Management Hot Issues - Book Report/Review Example

Management Hot Issues Individuals holding management positions in organizations or companies carry the most challenging responsibilities considering the fact that today’s world is not only characterized by uncertainty and ambiguity but also change from time to time. It is there imperative for people holding such positions to very vigilant in the way they make they make their managerial decisions. Failure to do so can easily lead to organizational failure. Managers need to develop certain skills and qualities to be able to succeed on their quest to lead their respective companies or organizations in the most efficient and effective way Peter Drucker in his management masterpiece provides an analysis of the future prospects of management, organizations and the entire society. Throughout his book, the management Guru indicates that the accepted and successful management practices in the society today might turn to be counterproductive in the future. It is imperative to point out that Drucker had the main idea of advising managers to be flexible in addressing diverse challenges and adopting diverse paradigms from the dynamic demographic, social, and economic realities that exist in the changing market place (Drucker 3). Peter Drucker provides a demonstration of how organizations must strive to adopt change in their operations to sail through a number of issues that arise. The management of organizations must be in a position to promptly react to the eminent challenges. This will be of great significance to the future of such organizations. Peter Drucker outlined a number of challenges that the dynamic management paradigms bring along with it. He provides an analogy of the rapid nature of change in the world’s management paradigms. He noted that there was the need to replace the old paradigms in the 1980s that have since become obstacles in the new paradigm of management (Drucker 23). Peter Drucker noted that sensitivity to the organizational performance should be the key mandate of good management. The good management should be sensitive to both factors that are beyond their control as well as those factors that are within their control. He emphases on the need of management in the new paradigms to promote teamwork and good leadership styles rather than “management.” Peter Drucker indicates that the present management challenges facing organizations ought to be treated as opportunities for prosperity in the new paradigm of management (Drucker 33). The Political and Economic Realities Challenges Peter Drucker argues that it is important for management of organizations to separate themselves from issues of politics or initiatives driven by politics of regional or national economies in order to move forward (Drucker 32). Political, sociological, technological and economic factors are the major external dynamics which affect the process of management. Sociological factors include personal values, work ethics, status and trends. The management has to first understand what consumers prefer, deem moral or what they are likely to demand in the future to facilitate future planning for the business. Political and economic factors include suppliers, competitors and more importantly the customers. Understanding those factors help planners to maintain good relationships by for the mutual benefits of all the actors in business. Understanding the technological changes in the market on the other hand helps planners to design an organization in a flexible manner to accommodate the dynamic nature of business. Drucker postulates that business managers to focus instead on competing in the global arena. He indicates that the business managers should be competent in managing currency fluctuations in a realistic manner in the short term because this will help them manage the exposure of currency (Drucker 33). Managing change (Leading Change) Peter Drucker indicates that it is significant for leaders of change to vigorously focus on utilizing new opportunities. He however, points that there is prevalence of natural bias towards continuity in a number of organizations, for example, the leaders of change in organizations normally tend to fully exploit opportunities brought about by developed innovative and new services, processes or products. This kind of exploit, Peter Drucker notes that is normally undertaken by people in the organizations who are the best and able to perform. He therefore, indicates that there must be the good will by organizations to initiate change and align it with the organizational culture (Drucker 62). A manager who can work in the global market involves more than just having a goal-oriented person who in most cases is the best choice for organizations. They will be able to pursue the organizational goals and are in very reliable in attainment of targets. A manager who can handle work in another social, cultural and political system must be a person is very quick to adapt and understand these new systems. Human beings in nature are very rigid to change but it is very important for the manager to understand the local ways of doing business and respect them, knowing how communication is conducted is also very important, as it will define how successful the business will perform (Drucker 64). . A manager therefore, needs to believe that he or she has the ability to face any challenge while exerting authority over other people. Lack of confidence can hamper them from facing uncertainties with confidence. Consequently, managers need to be creative in their thinking. This will specifically enable them to deal with the ever-changing working or business environment. They will also be able to deal with uncertainties because of coming up with solutions to problems within the shortest time possible. Additionally, managers need to display openness while dealing with other people. Sharing freely will enable them gain access to great ideas on how to best manage their resources for better performances. It also provides them with an opportunity deal with the problem of ambiguity as they will be able to follow on whether or not everyone is clear of what is expected of them. They also need to exercise humility. Most managers have the tendency of viewing themselves to be above others. As such, they do things without considering other people’s views. This major mistake can hinder one from surviving the current world. Humility enables one to be free to share issues even with junior staff members. Managers who view themselves as gods may fail to achieve this. It is also essential for managers to demonstrate great dedication to their jobs to be able to deal with the above conditions. Lack of dedication hinders them from being predictive. This is because they may be found unawares at all times hence they will not be prepared to deal with uncertainties or adapt to the changes. A dedicated manager will be able to some extent predict what the future carries. He or she will also be able to learn and avoid factors contributing to uncertainties. Drucker notes that it is significant for the organizational culture to have a positive attitude towards change and that a desired objective would be achieved through the change. . The main reason to why organizations change is to better their performances. This means that after the completion of the change process, the change should be imbedded in the organizational culture. This should be done to ensure it becomes a part of the organization. It also helps in ensuring that people do not go back old ways of doing things (Drucker 66). Fundamentally, failure to imbed the same in the organizational culture can easily lead to people failing to apply it in their day to day work. Leaders should be on the forefront in supporting the change and ensuring it is part of the culture. They must also be able to convince other people in the company are committed to the same. New staff should also be able convinced to embrace the change. Leaders need to use every opportunity that they get to talk about change. They must also ensure that change values and ideals are embraced during the hiring and training process. It is also essential for them to recognize the people who made the change a success. This ensures every individual is well aware if the role they played in ensuring the change process (Drucker 68). The management also needs to come up with a grand plan on how to replace major leaders that played an integral role to the success of the change process when they move on. This should be done to ensure their legacy lives on. Information challenges Peter Drucker indicates that it is of great significance for organizational management to be as per with market and contemporary business models provided by the current technological advancements (Drucker 82). He postulates that the conventional management emphasized data collection, retrieval, storage, transmission and presentation in the new paradigm of management. However, this is not the case in the 21st century where focus has shifted towards information rather than data. The information has been used in the tasks redefinition in organizations. The management of organizations also uses the information to redefine their organizations. A company cannot be able to remain innovative without proper investment in technology. There is the need to invest continuously in research and development to come up the most effective and efficient technologies that will enable innovation. A company or organization cannot depend on its current technology for future usage in innovation (Drucker 82). Peter Drucker indicated that the management’s information systems should be harmonized by the skills and knowledge that exists within the organization’s employees. It is also essential for project team members to be able to demonstrate effective communication. One barrier to effective project implementation is poor communication. Members cannot be able to achieve the goals of a particular project with poor communication (Drucker 84). People need to communicate with one another to be able to work together in harmony. Furthermore, it enables team members to avoid the issue of ambiguity. As such, members will know exactly what is expected of them at any given point in time. Drucker indicates that the management needs to convince people on the need for change. This can only be achieved through strong leadership. A powerful coalition can be formed by different individuals in an organization coming together to work as a team. This does not necessarily mean that the traditional hierarchy should be followed. What matters is that the team should be made up of influential people. The source of power can come from political importance, expertise, status, and job titles among others. Such individuals working together will have the ability to manage change effectively. They will also be able to influence others to join the course of change implementation. Essentially, true leaders need to be identified. It is also essential to ensure every member shows great commitment to change implementation. The management also needs to work on team building as well as the identification of members’ weak areas. The coalition should be made of different people with different expertise to ensure they complement one another’s weaknesses (Drucker 86). Business managers should be able to communicate effectively to be able to delegate duties in the desired manner. Effective communication also enables them to handle disputes whenever they arise during project implementations. It also leads to reduction on errors, as members are able to foresee it and report it to the authority before it escalates. Effective communication also enables team members to keep in touch with the parent company. As such, they are able to update it on the status of the project. The parent company on the other hand is able to with customers and updates them on the progress. With this being the case, it become possible for the team to make any changes as requested by customers or continue working with project after being given a go ahead. Drucker postulated that organization should gather information on a broader perspective regarding technology, markets, finance, environment, customers and non-customers, as well as the entire society in general (Drucker 88). Knowledge-worker productivity challenges Peter Drucker noted that manual workers in the 20th century were perceived economically as costs of production that were flexible in nature, that is, could be regulated and reduced whenever need arose. He noted that the 21st century knowledgeable workers cannot be treated as the manual workers were treated in the 20th century. He states that the new crop of workers does not operate as costs, but rather, as assets that should be preserved and managed properly. The 20th century most valued assets were the equipments of production, however, Peter Drucker indicated that in the 21st century, the most valued assets in the business and/or non-business institutions are the knowledge and productivity of the workers (Drucker 116). He indicated that knowledge in the new paradigm of management is more important than other forms of capital like land and labor. He noted that gains made in the 20th century in terms of social and economic were made because of the improved productivity of the manual workers. The manual workers improved their productivity using advanced tools (Drucker 116). Peter Drucker thus, affirms that increasing the knowledge of the workers in the contemporary organizations would result into increased productivity (Drucker 120). Self-Management challenges (Managing oneself) Peter Drucker indicated that the working life of workers who were knowledgeable would be longer than the working life of the manual laborers. He postulated that the workers, who are knowledgeable, have the ability to have at least 50 years of productivity compared to the approximately 30 year’s life expectancy of most organizations. He therefore, insinuated that individual workers in organizations should focus on managing their own self because they are likely to have two or three careers (Drucker 139). Managers are advised to group individual in different categories depending on the information they carry. They should be able to identify knowledgeable individuals and then group then together. This should be done for them to be able to gain access to information that will aid them in improving the performance of their respective organizations. Such individuals will also enable the company to be able to transfer information from one department to another. They are also able to create new information or knowledge that can come in handy when trying to enhance its performance. It is a common knowledge that most managers in many companies and organization fail to ascertain knowledge known to individuals or employees. This is one of their greatest undoing even when dealing with accounting information. Failing to know what employees know render a company incompetent when trying to come up with the best practices that motivate them to worker even harder. As companies grow or become larger and even join the global market so does the need to understand what employees know. This has led to many scholars trying to come up with strategies on how to understand what employees know about their organizations. Peter Drucker warns against workers keeping themselves rigid to the laid down organization patterns (Drucker 140). Conclusion Peter Drucker’s book is a significant book that should studied both in academics and by executives. It gives a window into the new paradigms in management, which is important in organizational leadership in the dynamic global environment. Work Cited Drucker, Peter F. Management Challenges for the 21st Century. New York: HarperBusiness, 1999. Print. Read More