Module: BUSH04

CONTEMPORARY ISSUES IN MANAGEMENT

Assignment Submission

By

LI Kam Tim, Timothy

Student No. 18041957

March 2014

Bachelor of Business Administration

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Assignment Question:
Discuss the main challenges that managers face in today's increasingly competitive
global environment.

Introduction: Management Issues Facing Managers in the 21st Century

The 21st century global manager faces many challenges as the norm become having
business interest in other countries. When managers of companies decide to enter the
foreign market there are a lot of things to take into consideration. Sure the money is great.
However, if money is the only thing that is driving you to expand into a foreign market,
you will surely fail. There are several factors that a manager should consider before
deciding to expand their product or service into foreign markets. Among these are the
cultural differences you will be faced with, the differences in language of the countries,
the challenges your employees will face as they return from foreign job assignments, and
the know how, to develop and assist your employees, who take foreign assignments, in
keeping their skills up to date while in these underdeveloped countries. Without the right
tools and knowledge, the 21st century manager task ahead will be extremely difficult.
We will be discussing Culture. Culture is important and has to be appreciated by the
business manager. It can make or break a relationship and could possibly lose your
company millions. Consider the differences between cultural imperatives, cultural
electives, and cultural exclusives in another country. Before a manager decides to do
business in a foreign country, they should find out what these consist of. Cultural
imperatives are the things that you must do to keep from offending others. Cultural
electives are things you may participate in, but you do not absolutely have too.
Participation in a cultural elective could seriously help the business deal you are trying to
close though. Lastly, cultural exclusives are things that you should not participate in no
matter what the circumstances are.
Global managers of the 21st century must also gain knowledge of the other countrys
management style. This consists of how their country conducts business and the methods
they use to accomplish the best results.

Challenges Managers Face When Companies Go International

Nowadays, most businesses are set in a global environment, and the various corporations
do not just regard their primary market locations or bases, they also have to take the rest
of the world into consideration. Thus, many more corporations are going into multinational business, scattered all over numerous parts of the globe. Usually the major
source of concern for multinational companies and their managers is how to maintain
high quality, in an ever-changing global economy It is quite clear that multicultural

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organizations and their mangers still find solutions to their multi-cultural problems
despite severe bureaucracy and staff frustration in some cases. Although multi-national
corporations are aware of the management areas that require attention, they still have to
decide whether to deal with the problems on a decentralized or centralized basis.
Multinational companies seek the benefits of doing business on a global basis, but there
are still a lot of cultural and market differences to handle. Various delivery systems are
significantly different. One size cant fit all. Culturally, what drives employees and what
tools engage employees in the employment deal changes from one place to another.
(Towers Perrin research, 2007) It has also been pointed out that multi-nationals
companies customize compensation and benefit packages in order to meet needs,
according to the nature of the markets. (Towers Perrin research, 2007) After researching
and analyzing benefits and compensation in about 26 locations all over the world, it was
discovered that the benefits approach, when regionally edited, enables corporations to
improve cost-efficiency become more consistent about the compensation practices all
around the world, while also maintaining competitiveness through the variation of
remuneration and performance pay, based on cultural and regulatory differences. This is
particularly relevant and challenging to the managers involving in human resources
management.
The Need of Entrepreneurial Managers in a Competitive Environment
In todays competitive environment, Managers are constantly asked to behave like
entrepreneurs and vice versa. The manager is supposed to develop the drive and
opportunism of the entrepreneur, and the entrepreneur is expected to learn the methodical
disciplines of the manager. The pressures on both have become more intense as the
economy has become more competitive, more entrepreneurial, more demanding. But
understanding the integrity of both the roles is the need of the hour. According to the best
study of Innovation and Entrepreneurship by Peter Drucker, Entrepreneurs are not
capitalists, or investors, or employers, although this is highly arguable especially the last.
Also, part of entrepreneurship is knowing how to raise, deploy and invest capital. The
general explanation is that entrepreneurship involves taking risks.
While that is true, so does all human activity. The risk run in taking an entrepreneurial
decision is no different from the non-entrepreneurial risk of, say, offering somebody a
job. As per the definition of Drucker, The entrepreneur always searches for change,
responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. In this paper the Role of a modern day
entrepreneur and the need for the innovative approach in the managerial behaviour is
discussed. SWOT Analysis is proposed for the near future Entrepreneurial Managers. The
Proposal of the Integration of Change Management which is adopted by Entrepreneurs
and the Time Management which is followed by Managers is discussed. Index Terms:
Entrepreneurial Managers, SWOT, Change Management, Time Management Review of
Literature Entrepreneurship: Entrepreneurship as defined is a process through which
individuals identify opportunities, allocate resources, and create value.

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Managing Ethics in the Workplace

The management of ethics in the workplace holds tremendous benefits for everyone,
benefits both moral -- and even practical. This is particularly true today when it is critical
to understand and manage highly diverse values in the workplace, and at a time when too
many people still feel that business ethics is a topic for philosophy or is about shaming
and blaming people. This module aims to make the topic of business ethics very
understandable and accessible.
The field of business ethics has traditionally been the domain of philosophers, academics
and social critics. Consequently, much of today's literature about business ethics is not
geared toward the practical needs of leaders and managers -- the people primarily
responsible for managing ethics in the workplace. The most frequent forms of business
ethics literature today typically include: a) philosophical, which requires extensive
orientation and analysis; b) anthologies, which require much time, review and
integration; c) case studies, which require numerous cases, and much time and analyses
to synthesize; and d) extended stories about businesses "gone bad".
This lack of practical information is not the fault of philosophers, academics or social
critics. The problem is the outcome of insufficient involvement of leaders and managers
in discussions and literature about business ethics. More leaders and managers must
become more involved.

Managers Critical Role in Managing Diversity

The world's increasing globalization requires more interaction among people from
diverse cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds than ever before. People no longer live and
work in an insular marketplace; they are now part of a worldwide economy with
competition coming from nearly every continent. For this reason, profit and non-profit
organizations need diversity to become more creative and open to change. Maximizing
and capitalizing on workplace diversity has become an important issue for management
today.
Supervisors and front-line managers could benefit from reading this paper. Supervisors
and managers are the targeted audience because they need to recognize the ways in which
the workplace is changing, evolving, and diversifying. Since managing diversity remains
a significant organizational challenge, managers must learn the managerial skills needed
in a multicultural work environment. Supervisors and managers must be prepared to
teach themselves and others within their organizations to value multicultural differences
in both associates and customers so that everyone is treated with dignity.
Both the workforce and the organizational environment are increasingly diverse and
effectively managing this diversity is an essential component of management. In each of
their managerial roles, managers can encourage the effective management of diversity
which is both an ethical and a business imperative.

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Information Technology and Manages

Take a brief look on the deeper concept of what technology is all about in relationship to
information that will help managers become more effective and efficient? Put also into
consideration the specific roles or tasks as a manager. Technology can be defined in many
ways, a simple definition of the word technology can be explained in this manner. Using
technology in a manager's role to manage information to become effective and efficient
manager of his company is a very crucial thing for him to arrive on certain decision or
decisions.
In other words, as manager you have to find the best way of doing things better and
faster. Discover the current trends in doing things much better and faster. For example:
Manager's task in preparation and analysis of financial position of the company. Using
tools to manipulate figures like manual adding or abacus, electronic calculator, or
computer system desktop, it all depends on him. This is true also to related task like
traveling, communicating, etc.
On the other hand take a look on how important "information" is to a manager, whether it
is raw information or processed information (finished product) which is a very useful tool
for manager to arrive on right and appropriate decision.

Conclusion
There are many challenges in today's competitive global environment which presents
sharp challenges to managers such as to build a competitive advantage by increasing
efficiency; quality; speed, flexibility, and innovation; and customer responsiveness, just
to name a few. Apart from the above operational side, to behave ethically toward people
inside and outside the organization; to manage a diverse workforce; and to utilize new
information systems and technologies are also becoming the key issues faced by
managers.

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