Dealing With Management Challenges

     Management is the process of getting things done through other people. Some individuals carry the title of manager but are not managers in the true sense of the word. They may have people reporting to them, but they tend to work alone, seeming to manage their subordinates as an afterthought. Such individuals are basically entrepreneurs, and it is likely that they will find themselves unable to cope with the dynamic changes now confronting modern organizations.

     In studying these changes, it is possible to examine them in waves. The first wave started around 8000 B.C. and was characterized by the agricultural revolution. The second began in the early eighteenth century with industrialization. This wave was characterized by standardization, specialization, synchronization, concentration, maximization, and centralization.

     The third wave, which is now striking the shores of industrial nations, is bringing dramatic changes and challenges. Some of the major factors which affect the modern manager's ,job are changes in the technological environment, new methods of information handling, new employee demands in the world of work, a decline in organizational loyalty, the evolution of adaptive organizational structures, a redefinition of organizational purpose, and the continued growth of multinational corporations. The impact of these events on the modern manager will be studied throughout this book, with attention directed toward explaining how these changes can be handled. A past-present-future framework will be used.