General Discussion
Whether it's a small family-owned business or a large multinational corporation, most businesses want to grow. There are many ways to grow a business in the short term, but there are fewer options for long-term sustainability.
This week, you will begin to explore concepts related to organic growth strategies. Additionally, in the readings from the Hess book, you will explore and discuss the research methodology that was used to generate the organic growth model described in the book.
Review the Learning Outcomes for this week, and based on those objectives and your analysis of the readings, respond to either "a" or "b" below, making direct references to several of the week's required or optional readings:
a. Assess the strengths and limitations of the research methodology used to produce the results in the course text The Road to Organic Growth.
b. Apply concepts from The Road to Organic Growth to a business with which you are familiar. How does that business exemplify those concepts? If it does not, how might it adjust its strategy or operations in order to do so?
Reading material
Course Text: Hess, E. D. (2007). The road to organic growth: How great companies consistently grow marketshare from within. (Laureate Education, Inc., custom ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
- Chapter 1, "Why Is Organic Growth Important?"
- Chapter 2, "Discovering the DNA of Organic Growth"
- Chapter 3, "The Organic Growth Winners: Interesting Facts"
- Chapter 4, "An Elevator-Pitch Business Model"
- Chapter 5, "Instill a 'Small-Company Soul' into a 'Big-Company Body'"-
The first three chapters of this book introduce the concept of organic growth using examples from companies that have been successful through this type of growth. The next two chapters begin to explain the factors that promote organic growth. Chapter 4 recommends a concise and easy-to-articulate business model. Chapter 5 explains the importance of employee "ownership" of the organization