What are the main challenges a manager has to face these days?.
The challenges faced by a manager in the twenty first century differ greatly from those of previous decades. Where once it was commonly held knowledge that the manager's main focus was that of recruiting and controlling staff and other corporate resources available to achieve the organisation's objectives, whether it be maximizing profit or increasing market share, in today's working environment the manager's function in the organization has discernibly altered from that of previous times. Dynamic changes in this century's working environment due to rapid technological advances, an expanding telecommunications network and a heightened sense of global social consciousness has led to a perceptible change in the role of the organization within the marketplace thereby resulting in a decided shift in the manager's role, which has now expanded to meet the demands of the time with distinct new challenges to overcome.
Traditionally the manager's main challenge was to maintain the organisation as a vital competitive force in the marketplace by efficiently commanding and coordinating the resources-staff, finance, equipment etc.-of the organisation. However as today's marketplace is rarely static or predictable and routines and procedures that were once considered "de rigeur" have been abandoned due to necessity or legality, the manager's focus, which may have dealt mainly with the operational aspects of the corporation- i.e. increasing productivity, profitability and other corporate objectives- must now broaden to encompass all of the new adjustments within the marketplace. .
Changes in global market policy, increased technological productivity, Labour laws, increased individual mobility, higher values placed on customer service, quality standards and employee satisfaction are only some of the factors which now not only affect but guide the direction of the marketplace must now be taken into account by the manager.
