Management Challenges for the 21st Century - Term Paper Example

Book Report: “Management Challenges for the 21st Century” by Peter F. Drucker Introduction Change is the only constant phenomenon in the world and with the various facets of life, business and its modes of transaction have experienced paradigm shift over the course of time. Science got integrally related with business. The development of management as main stream academic study in running and executing business and generating commerce have taken it to a different realm which has a very high benchmark. Peter. F. Drucker, one of the top management thinkers of his contemporary era indulged in great influence in shaping the modern corporation. As a teacher, philosopher, reporter and consultant, he had a very in-depth vision on politics, economics and social transitions which enabled him to guide his followers and readers with a wider and a modern perception of the management and its theories. Drucker authored more than twenty five books with his very debut scholastic work bearing the title, “The End of Economic Man” which was published in the year 1939. His book, “Management Challenges for the 21st Century” appeared in the year 1982 and provides an insightful and contemporary information for the benefit of individuals and organizations at the same platform as Drucker has almost united the two separate entities in his book and views their common objective towards the attainment of one common goal. Drucker views the 21st century as the period of “Profound Transition” as this era witnessed lots of social, political and economic upheavals starting from the World War to great Economic Depression. Drucker with his coherent knowledge and foresightedness tried to shape the course of business and management that he visions to classify the future course of commerce amid all the socio-economic and socio-political transitions across the globe. Management Challenges for the 21st Century: A Detailed Insight The era of 21st century is a time of metamorphosis according to Drucker. Amidst the structural changes taking place around, Drucker views five socio-political events that will certainly tend to shape the business and its strategy in the near future. He takes in to consideration the fall of birth rates in the developed countries of the world, transitions in the area of distribution of disposable income, paradigm shift and re-definition of corporate activities and performances, competition in the global market, and the growth of incongruence between the economic and political pragmatism as the factors that would influence much in the reshaping and reincarnating modern course of management, its strategies and businesses. Next, Drucker throws light on the issue of the requirements of leadership. He muses in an elegant style, “One cannot manage change. One can only be ahead of it”. He visions that in the era of the “new information revolution” influence of characteristics of which are very much evident in the modern commerce, it is important to focus on the information and its meaning and not on the technology through which it is collected. As regards to the productivity of the knowledge workers, Drucker in his epoch making documentation on modern business and its strategy captivated in the “Management Challenges of the 21st Century” makes a very contemporary and relevant commentary. He views that the nature of the work for a knowledge workers are quite different from that of the physical labourers and under this circumstance, knowledge workers unlike manual workers, must not be considered as costs but must be treated as capital assets. And finally, he throws light on the responsibilities that knowledge workers must assume in management pertaining to area of their self-development and their career. Actually very few people influenced the course of business individually in the 20th century to the extent like that of Peter Drucker. He literally invented and redefined management as a discipline in the year 1950s. Before reshaping and redefining management as a major course of study, it was much ignored and despised career. Drucker elevated it to a place where it was moulded into a necessary institution and gave an organised structure which reflected and captivated the spirit of the modern era. In the book, “Management Challenges for the 21st Century”, Drucker views at the profound socio-economic transitions that have occurred in the contemporary era. Along with these, he also considered the ways management should focus on the orientation in a self-dependent way to address the new realities of the business sectors. The enlightening documentation of Peter F. Drucker captivated within 224 pages is divided into six chapters along with a brief but enlightening introduction. The introduction bears a very catchy title “Tomorrow’s “Hot” Issue” while the rest of the six chapters bear the respective titles like “Management’s New Paradigms”, “Strategy- The New Certainties”, “The Change Leader”, “Information Challenges”, “Knowledge-Worker Productivity” and “Managing Oneself”. These six chapters are presented before the readers as the six impressive essays which Drucker finds would serve every organization or individual in dealing with the management challenges of the 21st century. Before setting the management strategies or business strategies for the 21st century, Drucker reviews the seven assumptions pertaining to the business strategies of 20th century and contends that those assumptions are largely obsolete. Next, he revises and sums up eight new assumptions for the 21st century and focuses on the factors that are essential, according to Drucker, for viewing the roles of individual and management in both the sector of profit and not-for-profit organizations. In chapter one, Drucker brushes up the seven old assumptions of management and points out the three old assumptions for the discipline of management and four old assumptions for the practise of management. After discussing the detailed seven old assumptions and dividing them into two neat categories, Drucker moves forward to explain and put forward eight new set of assumptions that are able to locate complexities and completely demolishes the either-or categories present in the old assumptions. In chapter two, Drucker focuses on the new socio-economic and socio-political conditions and based on those, he frames five new certainties that are more inclined to social or political arena rather than being economic. In chapter three, Drucker contends for requirements essential for able leadership in the changed scenario and conditions of 21st century. At the same time, he points out a very valid point of contention which focuses that people and organizations need to inculcate and develop the practice of balance in the field of management. In chapter four, Drucker focuses and describes the new revolution pertaining to information technology in 21st century and throws light on its gaining momentum. Not only Drucker stops with the flat contention of the fact that in the 21st century, information technology is going to gain a huge boom but at the same time from the perspective of management study, he goes on to explain and suggest four simple and popular methods of managing and organizing management data. In Chapter five, Drucker explains the differences between the manual workers and the knowledge workers. He neatly distinguishes their differences in objective and procedures. He also reviews the history of manual-workers’ productivity in manufacturing units during 20th century. He explains that it increased the production by fifty-fold and explains the new method will bring improvisations and improvements in the productivity of the knowledge-workers which Drucker views as the essential requirement of the 21st century. Owing to the contention and conviction put forwarded by Drucker where he views major difference in the nature of job as regards to the manual-workers and knowledge –workers, Drucker identifies and explains six major factors which will be instrumental in increasing the productivity of the knowledge-workers in the future. The first five chapters of the book “Management Challenges for the 21st Century” focuses on the changes that are taking place in the environment basically in society, economy, politics and technology. The concluding chapter of the book focuses on the development of the individual and focuses on the methods which an individual working in an organization must incorporate to develop oneself for the objective of mutual benefit. Under this light, Drucker sets and discusses five demands in the format of a self-questioning or self-evaluating mode that would help the individual in developing himself. The major work in this area is done keeping in mind the knowledge-workers largely. At the same time, Drucker gives six advises for using the feedback analysis for the self-evaluating process. The book is not lengthy and is written in a very simple and lucid language which enables the readers to comprehend the subject matter captivated within it thoroughly and properly. Like a true management book, the points of contention and analysis are supported with adequate examples and theories along with neat presentation of the subject matter in points which make it easier to remember, understand and grasp. Conclusion Peter F. Drucker’s book, “Management Challenges of the 21st Century” is a compact and coherent presentation of the challenges that would be faced by individuals and organizations in the world of management and corporate in the 21st century. The book not only addresses the problems of the 21st century but also plans, suggests and explains strategies to overcome them. The book is essential for the minted graduates and freshers who are all set to work in the challenging situations of 21st century. It is beneficial for the knowledge-workers who are the most sought-after work force of the 21st century. At the same time, the book is illuminating for the seasoned veterans who would require the mentioned strategies in the book to view the path ahead with clarity and precision with a vision to respond to the new challenges for the world of management in the 21st century. Bibliography Drucker, Peter F. Management challenges for the 21st century. Butterworth-Heinemann, 2007. Read More