Organizational Lifecycle
Structure and Process of Organizations

Abstract
In the business environment, navigating through change is vital to the success of management and the organization as a whole. All organizations undergo change much like biological organisms do in life. They are born, grow, mature, and arguably die. Organizations are no exception and their lifecycle pattern along with management styles will be examined in this paper.

Organizational Lifecycle
Organizations go through different life cycles similar to those of people. People, for example, progress through infancy, childhood, teenage years, adulthood, and death. Childhood through the teenage years is characterized by rapid growth over a short period of time and that translates nicely to an organizations pattern as well. Organizations, like biological organisms, go through start-up, growth, maturity, and decline (Ciavarella, 2001). Imagine climbing a mountain. As you begin the climb, you start at the base (start-up), climb halfway up (growth), ascend the peak (maturity), and then descend back down the mountain (decline). This describes the typical stages of an organizations lifecycle and leaders who have an understanding of the dynamics involved will have more confidence and be more effective managers of change.
Start-up Phase
During the start-up phase, organizations build up capital, hire workers, and start to develop their products or services, policies, and procedures. Employees are generally very eager to make a name for themselves in this early phase and often act impulsively to whatever is going on around them. This is just one of the many challenges a manager will face during this phase of change. To help staff understand the complexities of the early phase of organizational development. The leader/manager must provide a clear understanding of the purpose of the