Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
Interest in management theory and practice has heightened in recent years as new issues
and challenges have emerged. No new paradigm has been formulated that replaces the
traditional views, but managers continue to strive toward a better understanding of how
they can better compete and lead their organizations toward improved effectiveness.
Contemporary Applied Perspectives
Several applied authors have significant influ-
ence on modern management theory and practice. Among the most popular applied authors
today are Peter Senge, Stephen Covey, Tom Peters, Jim Collins, Michael Porter, John Kotter,
and Gary Hamel.
46
Their books highlight the management practices of successful firms such
as Shell Oil, Ford, and IBM, or they outline conceptual or theoretical models or frameworks
to guide managers as they formulate strategies or motivate their employees. Malcolm
Gladwell’s books
The Tipping Point, Blink
, and
Outliers
have all caught the attention of
many contemporary managers. Scott Adams, creator of the popular comic strip
Dilbert
,
also remains popular today. Adams is a former communications industry worker who devel-
oped his strip to illustrate some of the absurdities that occasionally afflict contemporary
organizational life. The daily strip is routinely e-mailed and posted outside office doors,
above copy machines, and beside water coolers in hundreds of offices.
Contemporary Management Challenges
Managers today also face an imposing
set of challenges as they guide and direct the fortunes of their companies. Coverage of
each of these challenges is thoroughly integrated throughout this book. In addition,
many of them are highlighted or given focused coverage in one or more special ways.
One significant challenge (and opportunity) is globalization. Managing in a global
economy poses many different challenges and opportunities. For example, at a macro
level, property ownership arrangements vary widely. So does the availability of natural
resources and infrastructure components, as well as government’s role in business. More-
over, behavioral processes vary widely across cultural and national boundaries. For
example, values, symbols, and beliefs differ sharply among cultures. Different work
norms and the role that work plays in a person’s life, for example, influence patterns of
both work-related behavior and attitudes toward work. They also affect the nature of
supervisory relationships, decision-making styles and processes, and organizational con-
figurations. Group and intergroup processes, responses to stress, and the nature of polit-
ical behaviors also differ from culture to culture.
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