Will management after 2000 be any different to the 20th Century product with all its successes and failures, lists and fads, gurus and shooting stars? Why should the young people now leaving college perform in a different way to their predecessors?

They probably will act differently. They will, hopefully, learn something from the mistakes of this generation of managers. They will be better trained and understand the process of management better. They are facing a faster-moving, more technologically intense environment. Customers, competitors, investors, employees and peers will be more demanding.

Adding Value:

As more things are measured, so is the performance of managers. Management in the private and, perhaps more slowly, but just as inevitably, in the public sector, will be increasingly assessed in terms of performance and the value which it provides. Management costs. It should provide a measurable return.

Business value is increasingly driven by the way managers exploit the value of all the assets which they manage. These assets include the well recognised fixed assets such as land, buildings, and equipment, the current assets of cash, receivables and materials, and also intangible assets such as culture, knowledge, brands, staff and customer loyalty. An increasing amount of management skill time and effort will be devoted to measuring and managing these intangibles.

Technology:

Technology has transformed the way in which business operates. Internal operations have been streamlined. Transaction processing has been automated. Factories have been transformed. Organisations have been delayered. Desk workers have been empowered. Technology has enabled the creation of efficient, responsive global organisations. Managers now and in the future must have a strategic understanding of the potential of technology and the capacity to deploy it to achieve organisational efficiency and effectiveness.

However, this is not enough. Information technology has moved on to facilitate a new era of interconnectedness. Internet and intranets enable companies to create new relationships with consumers, suppliers, distribution channels, and providers of complementary products and services, as well as providing enhanced methods of access to sources of knowledge and information.

A successful manager in the 21st century will be one who is more effective in realising the opportunities presented by this new level of interconnectedness between organisations to deliver better services and products to consumers.

People:

In a more prosperous and highly skilled world, managing people will be an even more critical skill. The routine, repetitive tasks which are readily definable and controllable will have been largely automated. The most valuable managerial skills will be those which foster and develop in people the more subtle human capabilities of innovation, imagination, and commitment.

The traditional employer/employee relationship is changing. "Organisations will have to become communities rather than properties, with members not employees, because few will be content to be owned by others. Societies will break down into smaller units but will also regroup into even larger ones than now for particular purposes." - (Charles Handy - Beyond Certainty. The Changing World of Organisations. - Hutchinson)

It will be more challenging, in the future, to manage people who are not employees for life, who may be working at home or at remote sites, who may have more commitment to a lifestyle than to a career, who are juggling domestic and work responsibilities, and whose earnings may be related to market realities rather than to their position in the company hierarchy.

Ethics:

The activities of the modern company are increasingly under formal and informal public scrutiny. Society is increasingly open. The public demands high ethical standards in matters such as employment practices, financial probity, environmental protection, public health and product quality. An approach to matters of public concern which would not find public acceptability, even if the approach is within the law, can seriously damage a company. Management has a responsibility to commit itself and the company to establishing and maintaining high standards of ethical behaviour, even in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Managing complexity at speed:

Competition is increasingly intense. The marketplace is constantly changing. Employees are skilled, aware and mobile. Organisations are constantly aligning and realigning. Shareholders demand above-average returns. Economies are increasingly open. The information age has put much more information in the hands of managers - perhaps much more than they can absorb with ease. The information is also available to competitors, suppliers and customers.

The challenge for managers in the 21st century will not be to direct fixed resources towards the achievement of well defined goals but to manage a complex changing business ecosystem towards the creation of measurable added value.

Pat Talbot is a Partner at Ernst and Young Management Consultants. His article suggests some of the differences which may arise between the 20th and 21st century management models which will be debated at greater length at an Institute of Business Analysts and Consultants conference at the UCD Industry Centre in Dublin on September 23rd.