1. Interview the owners of three small businesses in your community, each a different type and size. Where would you put each business with respect to the five stages of small business growth? Justify your answer.
[1] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
2011,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/organizational-life-cycle.html.
[2] B. Kotey and G. G. Meredith, “Relationships among Owner/Manager Personal Values, Business
Strategies, and Enterprise Performance,” Journal of Small Business Management 35, no. 2 (1997): 37–
65.
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[3] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[4] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[5] Darrell Zahorsky, “Find Your Business Life Cycle,” accessed October 7,
2011,sbinformation.about.com/cs/marketing/a/a040603.htm.
[6] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[7] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[8] Shivonne Byrne, “Empowering Small Business,” Innuity, June 25, 2007, accessed October 7,
2011, innuity.typepad.com/innuity_empowers_small_bu/2007/06/five -stages-of-.html.
[9] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[10] Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis, “The Five Stages of Small Business Growth,” Harvard Business
Review 61, no. 3 (1983): 30–44, 48–50.
[11] Carter McNamara, “Basic Overview of Organizational Life Cycles,” accessed October 7,
2011, http://managementhelp.org/organizations/life-cycles.htm.
[12] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
2011,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/organizational-life-cycle.html.
[13] Robert E. Quinn and Kim Cameron, “Organizational Life Cycles and Shifting Criteria of Effectiveness:
Some Preliminary Evidence,” Management Science 29, no. 1 (1983): 33–51.
[14] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
2011,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/organizational-life-cycle.html.
[15] Yash P. Gupta and David C. W. Chin, “Organizational Life Cycle: A Review and Proposed Directions
for Research,” The Mid-Atlantic Journal of Business 30, no. 3 (December 1994): 269–94.
[16] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
2011,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/organizational-life-cycle.html.
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[17] Carter McNamara, “Basic Overview of Organizational Life Cycles,” accessed October 7,
2011, http://managementhelp.org/organizations/life-cycles.htm.
[18] “Industry Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed June 1, 2012,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/industry-life-
cycle.html.
[19] “Industry Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed June 1, 2012,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/industry-life-
cycle.html.
[20] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
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[21] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
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[22] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
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[23] “Organizational Life Cycle,” Inc., 2010, accessed October 7,
2011,www.inc.com/encyclopedia/organizational-life-cycle.html.
1.4 Ethics
LEARNING OBJECTIVES
1. Define ethics. 2. Explain business ethics. 3. Describe small business ethics. 4. Understand why a small business should have an ethics policy.
Ethics are about doing the right thing. They are about well-based standards of right and wrong
that prescribe what humans ought to do—usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to
society, fairness, or specific virtues.[1] They serve as guidelines for making decisions about how
to behave in specific situations; they also guide us in evaluating the actions of
others. [2]Hopefully, they will provide us with a good understanding of how to react to situations
long before those situations occur.
What Ethics Are Not
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It is important to understand what ethics are not. [3]
• Ethics are not the same as our feelings. Our feelings are not always accurate indicators about a
particular action being unethical (e.g., taking a long lunch or spending too much personal time on the
Internet while at work). We all develop defense mechanisms to protect ourselves, so we may not feel badly
about a particular unethical act. Some people may actually feel good about behaving unethically.
• Ethics are not the same as religion. Most religions champion high ethical standards, but not
everyone is religious. Ethics apply to everyone.
