The organization, disciplined yet innovative, consistently meets its customers' changing needs. Instead of getting what it wants, it wants what it gets. Members of the organization welcome new ideas but lack the degree of excitement that characterized new ideas during the growing stages. The financial people begin to impose controls for short-term results. The emphasis on marketing and research and development wanes.
Employees admire past achievements but find it difficult to muster energy for the future.
Aristocracy Not making waves becomes a way of life. The organization acquires companies rather than incubating startup businesses. Its culture emphasizes how things are done over what's being done and why people are doing it. The company appears to be stalling, and the organization's leaders rely on the past to carry them into the future. In this stage of decay, the company conducts witch hunts to find out who did wrong rather than trying to discover what went wrong and how to fix it.