Issues and Challenges in Management
Management has been considered a fundamental factor that brings organizational success but the fact is it is not far from different emerging challenges. Fighting upcoming challenges is an inevitable part of today’s managers.
They have to go through several challenges and issues that can be caused by internal as well as external factors to achieve the predetermined goals and objectives. Here, we will discuss 12 major challenges in management that managers face and how you can be effective to confront them.
Globalization
Today’s economy is globalized. Globalization has taken place all over the world. In fact, today’s world is considered a global village. Due to the liberalization effect and international organizations like WTO, EU, IMF, etc. are in favor of globalization. The goods and services of multinational companies are easily crossing other countries’ borders.
Being a national company, today intentionally or unintentionally you have to compete with global products. This has created both challenges and opportunities.
You let the challenges destroy you or grab opportunities depending upon you. You should make plans and policies that can compete with international products.
Workforce Diversity
It is obvious that the organization is full of employees who have diversities in age, gender, skills, knowledge, expertise, knowledge, demography, religion, etc. Managing such diverse human resources is one of the great challenges in management.
Learn More: What is Workforce Diversity?
Due to diversity in them, their expectations may vary greatly as such they may not accept the organizational interest. In addition, today women are also strongly involved in the workplace.
You should be able to manage this diversity of employees. Make sure to establish a mutual understanding among them, use their uniqueness (diversity) as a strength, and assign them tasks matching their diversity factors and interests.
Quality and Productivity
Your attention must be focused on the assurance of the quality of products (goods and services) because all organizations are using quality as their competitive weapon and minimizing costs.
Increasing the unit outputs with improved quality by using the same level of resources is one of the major challenges you may face. You can increase quality and productivity by adapting new and advanced technology which is not easy for every organization.
Employee Empowerment
Employees are a fundamental tool for organizational success. They should be able to compete with the competition.
With changes in technical and managerial practices, social and economic status, etc. you should develop and empower them to perform better. Delegating authority can be a great way to empower employees but be careful about whether or not and to what extent you should initiate empowerment because sometimes it might create conflicts.
Work-Life Balance
Today most women are participating in the workplace. They are not just working women in the kitchen they have become a breadwinner. Women and men want to balance their professional as well as personal life.
As a manager, you should establish a working environment where they feel to give their best in the work and have enough time to give to their families too.
Technology
Technology is changing too fast. In this modern time, every organization is dependent on some type of technology. It is often said that an organization that harnesses new technology can exploit the opportunities and benefits more than others.
Also Read: Functions of Management
Management should introduce new and advanced technologies in the workplace and provide training to employees on how to effectively use them so as to make them strong enough to match the technological change.
Dynamic Environment
Nothing is static in today’s environment. Every factor of the environment is changing rapidly. Adapting to change is a great challenge in management.
Make sure you stay updated on changes happening around your business and communicate effectively with the employees.
Managing Team
A team is a group of people who have a common goal. But when there are people there is a chance of conflicts. Due to differences in interest, attitude, and way of doing conflicts may arise.
You should develop effective team management skills and develop teams considering their interests and common goals.
Right-Sizing
This modern business environment has brought the concept of right-sizing. The right-sizing is where you can restructure the organization so it can make more profit and meet updated business objectives.
The right-sizing may include down-sizing which causes the cutting of the employees. This is a difficult task because working employees would not want to leave their job as they have many other things depending on their job.
Thus, you should carefully restructure the organization, cut costs, and reduce employees by convincing measures that may be giving them reasonable pay.
Change Management
Change is inevitable. Managers need to be aware of specific changes, factors contributing to such changes, and their likely impact on management practice and organizational opportunities. Change creates greater risk and it incurs costs.
Related: What is Organizational Change?
Normally, employees show a tendency of resistance to change. They do not want to accept changes in technology, job responsibility, authority level, job position, etc.
You should carefully analyze the importance as well as the risk of change. It must work out for creating a positive environment for change which is more challenging in the current situation.
Social Responsibility
Stakeholders always expect more returns from business organizations for the welfare of society. Society always demands quality products, employment opportunities, pollution-free business activities, the wise use of natural resources, contribution to the protection of cultural sentiments, and infrastructure development from the business organization as an organization makes profits from society. Fulfilling all such expectations is not an easy task.
Also Read: What is Social Responsibility?
You should be able to contribute to society on a regular basis, provide employment opportunities to society’s people, and provide necessary training to advance their living standards and other supporting programs.
Regulations and Compliance
Running a business organization is a legal task as well. You should be aware of the rules and regulations formulated by the law of the government where your business is operating. Because avoiding legal regulations may result in a threat to the existence of the company.
In conclusion…
These 12 are some of the common issues and challenges in management that managers are facing today. To bring productivity and good performance to the workplace it is necessary to confront these challenges effectively. You should learn and develop the necessary skills set to confront these challenges and ensure effective goal achievement.
Read Next: Characteristics of Management