Are you managing growth in a big way?

The general motivation for plunging resources into any venture, even in the face of dire challenges, is to ensure an increase in returns on investments at the end of the pooling cycle.

This drive towards expanding the company’s fiscal base, more often than not, propels management in designing processes which actively channel the will-power of employees towards delivering results that summarily stimulate organizational growth.

Though seeking to optimize the establishment’s reserves in a way that sustainably affirms corporate advancement is vital, a new breed of researchers propose that the unskilled management of sought-after growth can be a pill for diminution.

While many insist that aligning business objectives with operational strategies to create value-added products and services are all that is required to increase a company’s market footprint, some others maintain that the manner in which the expansion is managed can determine if the company will stay small or become a major player in the industry it yearns to dominate.

Dr. Josephat Mojekwu, a head of department at the business administration unit at the University of Lagos has conducted widespread research on corporate governance and the insurance culture of sub-Saharan entities and has some strong views about the how growth and transitory processed are handled in this evolving market.

Revealing a few beliefs some executives hold on to which can impede institutional advancement, he posited, “There are many examples around town of people who have lost focus just as their company’s was starting to make some progress and in the twinkle of an eye things [begin] to go wrong for the [organization].”

Mojekwu continued, “One of the popular trends in this part of the world is the habit of wanting to keep everything in the family. This is the prime reason why less than five percent of the multi-nationals in West Africa are owned by its indigenes.

“If a person takes an interest in a certain type of business deal and [eventually turns it into a conglomerate] with the hope of passing the company over to his children who he insists must work for him, what is the assurance that those children will share the founder’s interests or that they will be as astute business-wise to tackle the rigors of the company? There is none, which is why, just like our counterparts in developed societies, we need to get to the point where we [diminish blood-ties] and place emphasis on getting other professionals who share the vision on board to push the company forward, even in the founder’s absence,” he said.

He also pinpointed the inability to instill international best practice standards at every level of the organogram as well as weak fiscal accountability systems as other hindering factors.

Although the cultural principles guiding the corporate modus operandi in this part of the world may have stymied enterprise development and hampered overall performance, executives who are particular about establishing organizational practices that promise multi-faceted expansion rates as well as assure long-term viability have begun adopting more scientifically strategic measures.

Gboyega Makinwa, the chief executive officer of New Horizion Integrated Services, an information and communications technology firm shares premeditated systems he is putting in place to …and properly increase his asset base.

He said, “We understand that there is an existing way of running a business especially in Nigeria but we are looking beyond the shores of this country because our vision is to be known as a major player on the international scene. So what we have done is created a process where we constantly engage with partners and consultant from other business environments so that we are able to stay at par with contenders from those economies.

“Also the company is about to carry out its first listing on the stock market and once we start the initial public offer, the business no longer stays mine alone but it’s management becomes answerable to board-members and the shareholders and so our choices will be more detailed in terms of making sure that we are able to pay dividends to the right people as at when due.

Makinwa further stated, “Other things we started doing almost from the very beginning is to diversify our market offerings so that we have multiple streams of income no matter what the economy is going through. And then we have trained our team to function at the very best each time so that whenever they are needed to head any division they simple rise to the challenge and deliver.”

Rita Ohai