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Contemporary Management Issues
Contemporary Management Issues
Contemporary Management Issues
Abstract: contemporary management refers that which management tools are practiced by
today’s managers and business organizations. This is a top most aspect of management as well
as business organizations. Contemporary management practice starts from the ancient
civilization. Then it invents various aspects like administrative management, scientific
management, modern management and now every where practice contemporary management.
There are some basic issues of contemporary management like total quality management, e-
commerce, human resources management, project management and globalization. Besides those
issues in recent some more issues are upcoming in contemporary management. Management in
the changing society has become important to all because of its universal application, and
therefore, contemporary issues on management provide basics on the effectiveness of work-life of
individuals and groups who work at different situations in competitive world environment.
Management expert has developed various philosophy and theories for the development of
management in human civilization. They provided a proper direction through application of
various model in order to achieve organizational objectives. Contemporary management is the
set of theories that are developed at present and properly applied in order to achieve
organizational goals. Management system, philosophy, and theories have been changing by the
course of time. All the present philosophy and model are not applicable properly in the field of
management in all organization equally.This is the new issue of the "MANAGEMENT". Its
primary goal is to present current research in the field of management both to domestic and
foreign public. Th epaper deals with issues facing the large and small companies. It deals with
pressing problems, not only of general nature, but especially with those occurring in the
countries in transition also. In fact, it aims to cover functional issues, specific topics and general
aspects of management related to all kinds of organizations – manufacturing and service
companies, profit-making firms and non-profit organizations, private and public, as well as large
and small enterprises. We want to analyze and present the broad management problems in
contemporary setting from the view piont of top management.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
1.0 INTRODUCTION
We are 4th year 8th semester students. After a few days we will go for job market and compete
with other students. As a result we may fall behind due lack of available knowledge at today
management issues. So it is a great opportunity to prepare a term paper on “Contemporary
Management Issues and Challenges”. We will discuss on this paper about some main and basic
management issues and challenges that today’s manger faces. We also discuss about the
evolution of today’s management.
This report has prepared aimed some important objectives. The objectives of this report are as
follows.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
It can be said that because of the emergence of globalisation, the transnational companies
nowadays are considered as those corporations which implement different strategies to stay in
the competition. According to Doole and Lowe (2006), the most transnational corporations are
considered to be businesses which are aggressively building their global market and strategies
around these characteristics and features: increased market access because of the opening up of
markets in China, Central and Eastern Europe; increased market opportunities because of the
deregulation of many markets, such as the financial market and privatisation of state-owed
utilities; greater uniformity of industry standards, encouraged, for example, by the European
Union; sourcing of products and components initially, but more recently services, too, from a
wider range of countries, particularly those emerging markets with a high ratio of skills to cost;
more globally standardised products and services, particularly in areas of new technology, but
increasingly in more culturally sensitive product areas, such as food; common technology used in
many more markets, particularly in areas of information technology, when there is a high cost of
research and development that must be recovered through sales in many countries; similar
customer requirements leading to transnational customer segments, resulting from increased
communication and travel; competition from the same organisations in each major market and
thus interdependence of markets; global organisation strategies that increasingly treat the world
as one market, among several other themes.
It can be said that transnational organizations are more exposed in various issues which should
be given enough attention. It can be said that the emergence of various transnational corporations
have also post challenges on managers or management of various countries. In this regard, the
main goal of this paper is to provide an analysis of the issues facing managers in Hong Kong. In
this paper, the issue that will be given emphasis is with regards to diversity issues.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
Basically, contingency theory asserts that when managers make a decision, they must take into
account all aspects of the current situation and act on those aspects that are keys to the situation
at hand. Basically, it’s the approach that “it depends.” For example, the continuing effort to
identify the best leadership or management style might now conclude that the best style depends
on the situation. If one is leading troops in the Persian Gulf, an autocratic style is probably best
(of course, many might argue here, too). If one is leading a hospital or university, a more
participative and facilitative leadership style is probably the best.
For example, a pile of sand is not a system. If one removes a sand particle, you’ve still got a pile
of sand. However, a functioning car is a system. Remove the carburetor and you’ve no longer got
a working car. A system can be looked at as having inputs, processes, outputs and outcomes.
Systems share feedback among each of these four aspects of the systems.
Study of transnational manager’s strategies to manage their diverse human resources has been
discussed by various scholars. Here, one of the main concerns was how the different subsidiary
companies in Hong Kong adapted to their host country’s culture, norms, and ideas, while at the
same time upholding their parent company’s ideals and goals. This is a different way in looking
at the subsidiaries, as the parent companies were not asked to participate in the questioning. The
findings concluded that the subsidiary turn on the host country for their HR needs while the host
country becomes dependent on the subsidiary for providing some of their needs to them (e.g.,
jobs, money, resources, etc.), however when the subsidiary company the parent company has a
larger ownership stake placed on the subsidiary, the parent company begins to practice global HR
due to fear of the host institution’s taking over. It was also found out that the managers of multi-
national companies (TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATIONS) impose global HR strategies for
their subsidiaries and that these subsidiaries' dependence on the TRANSNATIONAL
CORPORATIONS is based on how the international human resource strategy is imposed upon
the subsidiary company. Also, the host countries' influence on the subsidiary company and the
policies concerning the international human resource is based on the intensity of the parent-
companies' influence on the subsidiary companies.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
Diversity in the workplace and the management has long been an issue debated among work
organizations. In the some nations, for instance in Hong Kong, race has been an intense
determinant of individual political rights, positions or locations in the labour market, individual
access to medical care and even an individual sense of identity. Most importantly, race is one of
the major bases of domination in its society and a major means through which the division of
labour occurs in organisations. Gender is also a basis for stratification in organizations and work.
Managing a workforce for global operations is not only comprised of a few employees but a
large group of managers, executives, specialist and professionals, making it a challenging task.
Nonetheless, through gradual yet progressive transformation, the international management of
the employees can bring about important organizational developments.
Culturally diverse organisation occurs when an industry like most of the industries in Hong Kong
opted to operate in a foreign market. Diversity has been characterised roughly as groups of two
or more persons, which characteristically have demographic dissimilarities including differences
in norms, beliefs and cultures. Here, the people who are working came from different ethnic
backgrounds that possess different attitudes, values, and norms. Different employee issues and
conflicts are more largely to appear in a culturally diverse organisation, this companies like
automobile companies that operates in Hong Kong could not resist having different employees,
which came from different countries provided with different cultures and personality. Managing
people in a culturally diverse organisation is a very difficult responsibility for managers to be
able to achieve the mission of an organisation, which is to provide products and services in other
nations.
One of the potential soft human issues that might be encountered is in terms of cultural diversity
and differences among employees and staff who will be involved in the operations of
transnational corporations. Diversity and differences may lead to internal conflict if the managers
would not give consideration to this factor. For managers leading or working in diverse staff, the
level of flexibility, communication capabilities and hands-on management needed often goes
above and beyond what they are accustomed to. Regardless of where they are located, managers
may find themselves challenge to motivate struggling employees. Managing culturally diverse
employees also result in another internal soft human issue which is in terms of having poor
communications.
The managers may experience most uncomfortable moments when the management have to deal
with diversity among people. Because of these differences, the managers might face
disagreements, arguments, and even open conflict due to poor communication. To add with
discomfort faced by the managers, the management frequently finds themselves torn by two
opposing desires and beliefs. The managers is further bothered and disturbed by the fact that with
diversity of the employees which results in poor communication, strong feelings are frequently
experienced, the existence of objective ideas, threatened egos and personal relationships are
placed in jeopardy. Because the presence of poor communication due to differences the managers
job become more complicated. It is of utmost importance that the managers should understand
these issues fully and learn to handle them effectively.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
Aside from differences, poor communication may also occur because the employees or other
individuals within the organisation do not show willingness to accept and comprehend what the
managers is uttering. Accordingly, all communication is a consensual activity. No one can be
forced to listen, communicate, or absorb information as it was intended. Every individual is in
total control of his or her own willingness to listen. Hence, the managers must have the ability to
make communication interesting yet effective in preventing further conflicts while doing the
responsibilities in the global workplace. Studies on organizational communication have always
been used by large companies so as to ensure good working relationships among employees as
well as to evaluate the relationship among members and staff of big corporations. Dowling and
Schuler (1990) further elaborated that the idea of global community in a model that suggests
intercultural and international communication and ethical problems to best address the
immediate need is of much importance to truly build a global community.
Inescapable as it may seem, workplace dilemmas which is brought by cultural differences are
unavoidable and should be expected at transnational corporations or in business firms owned or
controlled by individuals from a different cultural orientation especially when they employ the
local citizens in the global workplace. Dealing properly with situations such as instances of
principled power struggle between supervisors and subordinates from different cultural
orientations, will be of much help in running a business firm properly and successfully.
Managing effectively these contemporary issues and conflicts and working out a good
relationship by compromising for the good of all will help the managers to ensure smooth
working relationships among the employees, staff, supervisors and subordinates.
It is important that the managers should have knowledge in different types of communication in
order to determine which of these forms will be useful in assuring that poor communication will
not become a hindrance to successful task management. The types of communication may be
formal or informal, upward, downward, and horizontal communication. Formal communication
is the official communication that passes through the structured organisation. For example, in
this case wherein, the managers will lead other employees or the task to be done, he or she may
use the formal type of communication to control the situation while informal is the kind that is a
type of communication which includes reports, rumours and statement in which the truth may
not be verified by the managers. Upward communication is a type of communication in which
the flow of the conversation only travels from the manager to a manager. The downward type of
communication is a type in which the flow of the conversation travels from the manager to lower
levels within the team, while the horizontal is a kind of communication in which the information
flow laterally within the team.
4.0 EVALUATION
Different employee issues and conflicts are more largely to appear in a culturally diverse
organisation, this companies that operates in an international arena may possibly not defy having
various staffs that came from different nationalities given with different personalities, behaviours
and cultures. In any business enterprise, employees are considered as the most vital assets. In
order for these companies maximise their assets, managers of Hong Kong should have the ability
to effectively manipulate employees’ working condition by efficiently managing their diverse
personalities. Herein, the employees must be allowed to be involved in the decision making
process to further enhance the organisational structure. Moreover, the structure of tasks among
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the employees strengthens the organisational performance. As problems of regional and cultural
diversity politically led administrative issues impede the functioning of the organisation, it is
very essential to understand the employees. The enhancement, building, enthusiasm, motivation
and development of the employees of any organisation depend largely on the leadership,
mandate and vision of the organisation.
In order to solve the issues and make this issues an opportunity to enhance their managerial
abilities, the managers of Hong Kong must be able to employ the general HRM practices of the
transnational organisation that he or she is working at. In this manner, the managers must give
emphasis to the differences of their employees so as to have a harmonious human resource
relationship. There are also times in which the company must be able to reach the globalisation
phases that the management of the transnational corporations, attempts to thoroughly globalise
its human resource management. Analysis shows that cultural diversity post a major issues not
only in the managers of the transnational organisation but also to other managers in Hong Kong.
The challenges post by this transnational organization among managers in Hong Kong can also
be considered as a threat for having an effective management approach that adheres to the
different needs of the employees and by enabling the company to have a more productive
employees in spite of the cross cultural issues provided with transnational organizations.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
In order to align our customer experience with our customer strategy, we need to consider how we have
created that strategy. A strong customer strategy is built around the interactions we have with our
customers, and we are able to maximize the value of every customer touch. In other words, we make
each impression with the customer count. Customer service and support may have several opportunities
to make customer impressions, and it is often where the rubber meets the road. How do we handle our
customers when there is a problem or a question? The goal of all these interactions is to increase
customer retention and loyalty, which ultimately leads to repeat business and referrals. Done right, a
customer strategy will also build customer trust, strengthen the relationship, and add value to both the
customer and the company.
Customer-focused strategy is a planned approach to how we handle our customers at every touch point. It
is more than just giving great customer service. It is more than marketing with certain customer
buzzwords. It is more than a great customer experience. It requires a strategic plan to be put in place to
address all of those areas, plus the metrics to ensure the success of the strategy.
Great Examples
Glenn also asked for examples of companies who do this well. There are a few competitions out there for
this type of award; a great one is coming up from the team at Peppers and Rogers Group and Gartner.
Called the Gartner and 1to1 Customer Excellence Awards, it will be showcasing those companies that
“get” customer strategy – and how to execute it. (By the way, the contest is open until May 23, so if you
are reading this and want to submit your company, you can go here and enter.)
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
processing efficiency. ERP systems quickly became popular with large corporations that needed a
seamless integration of their business, but are now frequently used by small to mid-sized companies. The
excellent ability of ERP systems to simplify business transaction processing, eliminate work that adds
little or no value, and simultaneously improve customer service are the main reasons for the outstanding
success and popularity of these systems.
5.3.2. E-Business:
In today’s business climate, e-Business can have an impact on every facet of the organization,
including processes, applications, staffing, infrastructure, relationships, sales, and sales channels.
Not only is e- Business transforming companies and industries, it’s doing so at an accelerating
rate. Business cycles that use to be measured in years are now measured in days.
Competition in the future, even today in certain industries, will not be company against company
but supply chain against supply chain. Companies will be only as strong as the weakest link in
their supply chain. The winners will be companies that can build up, or tear down, electronic
B2B relationships rapidly and seamlessly. As part of this transformation, enterprise borders are
starting to disappear. e-Business is all about providing open access to infrastructure services,
data, and applications. Partners, suppliers, customers and, in some cases, even your competition
(or co-operation) will be able to peer 3into your corporate nervous system.
Hopefully, all of this will be for the better. But, if not handled correctly, sometimes it may be for
the worse. Customer expectations are rising mercilessly in terms of the speed and reliability they
expect from your e-Business applications. Studies show that Web customers will wait only eight
seconds for a page view, even if they are on a slow connection that you have no control over.
The first aspect of project management that can be problematic is the area of quality. From the point of
view of the owners of a project, quality can be a challenge. The owner representatives (sometimes also
referred to as the client, if construction is being managed by a third party) tend to spend the bulk of their
time on stewarding to the managers. This means that the representatives may not be focusing on quality
nearly as much as they should be. In reviewing the Lessons Learned following a major project in
Northern Alberta, it was noted that quality assurance and quality control should be managed by the parent
company, not by a contractor or other third party. It was also determined that the parent company should
review and approve job specific construction contractor quality plans prior to the work being started.
Another key lesson that was learned is that lump sum work (which can be a significant portion of overall
project spending) should be held to a higher standard of quality control than reimbursable work.
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Contemporary Management Issues and Challenges
This standard should be communicated throughout the bidding process and in the Contract Terms.
Sometimes during the latter stages of project engineering, the contractor can be eager to start
construction. It has been recommended that contractors be reigned in until engineering is truly complete
prior to starting construction, in order to minimize re-work and other such issues. Also, once construction
has started, contractors need to be reminded that any field engineers that they use must liaise with the
project engineers prior to any engineering changes being made. This creates consistency between what
was planned and what actually takes place in the field.
5.5. GLOBALIZATION:
Globalization is much more than an economic phenomenon. The technological and political changes that
drive the process of economic globalization have massive noneconomic consequences. In the words of
Anthony Giddens , a leading sociologist: “I would have no hesitation in saying that globalization, as
we are experiencing it, is in many respects not only new, but also revolutionary Globalization is
political, technological and cultural, as well as economic.”
The noneconomic aspects are at least as important in shaping the international debate as are the economic
aspects. Many of those who object to globalization resent the political and military dominance of the
United States, and they resent also the influence of foreign (predominantly American) culture, as they see
it at the expense of national and local cultures.
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7.0. CONCLUSION
Working in a transnational organization which inhibits culturally diverse condition is challenging
especially for the managers in Hong Kong, but managing a culturally diverse people in the global
environment presents even greater management challenges. However, this challenges post also
rewards for the mangers and helps them in opening their minds and sharing their experiences.
The managers of Hong Kong are being challenges to consider two aspects of management. The
first is working with staffs that are culturally different and giving a efficient service to a
culturally diverse community. These aspects must be given enough focus by initiating an
effective and suitable management approaches. In this regard it is recommended that the global
managers in Hong Kong of transnational corporations should be able to develop a successful
organisational culture and a stable organisation by means of effective management of the people.
In addition, communication is a very important factor to use in order to have a harmonious and
smooth relationship between the management team and the employees in the international level.
In addition, the management should try to integrate its own management system with the
management system of the host countries, in which transnational corporations are operating. The
main goal of this integration is to let the employees within the international operation feel that
their culture, values and traditions are not being discriminated by the management.
It is also important to note that global work place needs human resource management that have
the ability to employ the principles and concepts of emotional intelligence and give emphasis to
the importance of self-awareness in dealing with diverse people, winning their trust and to ensure
that the people’s values and the organisations objective will intersect to a common goal and that
is to incorporate good employment relationship.
All in all it is very crucial that global managers in Hong Kong should make a way in adjusting
their management styles and approaches to adhere with the differences and similarities of the
employees, specifically those in the global environment so managers may catalyst the motivation
among diverse individual.