Drawing on the case studies of recent success stories, the authors show entrepreneurs how to make the successful transition from humble start-up to professionally managed firm without sacrificing the unique spirit that inspired the company in the first place. They provide readers with a framework they can use to evaluate their firm's growth objectively, anticipate problems, pinpoint solutions, and plan strategies that will move their company towards desired goals. They outline the seven predictable stages of organisational growth and identify what must be accomplished in each stage to ensure the company's continued healthy development.

Growing Pains provides the entrepreneur with many proven principles of professional management, offering guidance in such key areas as strategic planning, organisational structure, management development, organisational control, leadership, and corporate culture management. Thoroughly updated to address the realities of today's business environment, this book will help company founders deal with the personal and professional challenges they must confront as they transform their companies into professionally managed firms.

Eric G. Flamholtz is professor of management at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management and president of Management Systems Consulting Corporation, which he cofounded in 1978. The author of more than one hundred articles and chapters on a variety of management topics, Flamholtz has also published four books. Yvonne Randle is lecturer at UCLA's Anderson Graduate School of Management's entrepreneurial studies program and vice president of Management Systems Consulting Corporation where she has been a consultant since 1983. She is the author of two books and numerous articles on increasing organisational effectiveness.

See also my review of: MAKING THE CISCO CONNECTION: The Story Behind the Real Internet Superpower David Bunnell with Adam Brate John Wiley & Sons, 2000 ISBN 0-471-35711-1