In today’s global context, organizations are facing significant challenges while internationalizing their services. It is important for every multinational company to deal with the high degree of uncertainty in the business due to contemporary management issues. The management issues have crucial role in the business nowadays. This is the process which is helpful for the managers to keep their markets, identify some risk factors that affect the business operations, create various opportunities and enhance the image of the company in the operating market. This report focuses on the theoretical and empirical perspective in order to analyze the range of contemporary management issues in the business (Podyal, Pradhan and Bhandari, 2011). One of the most important business activities is managing. Effective management is the key for the growth and development of the business. It is important for the companies to analyze the environment of market and profit opportunities for the growth and financial viability of the business. There are radical changes in the business environment due to rapid development in the communication network, innovation of new knowledge, combination of multi-cultured professionals, globalization of business etc. There are various contemporary management issues that impact on the business operations of the organizations (Schoemaker, 2008).
First of all, it is important to understand the role of management in the business operations. In the global business scenario, organizations are seeking for the effective management and leadership practices so that some important changes can be done within the organizations. Managers are those who are needed to reach their goals by the effective strategies and tactics. In the highly competitive and demanding workplace, managers are required to show their interpersonal skills by allocation of resources, making decisions, and achieving the organizational goals and objectives. Basically, there are five management functions used in the business i.e. planning, organizing, coordinating, commanding and controlling. Today management and managers are important key resources for the social and economic development of an organization. Management is the essential factor of production and effective management provides opportunities to the organizations to enhance the productivity. The majority of productivity enhancements are possible due to entrepreneurial skills of the managers in the organization. But there are various managerial issues and challenges which have to deal by the organizations. So, there are rapid changes and unpredictability due to various challenges faced by organization. Most of the organizations are able to survive due to remarkable managerial talent of the managers and management. Business can lose the market share due to the management challenges and issues (Cornelia, 2012). Organizations need to deal with various issues in order to stay competitive in the operating market. In twenty-first century, people are equipped with the pace of technology and they need to be trained in order to meet the challenges and opportunities for the success of the business. Contemporary management can be described as the management tools that are practiced by the managers and business organizations. This is the most important aspect of management as well as business organizations. Contemporary management practices are used from the ancient civilization. There are various aspects in contemporary management i.e. scientific management, administrative management, modern management and now the contemporary management is practiced everywhere. There are some key or basic issues of contemporary management like e-commerce, total quality management, project management, human resource management, and globalization. Apart from those issues, some more issues are arising in the contemporary management. Management is now becoming an important part to the business activities due to its universal application so; contemporary issues in management provide basics on the efficiency of work-life of individuals who are working in various situations of competitive environment of the business (Kara, 2013).
Management experts have developed and implemented various theories and philosophies in order to develop the management in human civilization. They have provided a proper direction by the application of different models for achieving the organizational goals and objectives. Contemporary management is basically the set of theories which are developed and properly applied in order to achieve the organizational goals. Management theories, philosophies and system have been changed by the time. This paper deals with the issues facing by the large and small companies while managing the business. The objective is to cover functional issues and general aspects of management related to all types of organization like profit making companies, manufacturing and service companies, non-profit organizations as well as large and small enterprises (Barros, Gal & Kindler, 2012). Some of relevant contemporary management issues are as follows:
Sometimes, businesses face various issues due to uncertainty. Uncertainties in the global economy, credit markets, uncertainty due to new regulations have impact on the business operation of an organization in the market. Companies are not focusing on the long-term planning while focusing on short-term results due to uncertainty. For instance, economy down turn causes various uncertainties i.e. consumers’ wants, customer needs, distribution channels, technological possibilities and feasibility of the existing business model. These are the examples of uncertainties affecting the business operations (Mwacharo, 2013).
The introduction of the communication, transportation, and economic interdependency has connected the people together in the world. Any product or service produced in one part of the country can easily reach to the other parts of the world without any barrier (Parker, 2005). Various multinational companies are the global players in the business in order to operate the business properly. But, globalization can be a management issues for the organizations due to high customer expectations (Martínez, 2012). For example, A US Company that is operating in a developing country may face some pressure in the home and foreign market in terms of the support from the customers. Along with this, cultural barriers can also be an issue for the managers of the organization. Cultural barriers can be a huge threat for the managers in the global business. Communicating about products and services benefits and branding are also challenging as well in the global business (Zhang & Cremer, 2014).
Due to uncertainty in the demand of the product and services, companies have smaller inventories than ever. At the same time, uncertainty in the supply is the cause of changes in the commodity prices, increase competition for the raw material and weather-related disruption make the supply chain more challenging for the businesses. Small suppliers in the businesses are struggling to get credit and meet the demands of the customers (John, 2011).
For the managers, ethics and social responsibility is a growing concern in the business. Ethics can be described as the personal beliefs of individual including right and wrong. It is basically created by the personal practices, standards and principles, family and situational aspects (Ruiz-Palomino, Martı´nez-Canas & Fontrodona, 2013). The most important ethical concern in the modern management is to know how the organization is treating employees, how the employees are treating the organization and how the organization is treating to other economic agents like competitors, customers, unions, suppliers etc. It is sometimes challenging for the managers to deal with the ethical challenges in the business (Ann, 2015).
Efficiency and excellence are also raising management issues of the business in current situation. In past, various managers perceived that they could enhance the result by declining the quality. Now, managers understand that such assumptions are wrong. Now, they identified that productivity and quality are inter-related to each other. So, it is the big challenge for managers to maintain the quality and productivity of the business (Chigbo & Ngige, 2015).
Employees are the key elements of the inner environment of the organization. When managers and employees have same principles and objectives, it becomes very suitable to attain the business goals and purposes. Sometimes, it is challenging for the managers to maintain the mutual relations with the employees. It is a challenging task for the managers to provide the decision-making right to assistant level of staff. Because of decentralized power and labor unions associated to the political parties, dealing with the employees has been a serious problem for the organizations.
Key aim of the research study is to analyze various contemporary management issues faced by the managers in the business operations. The management issues impact the managers to achieve the business goals and objectives (Greener, 2008). The purpose of the study is to find the answers to the specific research questions that direct focus on the research design, and data collection. The research questions of the study are as follows:
The general objective of the study is to analyze the range of contemporary management issues and problems in the business operations. There are various studies related to impact of the contemporary management issues on the business. There are various issues like globalization has increased pressure on the organizations as it has changed the consumer expectations and behaviors. Various literatures indicate that there are lots of studies available on the perception of managers on the recently rising problems which have already been improving the current business environment. The objective of this study is to observe all these issues in the business viewpoint. The study is important for organizations in order to achieve success and competitive advantage in the market. The purpose and objective of the research is to analyze how managements of various organizations deal with the changes and issues in the business environment. The objective is to develop various strategies in order to overcome from the difficulties associated with the contemporary management. The specific objectives of the study are as follows:
This thesis comprises 7 sections and those are as follows:
First section introduces the background, research problems, research questions, and objectives. This section basically focuses on the introduction of the subject area and provides overall context of the research. Key literature is also introduced to justify the subject area in the thesis.
In the second section, research questions are developed from the context of introduction. In the third section, the research objectives are outlined to reveal the intentions of this specific research. Forth section comprises the research design including the methodological position and method of data analysis. The methodology section includes overall research strategy adopted, the procedure and method in order to collect the important and relevant information, and he instruments used for data-collection.
Fifth section is findings that consists the presentation of data constructed as per research design approach. Next, sixth section includes the critical discussion of data findings using various literature reviews. The research questions are answered in this section and this could inform the structure. Last and seventh section of the research is conclusion. Conclusions and recommendations for the further investigations are highlighted in this section.
This section discusses the methodology and research method used in the research. For this research, qualitative research would be beneficial. In order to conduct a complete research study, various sources and types of information are important. For conducting this study, secondary and qualitative data will be used. The secondary data will be taken from various sources i.e. books; journal articles and website etc. The secondary method will be used in achieving the research objectives (Sreejesh, 2014).
According to Saunders (2009), research strategy can be described as the general plan for the researchers to answer the research questions. The research strategy used in this study starts with the identification of research problems, posing of research questions and setting the research objectives for the study. This is followed by the review of relevant and appropriate literature with the previous related studies. With the gathered information from the literature related area the research objectives and questions are refined. The qualitative data and secondary data collection method will be used in order to gather the important data for the study.
This secondary research study will use knowledge and information about contemporary management issues in the organizations. The objective of the study is to get the clear understanding about the challenges in human resource management and HR managers and how they face the challenges effectively in order to achieve the goals of the organization. Various journal articles and books will be studied in order gather important and relevant data on the concept of contemporary management issues. For this manner, literature review process will be adopted.
Today, the market is getting competitive day by day. In order to cope up with the competitive market, management plays an important role in the business. Effective management practices enable the employees to enhance their productivity and achieve the organizational goals and objectives effectively. The key challenge of the organization is to operate the business in the ethically and socially responsible way. Along with this, there are some more challenges arise from the environment in which the organization is operating i.e. international and local competitors, changing demands of employees, professional ethics, and pressure groups etc. Further, challenges also come from the business operations also. With the continuous changes in management, it is crucial for the managers and employees to be aware of the challenges that the organization is facing. Basically there are some management challenges that the organizations are facing and those are as follows:
Changing market- Changes in the consuming and purchasing pattern of the customers is a big problem for the organizations. Along with this, changes in the economy can also impact on the business management process. At the time of recession, a business can reduce its workforce as per the demand of its products.
Work force diversity- In current time, the workforce is chabging as compared to last 10 to 15 yaers. Some of the changes are occurred in the recent past years and some are in process. The lifestyles and necessities are changing continuously and employees want a balanced approach in their work life. Traditional employees want to earn more money by putting extra effeorts in their job role. But now employees are less willing to work for the long period of time. In such case, more concerbed factors are minorities, female empnyees, old workers, cultural diversity and retention of the employees etc (Rahman, Hasan & Islam 2011).
Management system- The management system in the organization is the framework of procedures and processes that is usef to make sure that organization is able to fulfill all the tasks that ate crucial tp achieve the objectives. There are challenges in the effective management i.e. effective use of respources, use of cost effective way to run the business, enhanced risk management and improved customer satisfaction by providing products and services.
Organizational culture- the organizational culture is the collection of myths, belief, assumptions, goals, vison, mission and values etc. when the group of people work together within an organization the culture is a powerful force that impact on the members of that group. there are seven characteristics of the organizational culture i.e. innovation, focus on outcome, focus on detail, team work, focus on people stability and aggressiveness. It is the challenge for the organizations to manage the organizational culture for successful business operations (Chaston, 2010).
Development of leadership- One of the biggest management challenge for the management is leadership development for the critical strategic initiatives. Managers face challenges due to expectations to provide relevant structure, tools, processes and viewpoints and develop of leaders for the future.
Managing change- This is one of the big challenge for the organization . due to new trends and challenges, there are changes in pursourcing management practices, telecommunication, family mediacl leave benefit cost sharing, negotiation in union managememt, pay for skills and many other management areas of interest. All of these changes can be seen in the aging population. It is the challenge for the organizations to implement effective change management as it needs proper training so that competencies can be dev eloped to deal with the change management. So, this challenge is faced by more and more human resource departments.
Environmental challenges- Environment includes of interacting systems of biological, physical, and cultural elements which are interconnected collectively and individually. The managers of the organization need to be aware of environmental challenges. Environmental challenges faced by managers include organizational challenges, governmental challenges, international human resource management etc (Khan & Taher, 2011).
Social issues- In many companies, employees are generally represented by the labor union. In order to manage those unions, there is the requirement of specific laws, contract administration, and collective bargaining process etc. It is important for the organization to understand type of approaches in order to determine the effecfiveness of management (Doz, 2011).
Ethics- In current time, it is a challenge for the organizations to operate the businhess in the ethical maner. Ethical workplace is crucial not onlu for the employee satisfaction but also for managers’ satisfaction as well. Various decisions realted to the management are characterized by uncertainity. So, it is a challenge for the organization to deal with the value of ethical codes within the business.
Other challenges- In the organizations, there can be challenges and issues related to compensation, hiring, performance management, saferty, wellness, communication, employee motivation, administration and training. Along with this, managers musy learn about managing the organization effectively by organizing, planning, leading, controlling and being knowledgeable of emerging trnds in employee development and training (Iqbal, Tayyab, Farmanullah, & Khan, 2012).
Based on the gathered information from the literature review, it is observed that the most important challenges of management are e-commerce, ethical comsideration, technology, globalization and workforce diversity which may directly and indirectly impact the competitive advantage of the organization. in 21st century, there are number of shifts that are the reason for change in the future. The changes include growing use of cotingent employees, use of virtual employees, and growing technology for some types of employees etc. The challenges in the management process are increasing with the change in competitive environment of market. With the increment in competition at the local and global level, organizations need to be more flexible, adaptable and customer focused in order to get success. In current time, managers are facing various types of challenges (Bratton, 2007). As the result, it is not easy for them ti retain take care and attract of valued employees. If the organizations want to achieve better position and output from the employees then it should overcome from its challenges. There are some recommendations in order to deal with the identified challenges effectively and efficiently.
Although every individual has provided different perspective and viewpoint on the management issues based on their experience. But some significant issues are identified under this study. Identified contemporary management issues are as follows:
Globalization
In various researches, the term ‘globalization’ is used within diverse framework such as globalization of competition, globalization of markets, globalization of sourcing and globalization of the business. In this research and study, term ‘globalization’ is the puzzling term for most of the participants. Based on the analysis, it is observed that globalization impact on the decision making process of the managers as it is responsible for making complex interrelated decisions. It is understood that globalization is a universal trend. But globalization has huge impact on the consumer behaviors in the market (Mikusov, 2010). The result of this impact is that the target groups are frequently unstable and that complicates the marketing activities and operations. Along with the change in behavior of the consumers, behavior of the competitors is also changed. Although globalization offers various opportunities for the growth in future, but on the other hand, there are more prominent limitations, implications and risks for the business (Kokemuller, 2018). This issue of the globalization is a powerful to restrict the sustainable development of the business in the market. Further, various environmental issues like cultural, social, technical and economic aspects affect the decision making process of the managers. So, it is essential for the management of the organization to focus on enhancing the economic performance so that the environmental burden can be reduced (Palm, 2015).
Rivalry
Most of the participants revealed that rivalry is good for the organizations as it reduces the inefficient and unsuccessful companies from the market. From the managerial perspective, competition basically falls into external environment. For the managers, it is critical for understanding the external competitive landscape in order to ensure the competitiveness of the company. Sometimes, management of the businesses are failed to keep pace with their rivals and then often forced to develop an exit strategy. Respondents agree that there is the strong competition in the market due to low-cost and branding and in such situation, companies compete directly in various markets (Davidsson & Wiklund, 2013). For instance, bottled-water producing companies are directly involved in such framework and thus, they have to adopt tow general competitive strategy i.e. brand and low-costs strategy. Apart from this, businesses also compete internally and this is the complex issue. This situation creates challenges for the managers to manage the business effectively. A suitable example of internal competition is PepsiCo. Pepsi produces both sports drinks and colas but when the customers see the sport drinks, they choose them over the cola. So, Cola has lost its sales due to the internal competition (West, 2015).
Technology
Managing technology is also a part of managing business but this can be an issue for the managers while managing the business. The reason is that new and disruptive technology is continuously threatening the business efficiency of the organizations. Technology brings up issues for the managers in various ways i.e. research, upgrades and communications. Most of the respondents reveal that they face ethical issues while managing technology in the business. Organizations are dealing with complicated ethical issues such as balancing the privacy of the employees, monitoring the employees, file sharing, copyright issue, and information security etc (Alghamdi & Bach, 2014). For instance, the customers of Messy Chocolate are concerned about their information privacy and security. Along with this, managers of Messy Chocolates are also concerned about hackers and cyber criminals who hack the private data of the companies. Most of the respondents are concerned with the hackers because they have caused billion of dollars by stealing or destroying the information. Hackers can act unethically reveal the private data and conduct various unethical activities like stealing of corporate secrets.
Ethics and governance
More than half of the participants showed that they have to deal with the ethical and governance issues while managing the business operations in the organizations. The ethical issues include working conditions, employee interactions, decision making process regarding hiring and promotions. From large to small companies, managers are involved in all types of business and face ethical issues. Managers have to deal with the legal and employee behavior issues. Managers have to deal with the discrimination against an employee in terms of religion, gender, or ethnicity. There are complexities for managers to run the business and manage the employees (Stankiewicz, 2015).
Conclusion
The contemporary management issues have significant impact on the business operations. Based on the above analysis, it is observed that there are various contemporary issues in management that impact the efficiency of managers while managing the business. It is crucial for the managers to understand the contemporary issues for the future. Based on the information collected by the interview, it is observed that globalization, new technologies, ethics and governance and strong competition are the major management issues that impact on the effectiveness of business in the market. Based on the analysis, it is concluded that although many managers are arguing that they are ready to deal with the contemporary management issues but the findings indicate that there is the lack of tactical propositions of the issues. Organizations are facing issues due to globalization while doing the business across the border. So, business environment of the organizations need to be changed and some factors must take into considerations i.e. developing strategic business practices for the management. Further, business ethics is also an issue for the managers. Therefore, ethics and social responsibility must be the necessary factor in the daily business activities and practices. Although, business ethics is not mandatory but the management of the organizations need to include this in their daily management so that unhealthy activities like white collar crime, corruption and other issues can be prevented effectively. Along with this, management of the organizations in every sector needs to understand how to make ethical and appropriate decisions, and aware about their own morals and responsibilities. Managers need to learn the basic concepts of ethical business and corporate culture and they must apply ethical decisions in the daily business activities.
Further, it is analyzed that most of the firms are slow in adopting the new modes of operations as various technical changes taking place around them. One of the key reasons for their deliberate reaction is the shortage of economic resources as the new technologies are costly and they sometimes are inappropriate for the business operations. Half of the managers from the respondents show that present business practices of the organizations are not suitable due to lack of trained employees and structure of the organizations so, the management of the organizations is ineffective. There are some recommendations to deal with the contemporary management issues in the organizations:
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