Question 1.

1. What's distinctive about the renewal stage of the organizational lifecycle?

The renewal stage is like a stalled growth stage, with the beginnings of a downward spiral. Loss of market share and erosion of profits occur along with organization issues such as lack of enthusiasm.

Question 2.

2. What organizations that you are familiar with seem to be in the renewal stage? Why do you think so?

I’ve worked in the metals industry for almost 18 years now, and it seems every company I’ve worked for in this industry was continually renewing themselves. Most recently my current company is desperately trying to reinvent itself before the markets are totally lost to our competition. International competition was only 5-10% ten years ago and now account for over 60% of the market share in our markets.

Question 3.

3. What characteristics make a leader effective during this phase?

A leader who is engaged and forward thinking; by this I mean a leader who understands the business and is able to read the future to plot the best course forward. In our company there have been individuals who were adamant about not moving outside this country to secure a low cost supply. These decisions almost bankrupt our company and in part are the reasons we are struggling so hard today.

Question 4.

4. How would you recognize an organization in this stage?

Slow to respond to market forces such as product and service innovations. Products which have slowly eroded away from a value and profit standpoint. A company content with their success and spending too much time enjoying it.

Question 5.

5. Which of the conceptual tools for renewal presented in this module are of particular interest to you? Why?

I like the renewal strategy matrix and the renewal options and possibility maps. While complicated, they give an individual a vantage from every aspect of the business.

Question 6.

6. What else do you think that you will need to know in order to use these conceptual tools in your own work?

Accurate information for each segment of business is needed to properly use these tools to gain useful information. Therefore, support of management would be of value to enable data to be shared for the purpose of crafting renewal strategies.

Question 7.

7. How could you use the ideas from the renewal stage to help you in your professional life?

Interesting question… I suspect giving this some additional thought might demonstrate a need to reinvent oneself to create more value for the hiring business.