EXECUTIVE

T h e J o u r n a l o f D e v e l o p i n g A r e a s Special Issue on Kuala Lumpur Conference Held in August 2014

Volume 49 No. 5 2015

THE LONGEVITY OF LARGE ENTERPRISES: A

STUDY OF THE FACTORS THAT SUSTAIN

ENTERPRISES OVER AN EXTENDED PERIOD

OF TIME

Malik Muhammad Sheheryar Khan*

University of South Australia, Australia

ABSTRACT

The high mortality of companies has been a common trend especially following major economic

events such as the 2008 global finance crisis. Many companies such as Lehman Brothers were

seemingly performing companies until their abrupt collapse which left the business world shocked.

Many organisations currently are strategizing towards sustainability and ultimately longevity.

However, not many companies have managed to survive for at least a century and remain relevant in

the current market. The study therefore focuses on creating a framework which illustrates the main

factors that are an imperative for any company to survive for a long period of time. The framework

includes; five main factors which are responsible for organisational longevity, i.e. Resources,

Innovative Capability, Organisational Culture, Organisational systems and Strategy. Framework

proposed can be applied within large scale business enterprises that have to bear the brunt in the wake

of recession. Maintenance of all the factors promoted longevity among organisations.

JEL Classifications: M10, M14

Keywords: Longevity, Organisation, Sustainability, Framework, Stability

Corresponding Author’s Email Address: [email protected]

INTRODUCTION

Organisational Longevity can be defined as the continued existence of organisations even

after the founding members leave (Haugh and Talwar, 2010, p. 485). The high mortality of

companies has been a common trend especially following major economic events such as

the 2008 global finance crisis. Many companies such as Lehman Brothers, Enron and

Arthur Anderson were seemingly performing companies until their abrupt collapse which

left the business world shocked following the crumble of companies which once

symbolized power and stability. This trend can be attributed to the fact that companies

many a times fail to understand that organisational change and learning are inevitable for

accomplishing success and show high degree of reluctance for change. Organisational

longevity is essentially one of the aspects that can categorize the sustainability of a

company or enterprise. According to Pawlowski (1999) in order for an organisation to

sustain itself, it must be stable, continuous and long lived. Most organisations live in the

now and wish to solve the problems and address the needs of today and make money whilst

they are at it. This shows need of stability and continuity among organisations.

Organisational longevity can be accredited to enhancement of the company’s self-

renewal process which fosters a prompt measure to instigate changes which address the

recently emerged problems including proactive thinking and planning (Montouri, 2000).

42

Krell (2000, p.8) defines two aspects of organisational longevity. Firstly, organisations are

like living things and thus theories of human life are applicable across organisations as

well, secondly, organisations need to identify the traits which can ensure longer life or

better sustainability. Among the models that have focused on organisational capabilities,

7S model by Waterman et al (1980) focussed on 7 factors which were responsible for

sustainability, i.e. strategy, structure, systems, shared values, style, staff and skills they

primarily focus on the stability and continuation spectrum. Further, model proposed by

Hubbard et al (1996) also focussed on factors like; culture, structure, systems, human

resource capacity and financial resources, but didn’t give importance to the concept of

longevity.

Geus (2002, p.24) indicates that there are four attributes, 1) environment sensitive

regardless of whether their fortunes were as a result of knowledge or other natural

resources; 2) cohesive and have a significant sense of identity among employees and

suppliers; 3) involving tolerant and accommodative experiments, eccentricities and outliers

that which eventually expanded their knowledge of their capabilities as an organisation and

4) conservative financing, in which capital is not utilized in risky ventures but rather money

is used to grant the organisation financial flexibility. Geus (2002) extrapolates the grim

outlook of high company mortality of Fortune 500 companies or their equivalent by

explaining that most of these companies have a life expectancy of only forty to fifty years.

For instance, one-third of the Fortune 500 companies in 1970 had failed by the year 1983

either through mergers & acquisitions or business failure. It has become common to witness many large companies last only an average of 12.5 years. In order to survive the

dynamic and unpredictable business climate, it is imperative for organisations to invest in

achieving business excellence in all aspects of organisational processes. This entails

process systems, innovation and technology, communication systems, project

management, resource management and management of change successfully (Harrington,

2006, p. 43). Working upon the strategies, companies tend to follow the latest strategic

models which are in fashion rather than selecting strategic tools on the basis of their utility

and applicability. However, not all concepts deliver results and when not deliver desired

results does, they are promptly discontinued or put to minimal usage. This paper would

review the literature on the concept of organisational longevity in order to determine the

factors which contribute towards it.

The aim and objectives of the study are as follows:

1. The importance of sustaining organisations over an extended period of time is widely acknowledged in the management literature (references).The purpose of

this inquiry is to seek to answer the question as to what are the vital factors which

contribute to organisational longevity.

2. Review the literature to identify the factors thought to be vital in sustaining organisations over an extended period of time.

3. Providing interpretation and explanation of the findings with reasoned arguments drawn from the empirical and literature evidence to develop a framework of

critical factors essential for organisational longevity.

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FACTORS AFFECTING ORGANISATIONAL LONGEVITY

Resources

Material and human resources are both responsible for the longevity of the organisation.

Dunphy, Griffiths and Benn (2003, p. 57) posit that allocation of time as well as money to

strategic plans within a company helps enhance sustainability of various projects.

However, other than time and money, human resources also play a pivotal role, because

they offer the required intellectual, planning, co-ordination and problem-solving skills in

managing projects strategically (Roome, 2005, p. 240). Involving employees and

empowering them with responsibilities gives them autonomy and intrinsically motivates

them to contribute to the growth and sustainability of the organisation (Holton et al., 2010,

p. 154). Moreover knowledge generated, built and shared by the employees acts as a

strategic asset for the organisation and boosts the organisation’s competence for promotion

of innovation (Bollinger and Smith, 2001, P. 11).

Similarly, allocation of resources to the project is also important to maintain the

sustainability for the organisation. However, finances should also be used strategically

which in turn would promote growth and development of the organisation (Siebenhuner

and Arnold, 2007, p. 341; Doppelt, 2008, p. 54). Companies that have survived many years

are known to have great financial muscle which is an advantage in case of a profitable

capital intensive investment or financial crisis. Moreover, strong partnerships are also

based on the financial capability of an organisation (Spithoven et al. 2013). Strategies

adopted for successful allocation and application of resources should be designed based on

the present availability of resources. Many researchers have studied the need of resource

management from multiple angles. According to Geus (2002), longevity companies used

their cash resources sparingly. These companies understood what it meant to have a cash

reserve in hand which would allow them to avail opportunities. The other aspects that lead

a company to longevity according to Geus are sensitivity to the environment, cohesiveness

and tolerance (See Figure 1).

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FIGURE 1: MODEL FOR CORPORATE SUSTAINABILITY AND LONGEVITY

Source: Geus (2002)

Also, Harrington (2006, p. xxi) adds that the directing of resources and assets is

important in shaping business outcomes. Moreover, Harrington (2006, p. 47) points out

that in order to survive the dynamic business market and sustain an organisation for a long

time, it is important to ensure that organisational excellence is made a priority. As per

Harrington (2006) there are five elements which contribute towards organisational

excellence of which fundamental factors include; process management, knowledge

management systems, project management, resource management and management of

change successfully (See Figure 2).

Organisational Culture

Organisational culture refers to values, assumptions and expectations that define an

organisation. . (Upadhyay et al. 2010), p. 51) proposes three cultural levels including the

first level, second and third level. The first level comprises of visible elements such as

facilities and dress code while the second level involves strategies, objectives, and

philosophies and values a company has. The third level comprises feelings, attitudes and

assumptions among organisational staff. According to Bart and Baetz (1998, p. 827), the

mission statement and vision of the company significantly affects the organisational

performance. Although sometimes ignored, aspects such as company values and other

cultural aspects in a company are what shapes up current employees and newly oriented

ones to either believe in achieving objectives or organisational mission. There are four

main organisational cultures which support sustainability, clan, adhocracy, market and

CORPORATE SUSTAINABILTY

AND LONGEVITY

Sensitivity to the environment:

Ability to Learn and adapt

Cohesion and identity:

Ability to build a community and a persona for itself

Tolerance and Flexibility: Ability to

build constructive relationships with other

entities, within and outside

Conservative Financing: Ability to govern its own

growth and evolution effectively.

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hierarchy cultures. While clan and adhocracy are used by businesses which operate in high

risk and high volatility environment and therefore for them the concept of stability and

longevity is not prioritized however, market and hierarchy cultures thrive on stability with

low risk investments. Martins and Terblanche (2003, p. 45) discusses the role of

organisations culture towards innovation and creativity, which in turn stimulates a set of

mutually shared values which ensures that every aspect of firm in totality is on the same

track.

FIGURE 2: ORGANISATIONAL EXCELLENCE MODEL

Source: Harrington (2006)

Organisational Systems

Organisational systems essentially refer to all the units of an organisation that define it

including production or manufacturing systems, quality management systems and

communications among others (Collins, 2001, p. 97). The process system involves

definition and ensuring the set terms of inputs, outputs, feedback mechanisms and

measurement systems are in check within an organisation (Harrington, 2006, p. 48).Quality

systems on the other hand ensures that continuous improvement is constantly undertaken

and that companies strive to sell and provide quality products and services. Golden and

Powell (1999, P.169) discussed about the role of flexibility along with quality and cost-

ORGANISATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Process Management: Output requirements Input requirements

Reliable transformation process Feedback measurement

system

Project management: Intellectual capacity Proper scheduling Proper planning

Change management: Defining aspects to be changed

Defining change implementation Implementing change

Knowledge management: Defining

requirements Infrastructure evaluation Design & development

Pilot Deployment

Continuous improvement

Resource management:

Money Inventory Customers Investors Suppliers Alliance

partnerships Employees

Patents Real estate Goodwill

46

efficiency within the system as the minimal requisites for corporates to contest competition

effectually. Understanding the organisational systems is thus necessary to ensure that the

organisation in its entirety is meeting its business objectives and long-term sustenance is

one of the key one.

Innovative Capability

The dynamism witnessed among long lived companies is a clear indication that in order to

achieve longevity, flexibility, creativeness and innovativeness are paramount to achieving

survival in harsh economic market (Mitleton, 2006, p. 226). For instance, companies that

deal with finite resources must invent possible alternatives they can engage in years to

come by creating a pool of resources or better still innovative new ways of doing things

(Dopplet, 2008, p. 14). However, achievement of innovative capability within the

organisation is plagued with financial constraints. Hottenrott and Peters (2009) in their

research paper discuss about the correlation between innovative capability of the

organisation and financial constraints. The researchers assert that although innovation

promotes organisational level productivity, competitiveness and sustainable long term

business growth and complacent market positioning however, there is a constant concern

about financing the investments in innovative products or services or carrying out the

relevant research and development for inventing a breakthrough product. Innovation within

the organisation drives business growth and also improves sustainability within the

organisation. Pricewaterhouse Coopers (2012, P.2) in their report advocated that in order

to be competitive in the international marketplace, companies must emphasise extensively

on innovation not only in their products but also in functioning. Innovation must be done

constantly but keeping the cost-optimization in mind.

Strategy

Business strategy is an integral part of maintaining an organisation at a certain advantage

above other. The core business strategies are aimed at, core competencies within the

organisation, marketing, and growth. When strategies are aligned with organisational

objectives, sustained good performance and excellence is usually the intended outcome; all

of which are precursors to an organisation’s extended lifespan (Johnson and Scholes, 2002,

p. 111). Importance of strategy for sustainable growth of the organisation is cited by Porter

(Lee et al. 2014, p. 62), when he discussed the example of Japanese firms which are world

renowned for their impeccable operational effectuality.. It was this operational

effectiveness which facilitated organisational longevity for Japanese enterprises and gave

them an upper hand over the western world firms. Gebauer, Gustafsson and Witell (2011,

P. 1273) are of the opinion that companies can only attain sustainable competitive

advantage when they attempt differentiation in offerings taking into considerations the

strategic, financial and marketing opportunities.

Factors that are found to be substantially influencing the longevity of a business

organisation can also be classified into two main parts, internal and external. The internal

factors are associated to various kinds of capabilities, relative and absolute aspects of

management procedures. On the other hand, the external factors consist of aspects that are

47

relevant and significant enough to impinge upon an organisation without basically

including specific competitive factors including interests and pace of the entire social order.

The internal factors that are typically associated to longevity of an organisation

can be considered to be management’s quality of decision making capabilities, quality of

planning, quality of organising, staffing standard and quality control. If all the internal

factors are considered collectively, the points that are just enumerated form the very basis

of the life of the organisation at any given moment. According to (Yang and Zhao, 2011 p:

89), the management capabilities of a business organisation are considered to be quite

effective for the long run. However, there are several other longevity factors that are taken

to be quite significant but are mostly associated to short term goals. For instance,

organisational strengths like strong cash position, good control over key raw materials,

patent monopolies, low level of debt and such. So, in case an organisation is suffering from

weaknesses like inefficient production system, inadequate level of market coverage, high

cost of raw materials, submarginal level of transportation, poor quality employees, poor

public relations, non-competitive public charges, inadequate level of financing are some of

the reasons why an organisation may fail to have a longer life span. In fact, as stated by

(Loukis, Spinellis, and Katsigiannis, 2011 p: 67), one of the major factors behind longevity

of an organisation is the capacity of the management to resist the above mentioned

weaknesses. Moreover, according to (Saleem, 2011 p:90), the larger a business

organisation, the greater the possibility that it will encounter various adverse circumstances

that lead to a lowered life span.

PROPOSED MODEL BUILDING FOR ORGANISATIONAL LONGEVITY

Based on the models developed towards longevity (Geus, 2002) and organisational

excellence (Harrington, 2006), the researcher proposes a model and identifies five factors

which contribute towards organisational longevity (See Figure 3). These five factors are;

resources, organisational culture, organisational system, innovative capability and strategy.

In terms of resources, Allocation of resources, including human resources and money to

strategic plans within a company helps enhance sustainability of various projects. The

challenge is ensuring that too much capital is not spent on risky ventures that might not be

profitable or stimulate growth and development. Finances should be used strategically in

innovative projects that will generate more income and continue achieving increased

financial performance.

The practices and routines within the organisation is determinant of the

organisational culture. It is the organisational culture which inculcates values among the

employees. Further organisational systems comprise of production systems, quality

management systems and communication systems among others. The establishment of a

comprehensive assembly of systems is because it is easier to relay information and monitor

smooth undertaking of events. The innovative capability of an organisation is responsible

for new creations and better ways to survive the economic climate that is constantly

changing. The dynamism witnessed among long lived companies is a clear indication that

in order to achieve longevity, flexibility, creativeness and innovativeness are paramount to

achieving survival. It is very important for organisations to engage in open minded

possibilities, be flexible and willing to diversify or perfect their niche in order to survive

the tides of different economic climates

48

FIGURE 3.MODEL FOR ORGANISATIONAL LONGEVITY

.

Strategy on the other hand relates to planning in such a way that an advantage

over competing companies is achieved. This can be through creation of core competencies,

marketing strategies and growth strategies. Because strategies are set in alignment with

organisational objectives, sustained good performance and excellence is usually the

intended outcome; all of which are precursors to an organisation’s extended lifespan. It is

essential that companies keep on strategizing, assessing progress and re-strategizing in

order to maintain a competitive advantage and sustain a core competence. This sets a

company apart from the rest leading to organisational excellence which is an essential pre-

requisite to business longevity. By and large, organisational longevity is a complex aspect

owing to the fact that it takes companies years to build an organisation, yet a period of bad

strategies or decision making may result in the mortality of a stable company abruptly.

Numerous factors contribute to organisational extended lifespan and they are based on

excellence models and strategic elements. The factors that prominently stood out have been

analysed below in detail.

An organisation is expected to live longer in case, it has expertise in aspects like

strategic management, well planned organisational systems, high standard of resources

especially with respect to quality human resource with a large cash reserve, excellent

organisational culture and high capacity to initiate innovation. If a large scale organisation

ORGANISATIONAL LONGEVITY

Organisational Systems

 Productivity

 Quality

Resources

 Human Resource Capital

 Financial Resource Capital

Innovative Capability

 Standard R&D

 Flexibility

 Creativeness

Organisational Culture

 Democratic Culture

 Employee Values

Strategy

 Effective Short Term Strategies

 Long Term Sustainable Strategies

49

is able to implement the model, the organisation is expected to get benefitted with respect

to internal as well as external factors that contribute to longevity of the organisation. The

internal factors will strengthen the internal working capacity of the organisation while

external factors will enable the organisation to take advantage of any external business

opportunity coming its way.

CONCLUSIONS

Organisational longevity has over the years gained precedence following the high number

of large and stable companies that have succumbed to the economic pressures of today’s

harsh business climate. Following an analysis of the literature about organisational

sustainability and longevity, the findings indicate that many factors are indeed linked to

organisational longevity, although five main factors are an imperative in the survival of a

company for many years. Firstly, allocation of resources, including human resources,

money, to strategic plans within a company helps enhance sustainability of various

projects. Secondly, the establishment of a comprehensive assembly of systems, in order to

ensure that information is regularly relayed and monitored for smooth undertaking of

operations and events. For instance, process systems will determine whether the output

defines company excellence which in the long run determines the viability and lifespan of

an organisation. Thirdly, the dynamism witnessed among long lived companies is a clear

indication that in order to achieve longevity, flexibility, creativeness and innovativeness

are paramount to achieving survival. . It is very important for organisations to engage in

open minded possibilities, be flexible and willing to diversify or perfect their niche in order

to survive the tides of different economic climates. Fourthly, it is the culture of the

organisation which develops the values required in employees to achieve the objectives of

the organisation and its mission. Finally, because strategies are set in alignment with

organisational objectives, sustained good performance and excellence is usually the

intended outcome; all of which are precursors to an organisation’s extended lifespan

The outcomes of the study could have been more exhaustive if the study was based

on a particular organisation. The study has considered organisations that are large scale.

However, the proposed model could have been more accurate and effective for ensuring

longevity for an organisation, if the field in which the organisation is operating is known.

This particular limitation can be associated to another major limitation which is paucity of

time.

The study has a good future scope. The study indeed throws light on the various

concepts of the factors that contribute to the longevity of an organisation. In fact, the study

can be used as a strong base material for secondary research studies dealing with subject

matters like sustainability of business organisations. With the aid of the study, the

researchers in future will also get an idea about how new models can be proposed. The

proposed model for this study can be used as basic structure based on which more complex

models can be made.

50

ENDNOTES

Acknowledgement

*I would like to thank my supervisors Dr Howard Harris and Dr Saras Sastrowardoyo for

inspiring me, guiding me and providing me with the motivation to write and get my work

published.

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