Business Growth Part 1: Fast Growth

Abstract

Fast‐growth companies illustrate, over a short space of time, the opportunities, threats, problems and pitfalls of business growth. After carrying out a general survey of fast‐growing companies in Britain, the authors carried out an in‐depth study of 30 of them. Organic growth and growth by acquisition were examined, as well as their strategic planning and implementation, their control of operations and their company development. Successful fast‐growth companies were found to be anti‐bureaucratic and task‐focused. The keys to their success were size flexibility and opportunism. The companies studied were bold in their strategy but unsophisticated in developing and implementing strategic plans. The main weakness of the companies was a lack of attention to managing transitions – i.e. controlling the evolution of the company as it grew. These weaknesses were revealed in the worsening business climate of the late 1980s, when many of these star performers of the early 1980s hit major problems.