Getting Bigger by Growing Smaller: A New Growth Model for Corporate America

This is the eBook version of the printed book. If the print book includes a CD-ROM, this content is not included within the eBook version. Large, mature companies always become trapped at some point in the declining stages of what has become known as the corporate life cycle. Historically this barrier to continued growth has been, and is still, as unavoidable as death and taxes. In Getting Bigger by Growing Smaller, Joel Shulman, a leading researcher on entrepreneurship, teams up with Thomas T. Stallkamp, one of the world's most effective executives, to introduce a powerful new growth model for corporate America (based on 4 years of research at Babson College and Harvard University) that can enable corporations to break through this barrier to growth by utilizing a new breakthrough business model called the Strategic Entrepreneurial Unit (SEU). Shulman and Stallkamp demonstrate how to build new employee/entrepreneur-led startups within the corporation--entities that can take on new market opportunities and deliver startup-level growth. This is the first book to provide practical methods for actually identifying, creating, and implementing smaller units within large organizations to enable continued, rapid growth beyond the predictable barriers of the corporate life cycle.

Table of Contents:
Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. Grow Smarter or Die: The Formation of a Strategic Entrepreneurial Unit (SEU). The SEU: A New Model of Growth. Why Corporate America Needs a New Growth Model. What the SEU Needs to Succeed. What the SEU Can Achieve. Anatomy of an SEU. The Traditional VC Model. Short Term Is Out—Long Term is In. A Fresh Perspective. Large Companies Should Win. 2. The Corporate Life Cycle: Why Can't Businesses Grow Forever? Is Corporate Death Inevitable? Corporate Renewal Programs. Corporate Life Cycle. The Evidence. How Big and Old Do Public Companies Get? Typical Profile of a Fortune 500 Company? Why Don't Big Companies Grow Forever? Let's Ask the Experts. Extending the Life Cycle: A Few Cases in Point. Company at Point “A”. Company at Point “B”. Company at Point “C”. Company at Point “D”. Company at Point “E”. Creating a Template for Future Corporate Empires. 3. What's Wrong with the Current System? Compensation without Long-Term Value Creation. High Compensation without Revenues—Now That's a Problem. Money Is Not Everything—But It's Pretty Darn Important. Whatever Goes Up… Return without Risk: Not Bad if You Can Get It. Want Growth? Just Acquire It. CEOs May Serve Themselves First. Management by the Numbers: Executive Compensation and Shareholder Return. Highest Paid = Highest Performance? A Look at Business Week's Top 20. CEO Influence: Examples of Style. Lessons Learned? Do Senior Agents Represent Themselves More than Other Stakeholders? Incentive Orientation: Things Need to Change. 4. Resistance to Change— Ways to Leverage the Concrete Middle. Just Do It My Way and Don't Ask Questions. Inbred Management at Ford Purchasing. The Problem of the Concrete Middle. An Organized Resistance Campaign. Problems with Culture: The Case at Chrysler/Daimler. A Question of Culture. Using the SEU to Overcome the Concrete Middle. 5. Growth Models Need to Change. The Race for Corporate Growth. All Growth Is Not Equal. High Growth: Does It Guarantee Fame and Fortune? Career Paths on the Fly: Action = Money. Going Public-The Ultimate Harvest Vehicle? Ways to Grow-Complex Problems…So Little Time. Why Acquire? Why Not?—It's Fast. Why Acquired Growth Doesn't Work—Who Stays and Who Goes? Changing Goals and Culture Over Time: We Need a New Model of Growth. Growth in Revenues Does Not Equal Growth in Stock Price. 2001 to 2003—Post-Evaluation Period. Conclusions. 6. A New Growth Model. Bureaucratic Companies Begin as Entrepreneurial Firms. If Only They Had Stayed… Corporate America Needs to Capture the Growth of New Ventures. From Spinouts to Corporate Venturing: Growth Models Past, Present, and Future. Corporate Intrapreneurship. Corporate Spinouts. Corporate Venturing. Corporate Venturing with Venture Capitalist Participation. SEU. SEUs: A Combination of Old Models with a New Twist. Reverse SEU—The Start of Xerox. Anatomy of an SEU: Getting Between 0 and 100%. Facilitator—A VC without the Equity, Control, and Harvest Motivation Role of the Facilitator. Compensation—Providing More than a Salary. Equity Grants. What If It Doesn't Work?— Lifeline Back to Parent. Harvest: The Key Driver in Most Deals. Intellectual Property: Who Owns What? Financing: Expanding the Project Beyond the R&D Budget. Board of Advisors: Who Drives the Direction? Summary and Rationale of SEU. Summary. 7. Implementing the SEU. When to Use an SEU. Technological Acquisition. New Product/Market Access. Cultural Change. Steps in Implementing the SEU. Selection of the Facilitator. What Type of Company Could be a Facilitator? Responsibilities and Duties of the Facilitator. The Facilitator in the SEU. SEU Equity and Distribution. New Venture Board. Implementation Summary. 8. Financing an SEU Venture. Equation for Growth: Moving Big Company Risk Capital to SEU. Combine Low-Cost Funds with High-Return Ventures. Venture Financing Requires a “Portfolio Perspective”. Diversification: Different Ways to Reduce Risk. SEU Ventures Need to be Diversified by Year of Investment. SEU Ventures Do Not Focus on Harvest. SEU: Different Investment Orientation Focusing on Annual Return. Big Firms Should Provide Risk Capital to Small Firms and Charge the Market Rate. Large Companies Provide More than Just Cash—Catalysts for Growth. Efficient Utilization Is More Important than Cost of Funds. Perfect Fit: Small Firm Growth Orientation; Large Firm Resources. 9. Liquidity versus Liquidation: Cashing Out of the SEU. Harvest Without Selling. Harvest Focuses Energy. Financiers Need a “Harvest”. Lessons Learned. Value Creation Sometimes Takes Time. SEUs Shift Orientation to an Owner's Mindset. Liquidity Is More Important than Harvest. Liquidity with an SEU Couldn't Be Easier. Fewer Harvests Means Lower Fees and More Focused Energies. Private to Public Conversion Creates Instant Value! SEU Value Does Not Depend on Appreciation of Parent's Stock. Slight Twist to an Old Approach. 10. Where Do We Go from Here? Jumpstarting the Process of Change. Conclusion. Index.

About the Author :
Joel M. Shulman holds a Term Chair and is an Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at Babson College. In addition to his Ph.D., CFA, and CMA credentials, he has an MPA from Harvard, where he conducted much of his research. He directs the Shulman Review Program, which provides training for investment professionals throughout the world. He has consulted extensively for both small entrepreneurial firms and large corporations, including Coldwell Banker, Ford, Freddie Mac, Kmart, Merrill Lynch, Salomon Brothers, Sears, and UNISYS. He has also consulted for the World Bank, assisting in the development of capital markets throughout Central Asia and the former Soviet Union. Shulman is author or co-author of Encyclopedia of Business; Leasing for Profit: Alternatives to Conventional Financing; Planning Cash Flow; How to Effectively Manage Corporate Cash: A Manager's Guide to Financial Analysis; The Job of Corporate Controller; and How to Manage and Evaluate Capital Expenditures. Thomas T. Stallkamp is Vice Chairman and CEO at MSX International, a global provider of collaborative enterprise services. He previously served as Vice Chairman of DaimlerChrysler, where he earned a global reputation for improving quality and cost-efficiency by developing new business processes and enhanced partnerships with the automotive supply community. During his term as President, Chrysler was the auto industry's most profitable company. Stallkamp serves on the boards of Visteon Corporation and Baxter International. He is also on the board of advisors of Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, and he teaches at Babson College's Graduate Entrepreneurship Center. He has received two Honorary Doctorates, from Georgetown University and Miami University.