Link Microsoft's problems with its control and evaluation systems to each of the growth stages in Greiner's model. Greiner's organizational growth model describes the five distinct stages that organizations go through (Jones, 2010 ). Each phase is composed of a period of relatively stable growth, followed by a crisis that must be overcome to move on to the next phase. Phase 1: Growth through Creativity In the first growth phase, an organization's founders develop skills and create new products. Learning is a huge component of this phase of organizational growth. Entrepreneurs learn what works and what doesn't. People's behaviors are governed by organizational culture rather than hierarchy (Jones, 2010). As the organization grows into this stage, entrepreneurs must learn how to manage it. It is at this point that a leadership crisis emerges. In the beginning, the organization is so busy initiating and developing new products and markets that it fails to understand the importance of organizational resource management. The crisis can be avoided and growth can continue to phase two, if the organization can learn the skills needed to manage the organization. For Microsoft, I would say that this phase of Microsoft's development dates back to the early years, as Jones (2010) states. , “From the beginning, Microsoft has organized its software engineers into small workgroups and teams. . . (to) accelerate the development of innovative software”. Microsoft has been around since the 1970s and if it had not learned how to manage the organization, Microsoft would not have become one of the largest software manufacturers in the world. Phase 2: Growth through management The new m...... middle of paper... functional managers, which means they have divided loyalties and must keep themselves in balance. Employees are moved from team to team depending on where their talents are most needed at any given time. This makes the matrix structure organic in nature rather than mechanistic. Another change I would recommend to Microsoft would be to lose the formalized structure and rely more on self-control and discipline. This type of structure can be achieved most effectively by changing the organizational culture and promoting the belief that each individual and their team are the most important component of the organization. By promoting a sense of responsibility and discipline, Microsoft can loosen some of its more rigid control structures that currently exist. Works Cited Jones, G. R. (2010). Organizational theory, design and change. 6th edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall