Know where you are, prepare for where you are headed

Padurean: Working in a start-up may feel like a jungle trek while working in a large, mature company can feel more like being on a tanker ship in an ocean.

PETALING JAYA: Having a good grasp of what stage an organisation is in can help business owners better identify the right tools and people needed to bring the company forward.

There are unique challenges at each stage of an organisation’s growth and being able to recognise the road ahead gives the company and its leaders an advantage, said Loredana Padurean, associate dean and faculty director for action learning at the Asia School of Business & International Faculty Fellow at MIT.

Padurean added that understanding each stage would ensure the right preparations are made and that will be crucial to helping the company make the leap into the next phase.

“Working in a start-up may feel like a jungle trek while working in a large, mature company can feel more like being on a tanker ship in a large ocean.

“Therefore, we have to understand the unique opportunities and different challenges that come with each stage, to know what strategies to apply, what type of people to hire and what kind of investments to make to move on to the next stage, ” she said.

The earliest stage of a company, she said, was all about figuring out and successfully prototyping a proposition that works for every stakeholder in the value chain including customers, employees, suppliers, distributors and investors.

At this stage, quick thinking, fast actions and an innovative mind will be the strongest assets.

Once the company is able to scale, it will need to grow in parallel to its market alongside its production and delivery capabilities.

This is where six main capabilities become important, namely, processification, professionalisation, automation, segmentation, collaboration and culturalisation.

When the company reaches a certain stage of maturity, innovation and maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset will be key.

“It’s critical that organisations understand that only by maintaining an entrepreneurial approach throughout that they will be able to grow and maintain a competitive advantage, ” she said.

Padurean will be speaking at the workshop “The Entrepreneurial Organization: Nail It, Scale It, Sail It” on Sept 29.

The programme is to help participants understand the evolutionary journey that companies go through from the early stages to become a mature and sustainable company.

It will also help provide specific tools necessary for companies to transition from one stage to another with relevant case studies.

This framework is taught in MIT Sloan programmes including its Executive Program in General Management.

The full-day workshop will be held at Menara Star, Petaling Jaya. The event is organised by Star Media Group in partnership with Asia School of Business.

To register, visit bit.ly/starentrep or contact 603-7967 1388 ext 1187/ 1240 or email [e-mail]