ORGANIZING FOR DEVELOPMENT IN THE SMALL BUSINESS

Small business development is analysed in terms of transition phases t hat link phases of comparative stability. Enterprises founded as owner -operated businesses may evolve into a functionally organized entity; if so, they move through two distinct transition phases. These transit ional phases lie between the owner-operated and an owner-managed organ ization, and between the owner-managed and a more complex organization guided by functional managers. Each of the five phases is marked by p articular characteristics, and calls for a phase-specific blend of ent repreneurial and management activities. The framework recognizes that not all small enterprises pass through all five phases; there are firm s that start in a more evolved phase, and there are many that remain w ithin a particular phase, either by design or by virtue of barriers to further development.