Challenges and Opportunities


It is often said that we live in a time of crisis or of rapid change. It is even more trite to say that we are at a critical turning point in the world of business and that the changes to come in the future will be far greater than anything experienced in the first 50 years of the development of the management profession. But just now, there is a fair chance that all these familiar statements are true.

The intensity of the challenges management faces today reflects the confluence of several developments. The past decade witnessed a full and powerful swing of the economic pendulum from years of steady and strong economic growth that peaked with the rise of the dot.coms only to be followed by the steep decline when the bubble burst. The same swings occurred globally with the rise and fall of the Japanese, other Asian, and Latin American economies. Though the dot.com bubble burst spectacularly, the breathtaking pace of technological advance has not perceptibly slowed, and businesses of all sorts struggle to keep up. Throughout both the rise and decline of the global economy, the gaps between the richest and poorest, both in the United States and internationally, grew to what many now believe are intolerable and unsustainable levels. Then came September 11, 2001, and its aftermath of international tensions, uncertainty, and war. Add to this the crisis in corporate confidence brought on by corporate scandals in the United States and it is easy to see why many believe that this is a critical moment for the business community and the management profession—and perhaps for the global economy.

There is obviously much to be concerned about today. But if the energy and creativity expressed at the Sloan convocation and reflected in the pages that follow are any indication, there are good reasons to be optimistic about our ability to meet these challenges and to prepare for the future. To do so, however, we will once again need to return to first principles and use the power of our advancing knowledge creatively and responsibly to improve the practice of management.




Management[c] Inventing and Delivering Its Future
Management[c] Inventing and Delivering Its Future
ISBN: 7504550191
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 55

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