Organizational Life Cycle
There are two views of an organisation's life cycle. The first, linear view is that (like organic life) organisations progress through stages from birth, infancy, adolescence, maturity, senescence and death. The second view is that within this continuum organisations can start at different points and skip (or repeat) stages in cycles. For instance, with appropriate support and backing an organisation can begin its life in a fully formed, "mature" state. Mature organisations may collapse and begin anew in infancy or adolescence before developing into a mature organisation, sometimes repeating this process. The governing body's role changes, according to the stage of the organisation’s life cycle. The transition from one stage to another may be particularly challenging for governance.
Read more about this topic: Small Charity Governance
Famous quotes containing the words life and/or cycle:
“What if there are not only two nostrils, two eyes, two lobes, and so forth, but two psyches as well, and they are separately equipped? They go through life like Siamese twins inside one person.... They can be just a little different, like identical twins, or they can be vastly different, like good and evil.”
—Norman Mailer (b. 1923)
“The lifelong process of caregiving, is the ultimate link between caregivers of all ages. You and I are not just in a phase we will outgrow. This is life—birth, death, and everything in between.... The care continuum is the cycle of life turning full circle in each of our lives. And what we learn when we spoon-feed our babies will echo in our ears as we feed our parents. The point is not to be done. The point is to be ready to do again.”
—Paula C. Lowe (20th century)