Management constantly evolves and should address all the changes that take place in the contemporary society. Therefore for the XXI-century manager it is of great importance to be open-minded and be ready to adjust to the quickly changing external and internal business environment. In particular, he or she should know how to manage the diverse workforce that includes the people of different ages, the women and the foreigners (Mayhew, n.d.; Molinsky, 2012). Secondly, it is vital to keep in mind the enormous influence of the technology on the performance of the employees, which may be both positive and negative (Davidson, 2015). Finally, the managerial approaches must be much more flexible, because the companies operate in the global environment and there are also a lot of changes due to the growth of the strong small and medium enterprises (Henderson n.d.). So the managers should build extensive networks of contacts and reward the employees more often so that they could stay motivated at work.
In general, the XXI century manager is a proactive and open-minded person that is ready to work in one team with the very different people. A modern manager may change the managerial style if he has to work abroad and the technology has a non-destructive impact on his performance. He realizes that quite a lot depends on the communication with the partners and customers and therefore he is present online and tries to increase the company’s online presence too. What is more, the modern manager knows that the people are motivated not only by the high salaries nowadays. For example, women prefer to work in the safe and ecologically friendly environment and the young generation of employees prefers to be rewarded for the individual achievements (Mayhew, n.d.).
Nevertheless, there are quite many challenges that the manager faces in the contemporary business. First and foremost, the most difficult task for the manager is to get used to the foreign culture if the company operates overseas. There are different managerial styles in the other countries that the manager has to apply. Another great challenge is to be able to manage the diverse work-force. The manager should know his personnel really well in order to make them work effectively. Finally, the use of technology may require a lot of time – so positioning the company online or using the online tools at work on a regular basis should be well-planned and limited if it harms the company’s performance.
References
Henderson, K. (n.d.). Characteristics of 21st Century Organizations. Chron. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/characteristics-21st-century-organizations-813.html
Mayhew, R. (n.d.). Workplace Trends in the 21st Century. Chron. Retrieved from
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-trends-21st-century-1105.html
Molinsky, A., Davenport, T., Iyer, B., Davidson, C. (January-February 2012).
Three Skills Every 21st-Century Manager Needs. Harvard Business Review.
Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2012/01/three-skills-every-21st-century-manager-needs
