Emerging Issues and Challenges in Management || The Nature of Management || Bcis Notes

EMERGING ISSUES AND CHALLENGES FOR MANAGEMENT

Managerial function are keys to organizational success. Therefore several challenges confront today and these challenges mainly arise from the significant change in the outside world. Some of the major emerging issues and challenges that all management faces are listed below:

 

For the better management of the organization, the managers must be able to adjust to the emerging new challenges. Some challenges are:

• Globalization
• Ethics and Social responsibility
• Workforce diversity
• Empowerment
• Technology
• Building a Competitive Advantage
• Development of the environment
• Quality and productivity
• Innovation and change
• Knowledge management
• Multicultural effects

 

1.Globalization:

The globalization of business is the major emerging challenges for management. It occurs when an organization extends its activities to other parts of the world, actively participates in other markets, and competes against organizations located in other countries. Transactions of business organizations take place across national boundaries. Globalization made the world a global village. In this process, a manager’s job is changing with the following Emerging Issues and Challenges for Management:

• Increased foreign assignments
• Working with people from different cultures
• Coping with anti-capitalism backlash
• Overseeing movement of jobs to countries with low-cost labor
• There is external competition for markets, and also for resources.

2. Ethics and Social responsibility: 

The increasing concern of roles and state of ethics in business. Managers are concerned because of the complexity of ethics in decision making. Society is generally expecting more from business organizations. These organizations expect to contribute to the quality of life and society. Environmental issues have become matters of widespread concern. The manager will determine the extent to which these social responsibilities and ethical issues are handled and managed.

some bullets points for ethics and social responsibility are listed follows:

• Ethics is about an individual’s personal beliefs about what constitutes right and wrong
• The most vital ethical concern of modern managers is to know how an organization treats its employees
• Social responsibility is the set of obligations that an organization has to fulfill towards the society

3. Workforce diversity:

The people in organizations are becoming more heterogeneous demographically (disability, gender, age, national origin, non-Christian, race, and domestic partners). A diverse workforce includes women, physically disabled, senior citizens, etc. Managing this diversity has become a global concern.

Diversity is not managed properly. There is a potential for higher turnover, more difficult communication, more interpersonal conflicts. Managers should recognize the differences among employees and respond to them in ways that will ensure employee commitment.

some bullets points for workforce diversity are listed follows:

• The workforce is increasing in organizations today because of changing population dimensions
• There are several dimensions of diversification; the important are age, gender, and ethnicity
• The diversification in the workforce can affect the organization differently
• In one hand it can be the source of cost advantage and on the other hand, it could be a source of conflict in an organization

4. Empowerment: Decision making is pushed down to the operating level. Workers are now being given the freedom to make choice about the schedule, procedures, and solving work-related problems. Earlier managers were encouraged to get their employees to participate in the work-related decision. Now managers allow employees full control of their work. Thus managers engaged in empowering employees. Similarly, the manager provides more information to employees to make them aware of the problem and the prospects of their organization.

some bullets points for empowerment are listed follows:

• Employees are the major element of the internal environment of an organization
• When managers and employees embrace the same values and have the same goals, it becomes convenient to achieve organizational objectives
• At present, employees have become more powerful due to decentralized authority and labor unions affiliated to political parties

5. Technology: 
The technological environment consists of innovations, techniques, and the organized knowledge of the way of doing things. The modern business is characterized by newer and ever-changing technological developments. This calls for the technological perspective in management. They need to recognize and anticipate technological changes. Technological changes result in a modification in products and services; in the way, they are produced and marketed. The managers must, therefore grasp a proper understanding of these aspects of technological context.

some bullets points for technology are listed follows:

• Technological development tends to increase the aspirations and expectations
• It develops the concept of a competitive environment among the manufacturers and supplies
• The most important challenges of present-day managers are to identify and predict the ever-developing new technology
• It is the responsibility of managers to keep pace with the changes in technology and grab the opportunity to make the business a success

6. Building a Competitive Advantage: 
Increasing Efficiency in Reducing the number of resources used to produce goods and services. Also, increasing Quality Introducing Total Quality Management (TQM) to improve quality. Similarly, to increasing Speed, Flexibility, and Innovation Adapting to bring new products to market faster. Increasing Responsiveness to Customers Empowering employees to deal with customers.

7. Development of the environment:
Environmental issues are major issues in management these days. These issues like deforestation, global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, toxic wastage, and pollution of land, air, and water. May not be these issues are a matter of to an enterprise. But, these matters draw the attention of different social, business and political institutions.

some bullets points for the development of the environment  are listed follows:

• The environmental issues are the major issues in management
• These issues may not be a matter of interest to an enterprise, especially in developing countries
• But politicians and social activists have picked up the environmental banners
• The green movements have spread into different parts of the world
• Present managers have the challenge to develop their enterprise creatively but without harming the environment

8. Quality and productivity:
It is practically the quality and productivity that are supplementary or auxiliary to each other. Quality supports to maximize productivity and which ultimately minimizes per unit cost of output. And, minimizing cost depends on the skills of the manager.

some bullets points for quality and production are listed follows:

• In the past, many managers assumed that they could increase output only by decreasing quality, but present managers disagree
• Present managers have recognized that quality and productivity are interrelated to each other
• Three positive results to the management:
  Low return of defects from customers
  Minimized wastage of resource
  Reduces the need for an inspector

9. Innovation and change:
The innovation of new knowledge and change of expectation of stakeholders are emerging challenges to the present manager or management. Where facing the change is a critical challenge to the manager. It or change may occur in the attitude and behavior of stakeholders like competitors, customers, employees, suppliers, and lenders. Thus, it is an important responsibility of managers to handle such a change in a scientific and practical way.

some bullets points for innovation and change are listed follows:

• The innovation of new knowledge to fulfill the expectations of stakeholders is increasing today
• At present managing change is a critical challenge to managers
• It is the responsibility of managers to handle such a change in a scientific and practical way
• Managers can use a variety of tools to harmonize the working environment of the organization

10.Knowledge management:
Employees are the primary source of knowledge. And as far as possible their ideas should be accumulated to prepare plans and policies. It is due to the expectation of society such as new ideas, new things and creativity in the product or service from any organization. And, on the basis of requirement, it is essential to hire new knowledge from outside.

some bullets points for knowledge management are listed follows:

• Knowledge has become a power
• The society expects new ideas, things, and creativity in product and service
• To fulfill such social expectations, the manager has to accumulate knowledge and ideas from all the members involved in the organization
• A model manager must be flexible to manage knowledge and should also consider the situational factor

11.Multicultural effects:
An innovation of modern communication and transportation system has tied the multi-cultured people together. They work together to meet their common and professional goals or objectives. In the present context, the involvement of cross-cultural professions in the organization is continuously increasing. Therefore, the involvement of multicultural people having different traditions, values, social attitudes, religious beliefs, and living approaches creates a new challenge to the manager.

some bullets points for multicultural effects are listed follows:

• The innovation of the modern transportation system has tied the multi-cultured people together
• They work together to meet their common objectives even if they have different traditions, values, social attitudes
• Management is effective only when it is able to maintain coordination among multicultural professionals

             Hence, these are the following Emerging Issues and Challenges in Management.

 

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