Introduction
Ethical dilemmas form common occurrences in workplaces irrespective of the type of business engagement. The modern business diversity created by the contemporary business environment offers a lot of challenges to organizational managers. Managers lacking innovative business management skills always face numerous problems that affect the decision-making process. The complexity in the present management practices challenges many people in making effective, and ethical decisions concerning a specific problem that requires a professional approach in the organization. Individuals end up making unethical decisions driven by individual’s choice and not the influence of work environment. Business ethics as an issue has gained more attention today. The main components of an ethical decision-making process include individual factors, organizational factors, opportunities, and business intensity (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2009). The following article discusses the element of management in terms of the major approaches to management, the main role of managers, and challenges facing businesses in the current environment.
Thesis statement
The workplace environment does not influence the unethical decisions made by managers but rather result from an individual’s choice.
Aims and objective
The following article aims at understanding challenges that face organizations in the contemporary business environment.
Management
Organizational challenges in the contemporary business environment
According to Kurtz, & Boone (2011), an infinite competitive market that changes at an alarming rate characterizes a contemporary business environment. This type of a business environment contributes creates many challenges faced by most organizations today because business owners lack developments and requirements that respond to the ever-changing business environment. Organizations face many challenges in the contemporary business environment. Every passing decade introduces a bigger challenge to the management of organizations. The influx of countless cultures and diversity in different regions leads to globalization of the world economies. In addition, the current recession contributes to the high rate of job cuts and change in operational practices as organizations try to maintain a manageable number of employees. The issues have complicated the work of a manager who must deal with a range of challenges presented to the organization by employees and other organizational stakeholders (Singh, & Dhawan, 2013).
Major approaches to management
Organizations should apply effective and more advanced management approaches in order to achieve business aims and objectives and win the global competition in the contemporary business environment. The Theory of Management provides an insight of how managers should approach management issues and challenges. Some of the recommendations are developing excellent organizational behaviors, making ethical decisions, understanding the nature of the organization, and help in coping with different changes experienced in the present business environment. Three major approaches to management are of importance to this article. These are the classical approach, the system approach, and the contingency approach to management.
The classical approach
The classical approach mainly concerns with the efficiency of employees and organizational activities. The economic efficiency of the organization is the main type of efficiencies analyzed by the classical approach. Managers should utilize universal management models that help in improving the productivity of employees through increased efficiency. The approach enables a manager search better ways of overcoming business challenges caused by poor decision making when it comes to delegating duties to employees. The classical approach to management is subdivided into the scientific approach and the bureaucracy approach (Salker, & Khan, 2013.
The scientific approach follows the theory of management in promoting efficiency in the organization through labor productivity. The theory concerns human resource managers in the organization who deal with labor relations. The human resource manager should carefully plan for labor forces in order to assign competent people into specific tasks. The nature of the working environment should govern the manager in making decisions on the type of employees to assign certain duties and responsibilities. On the other hand, the bureaucracy approach deals with professionals in an organization. A manager should understand the characteristics of people they deal with in the organization. This approach to management leads to proper coordination in the workplace and promotes interpersonal relations between employees and managers (Tripathi, Tripathi, & Reddy, 2008).
The system approach
The system approach characterizes the environment that the organization operates. Managers should understand the industry where their companies fall, and their operating environment. The system approach views the organization as a system in the environment. It promotes the interaction between the organizations and the environment and seeks ways of building a strong relationship between the two systems. An organizational management must understand the prevailing environment in order to adapt effectively. The type of business an environment available contributes to the type of decisions made by managers (Tripathi, Tripathi, & Reddy, 2008).
The contingency approach to management
The contingency approach differentiates between various systems of management and organization structure. The organizational management takes a contingency situation and decides the best structure and system to use in making the organization overcome global business management challenges. The approach weighs different goals and objectives of strategic plans presented by different managers, and select the plan that corresponds to the structure, goals and resources of the firm (Tripathi, Tripathi, & Reddy, 2008).
The following three major approaches to management give managers ideas on how to use ethics in managing organizations. Ethics management helps individuals in making decisions regarding certain aspects of the organization. A person may make an ethical or an unethical decision depending on the prevailing condition and the understanding of ethical management. For instance, a manager who implements classical approach to management technique develops a team of efficient workers. Efficiency in the workplace creates a prevailing work environment that makes managers make ethical decisions that offer solutions to problems encountered. Managers who lack knowledge on management approaches techniques make unethical decisions because they lack proper management skills. In addition, such managers when faced with challenges always blame employees.
Major functions of managers
Individuals holding management positions in the organization must make strategic decisions that lead the organization into achieving its goals. Succeeding in the contemporary business environment requires an understanding of the major functions of a manager. Managers cannot effectively lead an organization without knowing their basic roles and responsibilities. A manager holds numerous responsibilities that include leading, planning, organizing, coaching, solving issues, and making decisions for the company. A manager performs four major functions. The four major functions are organizing, leading, controlling, and planning (Lewis, 2007)
Planning
Planning forms the most critical function of a manager. Planning involves making comprehensive action plans that aim at achieving organizational goals. Organizations have many departments with different goals. Each of the department in an organization has a manager as a leader. The goals of each department must adhere to the main goals of the organization. For example, human resource manager aims a producing a team of effective employees through perfect recruitment and retention processes. The manager must take time in designing the major steps that employees must take in order to achieve the set goals. Planning entails making quality decisions that have a positive impact to the organization, and that achieves long-term organizational goals.
Organizing
The organizing role requires the manager to make decisions on how to distribute resources of the organization and organize workers in a strategic manner. Managers identify different roles and assign each employee a specific duty that fits their competence. In addition, organizing involves delegating authority, assigning work, and providing directions in order to form an effective team that works towards achieving organization goals.
Leading
The manager must be a leader. Managers lead the organization by personally connecting with all employees. The leadership function does not only involve managing tasks but also aspiring, communicating, encouraging, and motivating workers towards achieving higher production levels. People were not born as leaders, but the virtue of leadership is acquired through education and interaction with others. A manager must demonstrate characters of a good leader and effectively lead the organization through ethical decision-making processes not rooted from the individual’s choice.
Controlling
A manager controls all the functions of the organization and ensures perfection in all areas of production. After carefully designing a plan of production, the manager evaluates the results against goals. When a plan fails to meet the expected goals, the manager should take the necessary actions and control the factors that lead to the failure.
A manager who effectively implements the above-discussed functions does not have many challenges experienced by managers in the modern contemporary business environment.
Various challenges managers face in the current business environment.
Managers face many challenges in the contemporary business environment that interferes with personal productivity. The quick transforming business landscape seems to create a difficult breathing ground for manager because of the presence of different forms of management. Managers are challenged by the ever-changing technology and modern management practices because a strategy working today might not work tomorrow. Firstly, managers face the challenge of competing in the contemporary business environment. Globalization and advancement in technology has resulted into many businesses conducting similar operations. Competing in the international market forms a major challenge for managers who lack essential international management skills (Singh, & Dhawan, 2013).
Secondly, proper interactions with other employees challenge the management today. Managers are responsible for creating good inter-organizational relationship between employees. Coordinating different workers requires an understanding of business ethics that help in making ethical decisions concerning various issues. Finally, the problem of globalization challenges managers in the contemporary business environment. The expansion of information technology to many performing many business duties challenges managers who lack basic computer-based management process. IT introduces many changes in the world that require professionalism in management (Athanne, 2011).
Conclusion
The article has demonstrated that individual manager take responsibility of making ethical decisions depending on their choices and not the pressure from the workplace. Globalization is the main source of many challenges faced by organizations today. The current global business environment requires organizations to move with the changing world, and react fast to changes introduced by globalization. New skills and innovations form the main drivers to the changing business environment. Managers always find themselves in a state of confusion when it comes to making organization decisions regarding issues in the contemporary business environment. Four major approaches to management ensure managers do not make unethical decisions. The main challenges facing managers in the contemporary business environment are competition from other international organizations, poor interpersonal relations with other employees, and lack of modern management skills.
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