
term to refer to this process, and may be misleading” (Eggers et al., 1994, p. 137).
Stages of development. As noted above, the Scott model was used as a framework for a
series of empirical studies at the Harvard Business School in the 1970’s. As more empirical
information became available on the development of multinational and non-American firms, the
number of sub-types within stages increased, and it was increasingly recognized that the Scott
model was not a universal model, but rather a portrayal of the common features of many large
American corporations which evolved during the early to mid 20th century (see e.g. Franko,
1974 for a comparison with European corporations). As a predictive model, therefore, it is of
questionable use beyond its particular geographic and temporal boundaries.
Morphogenesis. Normann's model was taken further by Galbraith (1982) and formed the
basis of a PhD thesis by Kazanjian (1983). A series of empirical papers (Kazanjian, 1988;
Kazanjian & Drazin, 1989; 1990) presented a positive picture of the predictability of the
Kazanjian (1983) stages model. However, Kazanjian obtained only modest support for his
model, despite restricting his model and his sampling frame to new high technology ventures.
As Scott (1992) has noted, Kazanjian’s predictive model classified many firms in the ‘error’
cells, including firms which regressed back through stages. Later, Koberg, Uhlenbruck &

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Sarason (1996) modified this model to just two stages: early and late, suggesting a need to relax
the model as far as possible. It would appear from this that the growth of firms is not as heavily
constrained into pseudo-stages as Normann suggested.
Organizational life cycle. Miller & Friesen (1984), in a ground-breaking empirical test of
the ‘stages’ hypothesis, built a composite life cycle model from several previous models and
tested it on longitudinal data from 36 firms. They found that much organizational growth and
change was discontinuous in nature; varying periods of organizational "momentum" were
punctuated by quantum leaps in organizational form. They also detected a tendency for firms to
adopt a limited number of organizational forms, which were different from each other "in very
pervasive and multifaceted ways" (1984, p. 1177). However, and most importantly, these
different forms were "by no means connected to each other in any deterministic sequence" (1984,
p. 1177). Similarly, Raffa, Zollo & Caponi (1996) found the growth paths of 32 young Italian
software firms to be quite complex, with firms moving between seven different identifiable
configurations, but not in any set order.
Drazin & Kazanjian (1990) reanalysed Miller & Friesen's (1984) data, and were able to
improve the predictability of the model by reducing the number of stages (and reducing the
number of firms which regressed back or skipped stages). However, support or refutation of the
life cycle hypothesis depended on an arbitrary weighting of firms that did not move through
stages. This finding was even more strongly confirmed in the large scale empirical study by
Dodge, Fullerton & Robbins (1994), who found that even a two stage model was a poor predictor
of the problems affecting 645 small firms. Arguing that competition effects provided far more
significant explanatory variables they concluded:

20
“Our findings contradict…much of the relevant literature that describes stages of the
organizational life cycle in terms of deterministic sets of problems that can be
anticipated as an organization makes the transition from one stage to the next” (1994,
p. 131).
Birch (1987) specifically tested the organizational life cycle concept on very large
scale longitudinal data sets of US firms. Echoing Gardner’s comments 20 years earlier
Birch concluded:
“Companies do not develop like human beings. Young, small firms, unlike youngsters
and trees, do not necessarily grow. And not all large, old firms decline. We need to
discard anthropomorphic inclinations and obtain a more sophisticated model of the
economy, based upon empirical evidence rather than imagery” (1987, p. 28).
Subsequently, Birch, Haggerty & Parsons (1995) examined a longitudinal database of 10 million
US firms. They concluded: “The relatively few firms that survive and evolve exhibit their own
distinctive pattern, quite different from that of cows [i.e. organisms]…” (Birch et al., 1995, p. 5).
Similarly, McCann (1991) examined the development of 100 young independent
technology-based firms and concluded that the simple, deterministic model of venture
development was unable to capture the complexity of situations facing young ventures:
“Very importantly, the results offer little support for the life cycle as a device for
guiding choice taking. Stage is not, with minor exception, a significant factor in this
study, thus suggesting that young ventures are able and willing to make a larger array
of choices at several points in their development than conceptualized [in the stages
model employed]” (McCann, 1991, p. 206).

21
Garnsey, Stam and Heffernan (2006) also examined the growth of high-tech ventures (N=93)
over a 10-year period, and found that less than one third of them followed growth paths that
could in any way reflect the paths predicted by a life cycle model.7
Overall summary. This large scale and multi-study empirical evidence suggests to us
that there is only one aspect of the stages model that has held up to empirical tests, namely the
claim that a growing business displays distinguishable stages or configurations at different times
in its history. However as we have shown above, there is no consensus on the number of stages,
nor on how they are related. Moreover, the proposition that all businesses follow the set
sequence is not at all supported by the empirical evidence. Given the lack of conceptual
consensus, amplified by the lack of empirical evidence, one would expect stage modeling to have
petered out. Yet it has not.
The Firm as an Organism: The Persistence of a Paradigm
New stages of growth models continue to appear in the literature, while old ones are
reprinted as classics, recommended in textbooks, taught in core business courses, and marketed
by business consultants. The stages approach is firmly established in the practitioner’s domain,
as evidenced by its regular appearance, often in the form of new models, in articles in trade
journals (e.g. Schori & Garee, 1998, Vastine, 1995; also note Greiner 1998) and in internet
business sites.8 Strong predictability is claimed for these ‘popular’ models, and no evidence
offered.
There are several possible reasons why the stages field continues to proliferate despite
mounting disconfirming evidence. One, as we mentioned, is the narrow coverage of reviews of
the field – d'Amboise & Muldowney (1988), Gibb & Davies (1990), Hanks (1990), Gupta &
Chin (1994) and Phelps et al. (2007) capture just a fraction (typically 25% or less) of published

22
models. This made the field look less congested than it really is. It also reduced the spread of
awareness of empirical evidence that casts doubt on the ‘stages’ approach.
Another reason may be the intuitive appeal of the ‘stages’ approach – the “allure of stage
models” (Stubbart & Smalley, 1999, p. 273). Humans can instinctively empathize with the
notion of stages of development, since their own lives tend to be lived in socially categorized
periods of time marked by distinctive features and experiences (childhood, adolescence,
adulthood, etc.). Similar intuitive connections have been found in the metaphor of a start-up
business being “my baby,” as evidenced in the recent study of entrepreneurship from a
parenthood metaphor (Cardon et al., 2005).
We believe that the proliferation of these models at a time when US capitalism peaked in
the world’s economy is no coincidence. In the US in the second half of the 20th century, few
questioned the association of growth and progress, and few costed environmental externalities
into their growth cost/benefit calculations. The element of pre-determination in the organismic
metaphor provided a justification for growth and a sense of security in what, for business, tends
to be an uncertain world (Bhidé, 2000, p. 244-245). This instinctive appeal (i.e. high face
validity) makes it particularly attractive as a teaching or consulting tool, a reason used by Greiner
(1972, p. 44) to justify his model in a non-scientific way:
“I hope that many readers will react to my model by seeing it as obvious and natural
for depicting the growth of an organization. To me, this type of reaction is a useful
test of the model’s validity.”
One could conclude from this that stages of business growth theory produces non-verified
yet comforting models, and that this approach should be discarded by entrepreneurship scholars.
And yet, perhaps we should not be too quick to throw the intuitive baby out with the theoretical

23
bath water. One element of stage theory that is empirically true is that businesses tend to operate
in some definable state for some period of time. Occasionally – especially in times of growth or
decline of a business – that state changes, sometimes incrementally (Churchill & Lewis, 1983),
sometimes in a rather dramatic way (Romanelli & Tushman, 1994). Within a specific range of
conditions (including industry and market dynamics), these states and their changes may be
fairly consistent, albeit not necessarily predictable across firms. Can we develop a general
framework for this process that is not limited by the original propositions from stage theory?
Toward a Dynamic States Model of Entrepreneurial Change
We propose that by altering two propositions of stages theory, most of the current
dissensus in the field could be addressed. These two propositions are 1) that businesses develop
through a specific number of stages, and 2) that these stages represent an immanent program of
development. These two propositions directly follow from the assumption that organizations
develop as if they were organisms, and reflect a biological foundation of theory development.
After illuminating this foundation, we will show that by replacing it with complexity science
foundations, we can generate a more theoretically valid approach, what we are calling a Dynamic
States theory of entrepreneurial change. We aim to show how this adjustment allows for an
integration of previous work into a simpler and potentially more compelling framework that can
become the basis of consensus for the dynamic states model.
Distinguishing an Organism’s Development from an Organization’s Development
In biology, the developmental growth of an individual organism is believed to follow an
immanent program that evolved through the genetic adaptations of the species over thousands or
perhaps millions of generations. That program of development leads to a state of relative
efficiency and effectiveness for the adult organism in its environmental niche. However, such

24
“fitness” is a two-edged sword, for it means that each particular organism requires access to a
particular environment for survival and growth. This environment is an instantiation of the
species niche, defined as: “a habitat supplying the factors necessary for the existence of an
organism or species” (Webster's, 1996). Assuming that the factors necessary for survival are
available to the organism, then and only then will the organism follow its pre-determined,
immanent program of development.
A moment of reflection will reveal how obvious this deduction is. For example, a nestful
of baby birds whose mother has (sadly) been killed cannot develop into adults if they don’t
receive food. Likewise an unweaned wild elephant that gets separated from the herd is highly
unlikely to complete its developmental cycle. Even adult organisms will be unable to complete
their average life cycle (life span) when their habitat becomes severely disturbed or destroyed.
Does the same hold for new businesses? Assuming an (averagely resourceful)
organization that starts within a consistently growing industry, studies show that it will likely
follow a series of states (called “stages” in the literature) that essentially reflect a configuration
of growth in age, size, and structure (Blake & Cullen, 1993; Lotti, Santarelli, & Vivarelli, 2003).
Quite consistently, across multiple industries and across multiple ages of firms, up to 60% of all
small firms seem to fit somewhere along this sequence of organizing states (e.g. Hanks et al.,
1994; Eggers et al., 1994).
If up to 60% of firms do fit into a general typology of states, what about the other 40%?
That is where the organismic life cycle metaphor breaks down; but it is also where the biological
model can be transformed into a more effective organizational model. For unlike individual
organisms, individual business firms are not pre-determined by an unchangeable genetic program
(Kaufman, 1991). Facing rapid growth or imminent decline the most successful companies can

25
and do change their pathway of development, by altering their resource sets (Chiles, Meyer &
Hench, 2004; Romanelli & Tushman, 1994); re-defining their niche (Garud, Kumaraswamy, &
Sambamurthy, 2006; Meyer, Brooks, & Goes, 1990), or even by creating a new niche within
which they can more effectively compete (Gartner, Bird, & Starr, 1992; Sarasvathy, 2001). In
the same way, many businesses do not grow much beyond their original size, remaining family
firms or lifestyle businesses that effectively support their founder and a small community of
employees. More than 70% of businesses in the United States have no employees other than the
owner (Small Business Administration, 2004, p.198). Most business owners are extremely
content to remain at a certain size and structure for many decades, assuming there are no
dramatic shifts in their niche market (Gartner & Carter, 2003). How can a revised set of
assumptions integrate all sides of this story?
Assumptions and Elements of A Dynamic States Model
What a Dynamic State Represents
In order to capture the truth that business organizations (like organisms) are dependent on
their environment for survival, the dynamic states model uses an open systems framework
(Ashmos & Huber, 1987; Scott, 1981), based in the sciences of complexity (Anderson, 1999;
Lichtenstein, Carter, Gartner & Dooley, 2007). In this framework, the firm represents a means
for transforming resources (materials, capabilities, etc.) into products/services that provide value
for its customers, who represent its market niche (Ardichvili et al., 2003). This process of value-
creation is described and enacted by the firm’s Business Model (Afuah, 2004; Zott & Amit,
2007), which incorporates the activities, resources, collaborations, and strategic positions
necessary to capitalize on a business opportunity and thus survive, at least until the “fitness
landscape” really starts changing. Although the business model itself is often tacit to

26
management, its tangible outcome is known as a “configuration” (Meyer, Tsui, & Hinings, 1993)
or a “phase of management” (Eggers et al., 1994). We call it a dynamic state and depict it in
Figure 4.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see FIGURE 4: Elements of a Dynamic State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why Do Dynamic States Shift?
In the most general sense, a state represents the best perceived match between an
business organization’s resources and its capacity to deliver on environmental demands
(Thompson, 1967; Pennings, 1992). All things being equal, environmental or internal demands
often require constant adaptations to the year-to-year changes in their ‘market niche’. These are
“1st order” changes (Bartunek & Moch, 1987) that generate increasing effectiveness in their
particular competitive strategy within that niche, reflecting convergent change (Tushman &
Romanelli, 1985). Learning-based moves like these are modeled in the NK framework as “hill-
climbing strategies” (Rivkin & Siggelkow, 2003, p.296).
However, significant and/or dynamic shifts in the business environment sometimes
require the alteration of large parts of the firm’s business model and/or a re-organizing in the
configuration of activities that create value in that business model (Chiles et al., 2004). These
“2nd order” (Bartunek & Moch, 1987) punctuated shifts can transform the organization
(Romanelli & Tushman, 1994) into a new dynamic state. In more unique cases this shift
catalyzes the emergence of an entirely new organizing state (Plowman et al., 2007).
The Dynamic States model incorporates useful insights from previous theory: As an
organization grows, due to a good management team and a benevolent niche, the likelihood is
that it will grow in a series of configurations, each punctuated by rapid and effective change that

27
reflects the dynamic growth in their environment (Churchill & Lewis, 1983; Greiner, 1972). As
in previous stages theory, these changes may be linear and are somewhat “predictable” given an
averagely growing market niche.
However, the propositions of the dynamic states model differ from the old stages theory
in two profound ways, as shown in Table 4. First, since dynamic states (aim to) reflect an
optimal relationship between the firm’s business model and its environment, and since both sides
of the equation can technically change ad infinitem, there can be any number of dynamic states
in an organization’s existence. Further, these can occur in any number of sequences. In other
words, there is neither a way to predict how many organizing states there are in a firm’s “life
cycle,” nor, according to our approach, should we care about that question at all. By relaxing the
need to identify a specific number of set stages, we can focus instead on a much more relevant
question to managers of entrepreneurial firms, namely: How is a given dynamic state – and its
associated business model – more or less effective in certain conditions (e.g. Blake & Cullen,
1993)? And how are various progressions of states related to knowable environmental conditions
(Garnsey et al., 2006)?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please see TABLE 4: Assumptions and Propositions of Stages of Growth Models and the
Dynamic States Model
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
An additional element of the theory is the regularity of business growth in specific
contexts, such as the well-demonstrated power law of structural growth compared to growth in
employees (Stanley et al., 1996),9 the effect of Gibrat’s law on SMEs (Lotti et al., 2003), and the
important role of fads, bandwagons, and other common dynamics in emerging and new markets
(Low & Abrahamson, 1997).

28
How Organizations make Transitions between States
The new states theory allows for multiple processes of change and transition, thus
providing a far better alignment between the theory and the wide range of empirical findings
from studies of the stage change literature. In the broadest sense, state change can proceed in an
incremental way (Churchill & Lewis, 1983) or through punctuations (Romanelli & Tushman,
1994), or in other ways (Greenwood & Hinings, 1988; Miller & Friesen, 1980). These
differences might depend on the pace of external dynamics (e.g. Meyer et al., 1990), and/or on
the organization’s internal capacity to change (Nicholls-Nixon, Cooper, & Woo, 2000). In
effect, as an organization increases its capacity to change within an increasingly dynamic
environment, one would expect faster and faster shifts between states, as organizations become
ever more adaptive. At the limit, these changes would appear to be continuous (Brown &
Eisenhardt, 1997), as described in recent models of “continuous morphing” (Rindova & Kotha,
2001).
Moreover, this same process can occur in a declining market (Whetten, 1980). That is,
according to the dynamic states model, the shift to a new state should reflect a more effective
link between external demand and internal capacity to produce (taking into account the ‘costs’ of
the transformation process itself). If the market is shrinking, one move a managing entrepreneur
can make is to “right-size” the firm, i.e. find a better match between revenues and cost structures,
even at the expense of limiting products or services. In this way, the theory readily explains
regressions to previous states as a viable and worthwhile option for organizational change
(Eggers et al., 1994; Garnsey et al., 2006).
The flexibility of the new states theory also provides an important conceptual foundation
for recent research into the emergence of new configurations within firms. For example,

29
Plowman and her colleagues (2007) present a detailed description of the radical yet incremental
emergence of a new identity and configuration at “Mission Church.” In essence, “emergence” is
an additional process that can be used to explain why and how new organizing states appear.
Moreover, by removing the limitations implicit in an organismic metaphor, the new states
theory can be generalized to explain state changes at many different levels. For example, the
theory has the potential to help explain shifts in large-scale innovations (e.g. Van de Ven,
Pooley, Garud, & Venkataraman, 1999), transitions in industry-wide standards and norms
(Garud, Jain, & Kumaraswamy, 2002), and the process of institutional entrepreneurship as a
result, in part, of a more effective configuration that reflects changing dynamics in external
opportunity and market demands along with an internal capacity to initiate appropriate change.
These arguments were at the center of Tan’s (2007) study of “phase transitions” across two
“states” in the emerging economy of China, suggesting an even broader possible application of
the states theory to developmental economics.
Conclusion
Our overall claim in this paper is that organismic stages models and life-cycle theories of
business growth, although popular among researchers and especially practitioners,10 are not
accurate representations of the early growth and development of entrepreneurial firms.
Specifically, after more than 40 years of trying, no consensus has emerged on what the supposed
‘stages’ of growth are, how they progress, or why one shifts to another. We backed that claim
through the most comprehensive review of stage models that has ever been published, using as
our analytic framework some well-recognized determinants of good theory in management
(Davis & Marquis, 2005; Whetten, 1989). Moreover, we reviewed the empirical research to date,
finding much disconfirmation and virtually no confirmation of the core stages models in the

30
management academic literature. Essentially, we conclude that stages theory should no longer
be used by scholars of entrepreneurship (c.f. Pfeffer, 1983).
Then, through a close examination of the underlying assumption driving these stages
models and the propositions that flow from this, we found that replacing a biological theory
foundation with a complexity science foundation led to a shift in two key propositions, which in
turn led to the outline of a more general Dynamic States model. This model aligns well with
current theory in entrepreneurship, strategy, and management, and appears to explain a greater
set of results than its precursor. The new model defines a dynamic state as a specific business
model (Afuah, 2004) that generates a configuration of activities supported by an organizational
design for a period of time. The model makes a preliminary assumption that each state
represents management’s attempts to most efficiently/effectively match internal organizing
capacity with the external market/customer demand. Prolonged changes in the level of external
demand, or in the capacity of management to lead, are thus likely to spark a shift in the
organization’s current dynamic state. By eliminating the constraint that there should be a
specific number of stages which would accrue in a specific sequence, the dynamic states model
helps explain the wide range of resulting states and sequences found in many empirical studies to
date (e.g. Garnsey 1996; Garnsey et al., 2006).
The generality of the theory is also its greatest challenge, for the only way to determine
what, how, and why states actually change is through empirical tests of the boundary conditions
for the theory: when and where do states change, and how are these answers modified by a range
of contextual variables? Like any newly emerging theory, the value and legitimacy of the new
dynamic states model relies on the degree to which answers to these questions can be
summarized from previous studies and clarified through future ones.

31
Although this may be a daunting proposition, the motivation for pursuing it is great. The
new dynamic states model offers many benefits which we summarize by way of conclusion.
First, the new theory is a useful update of Van de Ven and Poole’s (1995) classic typology of
change drivers, for rather than dismissing life cycle models – as our review might have suggested
– we retain the importance of their fourth quadrant driver of change by making moderate
changes to two of its assumptions. Thus we can uphold Van de Ven and Poole’s four-part
typology, while generalizing the theory to a wider set of issues.
For example, the definition of dynamic state provides new ways to differentiate between
1st order, 2nd order, and higher order changes (Bartunek & Moch, 1987; Tushman & Romanelli,
1985). In addition, the new dynamic states model provides an access point for connecting
transformative change with the cognitive scripts that underlie a state’s business model and
configuration (Bettis and Prahalad, 1995; Greenwood & Hinings, 1996). Equally important, the
new dynamic states model provides more direct links to other well established fields. For
example, by defining a dynamic state in terms of a business model and the activities and
resources needed to carry out that business model, the new model links to important areas of
strategy (Garud & Van de Ven, 2002; Mosakowski, 1993; Nicholls-Nixon et al., 2000). Also, by
linking each dynamic state to a business opportunity that the firm aims to capitalize on, the
model links to leading edge thinking in entrepreneurship (Ardichvili et al., 2003; Bhidé, 2000),
potentially providing insights to studies of new venture growth (Garnsey & Heffernan, 2003;
Nicholls-Nixon, 2005). Further, by recognizing that states are configurations which can be
described in a variety of ways, the dynamic states model provides theoretical links to recent work
in entrepreneurial value creation (Sarason, Dean & Dillard, 2006; Zott & Amit, 2007), the
organizing and emergence of collective-action networks (Baldassari & Diani, 2007), and the

32
cycles of creation in the emergence of new industries (Garud et al., 2002) and economic regions
(Chiles et al., 2004). In addition, the dynamic nature of the model makes it a strong complement
to complexity science explanations of emergence and adaptive change (McKelvey, 2004;
Plowman et al., 2007).
Finally, an intriguing contribution is in the ways that dynamic states model can support
business sustainability (Hart & Milstein, 2003; Schaltegger & Wagner, 2006). The dynamic
states model eliminates a long-held assumption in the management literature that the “right” way
for a business to develop is to grow, according to a set number of stages (Churchill & Lewis,
1983; Greiner, 1972). That is, perhaps those growth assumptions are faulty when applied to
social organizations – to organizations of humans in the natural world. In its place we may
reconceptualize a more true energy-sharing relationship between a firm and its overall ecology.
Rather than growth, such a measure might be about finding the most effective and efficient
dynamic state between the entrepreneur, her/his organization, and their niche market.
Effectiveness and efficiency could be measured as the degree to which a manager or social
entrepreneur can find the ideal balance between the value that their organization generates
(social benefits), and the actual costs (in triple-bottom line accounting terms) of creating that
value, as well as their own personal sustainability as manager of the firm. This approach may
then improve our understanding of how sustainability might be generated at multiple levels:
through entrepreneurs (Hawken, 1993) and through social entrepreneuring, in organizations
(Epstein, 2008; Hart & Milstein, 2003; Porter & Kramer, 2006), throughout industries
(Ehrenfeld, 2007), and system-wide (Senge et al., 2007).

33
Footnotes
1. We recognize that biological metaphors are applied to organizations in other ways. For
example, according to the ecological metaphor, populations of firms are assumed to fluctuate
like populations of individual organisms of a species (Hannan & Freeman, 1977). In the
biological evolution metaphor, by contrast, firms are likened to species in that they are
assumed to evolve through a series of stable and unstable states as internal structural changes
interact with environmental sorting processes (Baum & Singh, 1994).
2. Some stage theorists (e.g. Lippitt & Schmidt, 1967; Kroeger, 1974) take the analogy a step
further and see firms as having life cycles – an analogy first used in 1895 by Marshall who
likened the growth of firms to the life cycle of trees in a forest. However, we will focus on
the three most common propositions of the theory.
3. Note to reviewers: We can include a 2-page table which lists every attribute we found
measured in a stages theory, organized either by frequency of mention or by category.
4. Two modelers have acknowledged an intellectual debt to Toynbee, who proposed common
stages in the rise and decline of civilizations (see Table 3). We would place them within this
conceptual lineage.
5. We carefully read Rhenman’s 1973 book and found no trace of these four stages. Instead, we
found that Rhenman argued against the notion of common stages of organizations.
6. Greiner (in Van de Ven, 1992) does not acknowledge any study as having tested - and
essentially falsified - his model, despite the fact that Tushman et al. (1986) acknowledge that
Greiner's model was the basis of their work. Greiner states: "My sample was small, mostly
secondary data, and limited largely to industrial/consumer goods companies. So there is a
need for a larger more systematic study - and it’s interesting that none has been conducted
over all these years on my model or any others for that matter." (Van de Ven, 1992, p. 185
n.8)
7. Specifically we refer to the proportions of firms displaying continuous, interrupted or
plateaued growth. See also Garnsey & Heffernan, 2003, p. 10, Table 1.
8. The exact phrase “stages of business growth” generated 740 hits on Google on 29 June 2008.
9. Across all U.S. manufacturing firms, from 100 to 10,000 employees (six orders of magnitude).
10. The Eggers et al. (1994) study demonstrates that entrepreneurs intuitively understand and
agree with classic stages models; when shown a five-stage model of organizational growth;
all 204 of the managers in their study were able to identify their organization’s current stage.

34
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56
TABLE 1
Most Common Attributes of a Stage
ATTRIBUTE CATEGORY
Mentioned in #
of stages
models
Extent of formal systems Systems 52
Growth rate (sales or employees) Outcomes (age/size/growth) 50
Organizational structure Structure 49
Nature of top management Mgt characteristics 48
Complexity Structure 40
Age Outcomes (age/size/growth) 38
Formality of communications system Structure 38
Size Outcomes (age/size/growth) 36
Primary focus of the organization Strategy 36
Managerial style Mgt characteristics 23
Owner involvement Mgt characteristics 23
Constraints, problems encountered Problem 22
Degree of centralization of decision-making Mgt characteristics 21
Number of top management Mgt characteristics 20
Product development and initial marketing Product characteristics 20
Relationship with environment External factor 19
Resources or inputs needed Problem 19
Diversity Product characteristics 18
Concept development Strategy 18
Extent of bureaucracy in management control
system Systems 18
Internal problems Problem 18

57
TABLE 2
Most Common Categories (of Attributes) in Stages Models
CATEGORY
No. o
f
stages
models
Outcomes (age/size/growth) 74
Mgt characteristics 68
Org structure 60
Strategy 58
Systems 54
Problem 49
Process characteristics 44
Product characteristics 42
Staff 33
Market factors 24
Innovation 20
External factor 19
Profitability 16
Geography 13
Culture 10
Risks 9

TABLE 3
Conceptual Lineages of Stage Models of Early Corporate Growtha
aKey to table:
Bold: New general models
Bold, Italics: New midrange models
SMALL CAPS: Source node
Normal type: Intermediate (backward) link to new model
(Normal type, in parentheses): original intellectual source
Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
104 Hwang & Park 2006 3 39a 39c 43 48 55 75 0
103 Masurel & van Montfort 2006 4 12 29 32 42 58 0
102 Harris, Grubb & Hebert 2005 4 62 74 0
101 Auzair & Langfield-
Smith 2005 3 43 48 0
100 Lee, Cho & Denslow 2004 4 39a 48 74 84 0
99 Rutherford, Buller &
McMullen 2003 4 56 0
98
Lester, Parnell &
Carraher
2003 5 7 32 42 43 48 0
97 Nambisan 2002 4 66a 0
96 Beverland & Lockshin 2001 4 32a 39b 66a 0
95 Van Auken 2001 3 0
94 Lee and Tan 2001 4 7 12 42 60a 0
93 Hite & Hesterly 2001 2 39b 42 0
92 Tam, Lee & Chung 2001 6 0
91 Flynn & Foreman 2001 2 39a 43 79 0
90 Abetti 2001 3 12 0
89 Floyd & Fenwick 1999 4 42 0
bdirect cites or cites of work that used this model explicitly; only cites used in model construction are recorded here

Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
88 Berger & Udell 1998 4 0
87 Stone 1997 3 0
86 Lowry 1997 4 0
85 Koberg, Uhlenbruck &
Sarason 1996 4 39a 0
84 Hanks & Chandler 1994 4 12 37 39a 55 58 60 73 1
83 Eggers, Leahy &
Churchill
1994 6 42 0
82 Helms & Renfrow 1994 5 0
81 Romano & Ratnatunga 1994 3 8 17 30b 42 31 60 0
80 Gupta & Chin 1994 3 2 4b 5a 7 9 12 16 32 54 55 0
52a Carter & Van Auken 1994
79 Terpstra & Olson 1993 2 39a 1
78
Felsenstein & Schwartz 1993 4 0
77 Baker & Cullen 1993 4 2 32 43 48 0
76 Mount, Zinger & Forsyth 1993 5 4c 7 10 30a 30c 32a 39a 42 58 60a 74 0
66a Hanks, Watson, Jansen &
Chandler 1993
75 Olson and Terpstra 1992 3 0 4c 5a 7 12 39a 48 1
74 Dodge & Robbins 1992 4 30 39a 42 55 3
73 Anthony & Ramesh 1992 3 0000 1
72 Clifford, Nilakant &
Hamilton 1991 3 10 14 19a 42 0
71 Milliman, von Glinow &
Nathan 1991 4 56 0
70 McCann 1991 4 0
69
Lindell 1991 3 12 32a 0
59

Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
68 Winston & Heiko 1990 4 12 27a 0
67 Montanari, Domicone,
Oldenkamp & Palich 1990 8 1c 30 30a 42 0
66
Hanks 1990 5 12 32a 37 39a 42 43 48 58 60 2
39c Kazanjian & Drazin 1990
60a Flamholtz 1990
27a Vesper 1990
65 Metzger 1989 4 0
64
Schuler 1989 3 0
39b Kazanjian & Drazin 1989
32a Adizes 1989
63 Hunt, Baliga & Peterson 1988 4 43 0
39a Kazanjian 1988
62 Olson 1987 2 7 12 43 1
61
Crandall 1987 5 0
60
Flamholtz 1987 7 5
59 Peterson and Shulman 1987 5 42 0
58 Scott & Bruce 1987 5 4c 7 9 12 42 4
57 Ruhnka & Young 1987 5 0
56 Baird and Meshoulam 1987 5 1a 2 4c 9 12 1
55
Smith, Mitchell &
Summer
1985 3 4c 33 37 4
54 Gray & Ariss 1985 3 0 4c 12 32 1
53 Block & Macmillan 1985 10 0
52 Bruno & Tyebjee 1985 6 0
51
Miller 1985 4 0
50
Hambrick & Crozier 1985 3 1a 12 0
60

Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
49 Gill 1985 5 0
48 Miller & Friesen 1984 5 4c 12 32 43 7
47 Van de Ven, Hudson &
Schroeder 1984 5 0
46
Cowen, Middaugh &
McCarthy
1984 4 2 4b 4c 7 12 0
45
Zannetos 1984 6 0
44
Cummings 1984 4 0
30c Robinson, Pearse, Vozikis
& Mescon 1984
43 Quinn & Cameron 1983 4 4c 5a 12 16 32 9
42 Churchill & Lewis 1983 5 12 14
41
Fombrun 1983 4 2 0
40 Tyebjee, Bruno &
McIntyre
1983 4 0
39 Kazanjian 1983 4 26 37 11
38 Perry 1982 5 0
37 Galbraith 1982 5 26 4
36 Naoum 1981 5 0
35 Velu 1980 4 0
34 Robidoux 1980 7 0
33
Scanlan 1980 4 1
30b Vozikis & Glueck 1980
30a Vozikis 1980
32
Adizes 1979 10 11
31 Vesper 1979 3 1
30 Cooper 1979 3 3
61

Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
29 Lavoie & Culbert 1978 6 16 1
28 Crandall & Wooton 1978 4 12 0
5a Katz & Kahn 1978
1c Filley & Aldag 1978
27 Hosmer, Cooper &Vesper 1977 4 1
20a Webster 1977
26
NORMANN 1977 5 2
25 Webster 1976 6 0
24
Webster 1976 5 11 0
23
Basire 1976 5 0
22
Bruce 1976 11 0
21 Davidson, Bates & Bass 1976 4 0
19a Barnes & Hershon 1976
1b Filley, House & Kerr 1976
20 Webster 1975 5 (11)
19
Hershon 1975 3 4c 12 1
18 Strauss 1974 3 7 0
17 Kroeger 1974 5 0000 7 1
16
Torbert 1974 9 3
15
Lievegoed 1973 3 0
14
James 1973 5 0000 1
13 Swayne & Tucker 1973 4 12 0
12
GREINER 1972 5 21
4c Scott 1971
9a Salter 1970
11
Webster 1969 3 2
10 Steinmetz 1969 4 2
62

63
Model
No. Authors Year No. of
stages
Antecedents (Conceptual Lineage) No. of
forward
linksb
4b Thain 1969
4a McArthur & Scott 1969
1a Filley and House 1969
9
Salter 1968 4 4 3
8 Buchele 1967 7 1
7
LIPPITT & SCHMIDT 1967 4 000 10
6 Blake, Avis & Mouton 1966 3 0
5 Katz and Kahn 1966 3 3
4
CHRISTENSEN AND SCOTT 1964 3 2 12
3
McGuire 1963 5 00 0
2
Chandler 1962 4 6
1
Filley 1962 3 00 3
0000 (product life cycle)
000 (Gardner) 1965 1
00 (Rostow) 1960 2
0 (Toynbee) 1957 2
aKey to table:
Bold: new general models
Bold, Italics: new midrange models
SMALL CAPS: Source node
Normal type: Intermediate (backward) link to new model
(Normal type, in parentheses): original intellectual source
bdirect cites or cites of work that used this model explicitly; only cites used in model construction are recorded here

TABLE 4
Assumptions and Propositions of Stages of Growth Models and the Dynamic States Modela
Stages of Growth models Dynamic states model
Assumption Organizations grow as if they were
organisms Each state represents
management’s attempts to most
efficiently/effectively match
internal organizing capacity with
the external market/customer
demand
Propositions: WHAT Configuration of structural variables
and management problems Configuration of structural variables
and organizational activities
(aspirations)
A specific number of progressive
stages Any number of states
Sequence and order is predictable Sequence and order may be
predictable depending on context
Propositions: HOW
Incremental and punctuated
transitions Incremental and punctuated
transitions, and emergence
Immanent program of
development Adaptive process of retaining the
sustainability of a business model
Prefigured rules of development Interdependent rules for development
Propositions: WHY
“Regulated” by environment
Driven by market change and
opportunity creation
aMajor differences shown in bold font

FIGURE 1
General Stage Models 1962-2006, classified by Number of Stages
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
234567891011
Number of stages
Number of models
65

FIGURE 2
First Appearance of General Stage Models by Number of Stages per Model from 1962 to 2006
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Year
Number of stages
Linked models
Unlinked models
66

FIGURE 3
Cumulative Increase in Published Stage Models, 1962-2006
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
Cumulative number of models
general stages models
midrange stages models
67

FIGURE 4
Elements of a Dynamic State
Dynamic State N
- - - - - - Managerial Schema - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Æ
Dominant Logic Î Business Model Î Configuration
Activities – design, tasks
Resources – processes
– capabilities
– supply chain
– collaborations
Position – strategy
A DYNAMIC STATE
68