Management Challenges

Management Challenges

Management Challenges

Managing a business and its employees is and art and a skill. In today's business environment, companies make millions one quarter and file for bankruptcy the next. The business climate is volatile at best. The challenges for a business and its managers are many indeed. Any business and the managers in that business today will have to deal with, technology, diversity and multicultural employees and customers, globalization, the economy, ethics of the organizations employees and clients, obtaining good leaders and managers, then finally training them and knowledge management. This paper will look at those challenges that a business must face on a day-to-day basis.

Technology innovations are changing the way companies are being managed and run. From giant companies like Wal-Mart to small businesses, all are affected by technology (Dessler, 2001). For example a company that sell clocks and plastic products has changed dramatically from the 1970's. In the 1980's they would have purchased a fax machine and got a 800 number. In the 1990's pressured by large customers, added electronic data interchange. Now half of the companies orders arrive via modem going straight into the company's computers. Errors in data entry and ordering have disappeared and costs have dropped (Dessler, 2001). A manger of customer service is doing a totally different job today than he or she did in the 1980's, and 1990's. Today the manager must be up todate on the technology used, understand it and in many cases be able to fix it, as well as manage his or her employees.

The Internet has changed the way companies are managers and doing business. A company that takes advantage of the Internet and uses it as a functional tool to gain market share is making the most of the emerging technology. Many managers do not see the benefit or opportunity of having a sharp web site or even offering online ordering. Hence the Internet is not a value added service for their company.

Because of the technological advances in today's businesses, managers must not only managers their employees and business, but manage the technology that goes with their businesses to be successful. Managers must be technologically advanced and fluent to grow their businesses.

Diversity is a challenge that affects many businesses today as well. The world is becoming smaller and more people from different ethnical backgrounds are working in today's companies. Mangers will not have a team consisting of only of white males anymore to manage. Diversity at work cannot be avoided. Mangers will have to deal with how all the diverse groups of people interact and get along. Education is a big part of the process in having a productive diverse team (Schreiber, 1996). Many think that diversity is two sided, a blessing and a curse. Problems and challenges in the organization are attacked in a richer way with different perspective. On the other hand it is much harder to get a diverse team forming, norming and producing smoothly (Dessler, 2001). Managing diversity involves planning and implementing organizational systems and practices to manage people so that the potential advantages of diversity are maximized while its potential disadvantages are minimized (Dessler, 2001).

Globalization is a new challenge that most managers of the past did not have to deal with. Globalization is an extension of the firms sales or manufacturing to a new market abroad (Dessler, 2001). And both selling and manufacturing create problems for managers. Problems that the managers did not have to deal with before globalization started. Globalization also means more competition. For example companies that did not create a threat in the past are suddenly selling at better prices, making more gross margin than three months ago. Managers have to react quickly and manage smarter in order to continue to be successful (Dessler, 2001).

Managers today must deal with a volatile economy, especially in the United States. Conducting SWOT analysis will help, but now the manager has to think ahead to world disasters, like 9/11, Hurricanes, or Tsunami's, and what those things will do to business. More than likely, how those things will affect business negatively, will they interrupt product flow, or manufacturing? Will the sales market drop out, until customers get their confidence back. Companies that do not have plans for large-scale economic disasters will not survive if something tragic should happen. Fuel prices are also a cost of goods that fluctuating drastically currently, and look to just go up in the near future. Fuel prices are probably causing some fuel sur-charge to customers, or at least forcing companies to raise their prices. All new challenges that managers must deal with to stay successful.

Concern for ethics has grown over the last five years especially. Many companies have been sued and many managers and CEO's have been brought on criminal changes regarding mistreatment of ethics. Ethics is a hot topic and one that managers of the past did not have to deal with in the detail the manager does today. Ethics is a large scale thought process, it goes beyond how the CEO acts, and what prices the company charge to its customers, but also how that company perceives and behaves in regards to the world environment (Greenwood, 2000). Does the company want and try to reduce pollution, does it recycle? In dealing with ethics, a manager must continue to keep ethics in the front of his or her mind. Ethics is something that is not going away, and if not considered, ethical short-term decision will affect the company in a negative way. Managers will fall into two categories; one will see the relevancy of ethics training in pragmatic terms. It will help to ensure one's organization does not fall into making a wrong decision. The other will see that ethics matter to the company, and how they treat their customers (Maclagan, 1994).

A successful company is one that is learning faster than its competitors (Dessler, 2001). Knowledge management comes into play. Managers of the past probably had to worry about knowledge management in one form or another, but not to the degree that they do today. Part of the problem is all the knowledge is in the heads of the employees, not written down. A company and it's managers must determine the best way to capture that data, then watch the horizon for other details and information that will affect the company, then get that information to its employees (Dessler, 2001).

A manager and leader today faces hiring, and training leaders that can handle all the challenges that have been stated previously. As mentioned, managers of 50 years ago

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