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Model for growth of information technology in businesses
Stages of growth model is a theoretical model for the growth of information technology (IT) in a business or similar organization. It was developed by Richard L. Nolan during the early 1970s, and with the final version of the model published by him in the Harvard Business Review in 1979.

Both articles describing the stages were first published in the Harvard Business Review. The first proposal was made in 1973 and consisted of only four stages. Two additional stages were added in 1979 to complete his six stage model.

In this stage, information technology is first introduced into the organization. According to Nolan's article in 1973, computers were introduced into companies for two reasons. The first reason deals with the company reaching a size where the administrative processes cannot be accomplished without computers. Also, the success of the business justifies large investment in specialized equipment. The second reason deals with computational needs. Nolan defined the critical size of the company as the most prevalent reason for computer acquisition. Due to the unfamiliarity of personnel with the technology, users tend to take a "hands off" approach to new technology. This introductory software is simple to use and cheap to implement, which provides substantial monetary savings to the company. During this stage, the IT department receives little attention from management and work in a "carefree" atmosphere.

Critics agree that Nolan's model presents several shortcomings and is slightly out of date. As time has progressed, Richard Nolan's Stages of Growth Model has revealed some apparent weaknesses. However, many agree that this does not take away from his innovative look into the realm of computing development.

An argument posed dealt with the main focus on the change in budget, and whether it is “reasonable to assume that a single variable serves as a suitable surrogate for so much.” It seems logical that this single variable could be an indicator of other variables such as the organizational environment or an organization's learning curve, but not that it is the sole driving force of the entire model. Nolan shows little connection that would make his initial point a valid one. In his model, Richard Nolan states that the force behind the growth of computing through the stages is technological change. King and Kramer find this to be far too general as they say, “there are additional factors that should be considered. Most important are the "demand side" factors that create a ripe environment for technological changes to be considered and adopted.” As proposed, technological change has a multitude of facets that determine its necessity. Change cannot be brought forth unless it is needed under certain circumstances. Unwarranted change would result in excess costs and potential failure of the process. Last, the stages of growth model assumes straightforward organizational goals that are to be determined through the technological change. This can be viewed as very naïve from the user perspective. King and Kraemer state, “the question of whether organizational goals are uniform and consistent guides for the behavior of organizational actors, as opposed to dynamic and changing targets that result from competition and conflict among organizational actors, has received considerable attention in the literature on computing.” Clearly, organizational goals are ever changing and sometimes rigid indicators of direction. They cannot be “uniform” objectives that are not subject to change.