Business as we have known it has changed forever. Changes in technologies such as the Internet have made it easier for more businesses to reach a global market. These challenges have significantly raised the level of competition businesses face and, as a result, they must react to these challenges more rapidly than ever. Modern companies will need to adjust their management strategies if they wish to remain competitive.

Future management will need to make sure information travels freely throughout their organization. This may involve adjusting the organizational structure of the company to match any adjustments to the strategic plan. In addition to making changes to management strategies, companies will have to be sure that it hires leaders capable of successfully working within this new framework. Leaders of the future will need to able to exhibit a transformational style of leadership. Someone states, “they are responsible for leading a corporate transformation that recognizes the need for revitalization, creates a new vision, and institutionalizes change”.

The difference between the future of management and leading is that leading is only one part of management. In order to discuss the entire topic of the future of management, you must consider more than the function of leading.
We are experiencing similar changes in my workplace. I have witnessed first hand the benefits of having a vision-oriented leader come into a company. Our company was founded in 1915, and is quickly approaching its centennial birthday. Over the last decade, the managers were not successful. They were mostly autocratic leaders, and did not show appreciation for the employees. Over time, employees left the organization or became highly discouraged. In addition to creating disgruntled employees, the company found itself in a precarious financial position that can be traced to the poor decisions of past management. For these reasons, I believe that the autocratic leader is a dying breed. The employee of the future will want to feel important and therefore given more responsibility in their organization.

The new leadership at my company has completely changed the environment within the office, and employees are beginning to realize the elevated vision and commitment to success that the new CEO has. In addition to improving employee moral, the new CEO has computerized the company. Previous management did not see the benefit of utilizing the Internet in daily operations of the company. The first change that the new CEO made was to get every employee online, and the benefits have been enormous. The Internet has facilitated the way our employees communicate with each other and customers. It allows information to be sent instantaneously rather then waiting for it to arrive in the mail. Basically, these changes allow our employees to react more quickly and therefore increase their efficiency. In essence, our new leader has already made some of the changes suggested in this paper, and gives a good example of how to lead an established organization into the future.

If management is to make a change, then each of the four main functions of management must change as well. The future of planning will have to address the many new competitive strategies of rival companies. One way they can accomplish this is adopt a diversified strategy. This “helps an organization avoid the problem of having all its eggs in one basket by spreading the risk among several products or markets”. It also prepares the organization for any unforeseen challenges that may develop, and puts them in the most effective position to deal with the changes.

The future of organizing will have the responsibility of structuring organizations to match its revised strategic plans. In other words, a manger develops a plan based on his/her experiences. Once the plan is developed, it is the basis for the organizational structure, and can be used to structure relationships between resources so that goals are obtained. In addition, managers will have to be wary of changes in the business environment and use their experience to recognize when changes are needed in the organizational structure.

The future of leading must be one that embraces employees and makes them an integral part of the organization. Leaders will also be expected to be proficient communicators. All of the changes that we have discussed will have to be communicated throughout the organization in order for them to be effective. In my opinion, a mixture of transformational and considerate styles of leadership will be most successful.

In conclusion, management of the future will continue to determine the overall success of an organization. However, the success of the management team will depend on their ability to recognize changes in the business environment, and determine the best course of action to combat these changes.