Growth remains one of the most intriguing organizational objectives. Research in organization science (OS) has examined growth both as a means to profitability and as an alternative to profitability (Baumol, 1958). With growth as a central concept in OS – either as a means to an end, or as an end in itself – the management literature has variously discussed strategies and structures for growth and varieties of growth (such as organic and inorganic growth), and, indeed, much of the traditional management literature has been concerned with the relationships between functional area strategies and this important outcome criterion.

The large existing literature on growth therefore raises several questions: Is further research on growth needed? What additional contributions can be made to this literature? How can we advance an already voluminous literature and contribute to management practice? Any further research in this area must proceed with at least some amount of hubris, for many, many research efforts have gone before and many issues have been studied.

Research concerning firm growth has tended to follow the path taken by most research in organization science; that is, from general to specific. Research began with an important set of questions, and these have subsequently been fragmented and separated into smaller and smaller parts. This has allowed for the rigorous examination of progressively less and less important problems, and has led us further from the fundamental questions that originally stimulated this field of inquiry. These are: How important is growth, and in particular, organic growth?