Future of Management
...aders use. He describes them as “Think like a leader; provide a vision; use the right leadership style; and apply organizational behavior skills such as motivating.” (Dessler. (2003). The leader of the future will function as a mentor by taking a personal interest in specific employees. That leader may even mentor a particular person to step into his or her shoes. At other times the leader may act as a coach, encouraging and challenging employees to reach their full potential. This kind of leader/coach will take pride in seeing others succeed even if that person move to a higher level than the leader/coach himself. Business as we have known it has changed forever. Changes in technologies such as the Internet have made it easier for more businesses to reach a global market. These challenges have significantly raised the level of competition businesses face and, as a result, they must react to these challenges more rapidly than ever. Modern companies will need to adjust their management strategies if they wish to remain competitive. Future management will need to make sure information travels freely throughout their organization. This may involve adjusting the organizational structure of the company to match any adjustments to the strategic plan. In addition to making changes to management strategies, companies will have to be sure that it hires leaders capable of successfully working within this new framework. Leaders of the future will need to able to exhibit a transformational style of leadership. There are two new tools to management that will keep growing with the future of management. One tool is technology a manner of accomplishing a task especially using technical processes, methods, or knowledge. The other tool is control, which give managers the power or authority to guide or manage. The two tools together are reasons why the future of management will continue to grow. Managers will use technology and their control to lead people in the future. Leadership will play a key role to the future if we do not have good leaders. Our future in management will not move forward to the 21st century. We need leaders who have vision and care for the organizations as if it was their own There are at least two distinct groups of managers that will be affected by this change. Many of the BC (before computers) managers may only plan to work for 10 to 15 additional years, but they will face a lot of change during that time, especially if they have failed to stay somewhat abreast of the changes that are occurring in information use and flow. The probability that someone else will select the dates of there retirement will also go up as they move forward in time (McManus 2003). The second group will be the AC (after computers) managers. They like seeing this shift occur, as they are put off by the waste they perceive in the way people do things in their company. Credibility is the first thing that suffers when BC and AC managers interact if both groups are not on the same level technologically. We will need to manage this generation gap over the next five to 10 years if we want to have cohesive management teams (McManus 2003). All the changes will affect many people in the future; the managers who use technology are not fazed by the change. Leaders who are set and their ways and do not adapt well to change never want to see what lies ahead for the future of management. In order to be a successful manager in the future Management will have to choose true leaders to lead their organizations. People who want to have a future in management and have what it takes to be a leader. We will need to manage this generation gap over the next five to 10 years if we want to have cohesive management teams (McManus 2003). Another emerging trend in management is learning to play to your strengths. There are many tests out now to learn what kind of personality you are. The Gallup Organization designed a test called the Strengths Finder profile that tells people what talents they possess and what talents they don’t have. This is called the Strengths Theory. The idea behind the strengths theory is that “each person’s talents are enduring and unique and, that each person has the most room for growth in the areas of his or her greatest strengths.” (Henricks, para 9) In other words, don’t hire someone who is not strong in finance to be your controller or someone who is very analytical to be in marketing. Sure they could learn these jobs, but why not use their strengths to benefit the company? Sue B. King, president of Leadership Initiative says that “when we are moving away from hierarchical structures in business to greater dependence on teams it’s really important that people understand what they bring to the party. In that (the strengths theory) is revolutionary.” (Henricks, para 6) As more and more companies turn to teams to run things the management process will likely change. I think that the four functions, planning, organizing, leading and controlling, will probably always be there. However, I think that much of the functions will be turned over to the teams, especially the organizing and leading functions. Teams will be responsible for deciding what needs to be done and who is going to do it. There won’t really be subordinates to delegate to, just fellow team members. Each project will require a leader to influence the direction the project should go in. However, that doesn’t mean that person will be the leader in the next project. As we talked about strengths before, those who possess the strength in the area of the project will be the natural leader for that particular project. As the future unfolds I think that we’ll see more companies turning to self-managed teams and creating work places where people can use their strengths to do great work. This will foster a workplace that employees want to stay in for years to come. In this rapidly changing economy where employees are expected to possess higher level of skills, I believe managers will be eliminated and the...