Transitions through organisational scaling phase: a founder’s role

Abstract

Entrepreneurial start-up organisations that do manage to grow and scale, possess the opportunity to make a positive impact on the economy and the national competitiveness of a country. Job creation is a direct impact of organisational growth and as such, South Africa with a high unemployment rate, needs organisations to grow. Much of the growth and scaling ability of the organisation, rests on the business founder and their capabilities, highlighted by the transformation within their role as the organisation grows. This research seeks to contribute to the understanding of organisational scaling and the complexities that are congruent to the process of scaling, including the anticipation and preparation for scaling. The focus is pertinent to the founder’s role during this transition phase. A qualitative research design approach, with semi-structured interviews conducted with 10 participants that have founded South African organisations and were in the process of scaling or had scaled. The findings grouped as themes, revealed founder engagement with various activities during the scaling phase.