Abstract
This paper deals with Greiner’s model, which is considered as an alternative concerning the life cycle of companies. There are many models that describe the life development of enterprises. The models differ in the number of individual phases, the size of the undertakings or their use. This paper aims to verify Greiner’s model in the Czech Republic. The research was carried out in 2019 from September till the end of November and within the geographical delimitation of the Liberec region. The research included entrepreneurial subjects from the field of national economy – automotive industry. A characteristic of the companies in question is the effort to increase automation and robotization using various IT programs with the support of their IT department or external suppliers. In terms of their size, these were enterprises with a large number of employees (over 250). Due to the necessity of capturing their historical development, only enterprises established in the year 1999 or earlier were included in the research. The total database of surveyed enterprises contains 14 subjects, of which six enterprises participated in the research. The research was divided into two main parts. The first was a questionnaire survey carried out through an electronic link. This was followed by a controlled interview with selected representatives of the cooperating companies. The research has verified the assumption that the companies involved are at least in the third phase, i.e. in the delegation phase and above in Greiner’s model. This was true about five out of the six companies. A benefit for the selected companies in relation to the identification of a specific phase of Greiner’s model can be seen in the fact that the companies can anticipate the coming crisis, prepare for it and take appropriate measures. This enables to resolve the crisis relatively quickly and the company can move to the next stage – stage of evolution. The second assumption confirmed in four of the 6 subjects in the survey is that business units, regardless of the stage of Greiner’s model, are targeting the three main features of the previous stages of revolution / evolution. These are the following: profit-orientation, high work commitment of company employees and tasks and increasingly specialized assignments.
Highlights
Several theories concerning the life cycle of the business unit are described in the literature
This paper aims to verify Greiner’s model in the Czech Republic
An example of the practical application of Greiner's model to the American company Kodak proves that this company went through all phases individually, from the creativity phase to the collaboration phase. (Mimbang & Feys, 2016) some companies may be "satisfied" at the stage where they are and do not tend to change anything. This idea is confirmed and documented by research on family businesses in Czech environment. (Odehnalová, 2011) How long do the individual phases of Greiner's model last in Czech environment and in certain fields of the national economy? What organizational structure do companies have and do they change it in a fundamental way during their development according to Greiner's model? Currently, to the above questions there are not any answers from the scientific research and literature in relation to the Czech area
Summary
Several theories concerning the life cycle of the business unit are described in the literature. (Dědina & Malý, 2005; Wasserman, 2008) Another possible way of describing the development of a business entity is, for example, according to Synek et al (2015). It divides the life of a company into five basic phases: establishment, growth, stabilization, crisis, and destruction. Another option, according to Adizes (2008), is to describe the life cycle of a business as a life of a live entity (an animal or a plant) i.e. from birth to death. These entities are born, they grow, reach old age and die
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