About Aristocracy:

The effects of the steady decline in flexibility, which began in Prime, start to become more obvious in Aristocracy. Because it has neglected to pursue long-term opportunities, the company's focus becomes increasingly short-term. For the most part, its goals are financially orientated and low-risk. With less of a long term view, the climate in an Aristocratic organization is relatively stale.

About Bureaucracy:

Although it should be dead, an organization in Bureaucracy is kept alive by artificial life support. The company was born the first time in Infancy, it was reborn in Adolescence, and its third "birth" is in Bureaucracy when it gets an artificial continuance on life. If there is no business or government commitment to support the company, death can occur instead of Bureaucratization.

About Recrimination:

When an Aristocracy is unable to reverse its downward spiral and the artificial repairs finally stop working, management's mutual admiration society abruptly ends. The good-old-buddy days of the Aristocracy are gone, and the witch-hunts of Recrimination begin. Companies in this stage focus on who caused the problems, rather than what to do about them.