Recent Trends in Management Practices

According to Harold Koontz, “Management is an art of getting things done through and with the people in formally organised groups. It is an art of creating an environment in which people can perform and individuals can cooperate towards the attainment of group goals”. As a manager, one has to effectively manage the employees to get better outcomes. Practises implemented by the managers for better management are known as Recent Trends in Management. 

Emerging Trends in Management 

Managerial trends keep changing from time to time based on dynamic market conditions. Some of the emerging trends in management are : 

Total Quality Management 

Total Quality Management (TQM) is a systematic approach followed by the entire organisation to efficiently achieve the company's objectives to provide services and products with a high level of quality that satisfies the customer. TQM aims at continuous improvement of practises in the organisation.

The Principles of TQM are as follows:

• Customer Focussed- Customer satisfaction is the basis for determining the quality. An organisation may perform various methods to promote better quality but ultimately quality is determined by the customer.

• Continuous Improvement- Continuous improvement steers an organisation towards creativity to find more ways and become more competitive and meet the stakeholder expectation.

• Total Employee Involvement- All employees are committed to performing and accomplishing common goals when an appropriate environment is provided for them.

• Process-Centric- The processes are well defined in this approach and are continuously monitored to find variations.

• Systematic and Strategic Approach- A systematic and strategic approach is involved to accomplish the mission, vision and goals set by the organisation.

• Decision Making-  Data collection and analysis play an integral part in performance evaluation and decision making.

Crisis Management

A crisis is any situation that poses a threat to an organisation or its stakeholders. Such situations are something that cannot be predicted or prevented. However, what organisations can control is how they respond to the crisis. Crises can be grouped as follows:

1. Natural Disasters

2. Confrontational Crisis

3. Rumours

4. Technological Crisis

5. Workplace Violence

6. Organisational Misdeeds

7. Malevolence

8. Man-made Disaster

Risk Management

A risk is an uncertain event happening in an organisation that may lead to a positive or negative result. It is a future event that has not occurred. A risk that has already taken place is considered an issue.

Risk Management is a  process of identifying, assessing and prioritising risks followed by the application of resources to minimise or control or monitor the impact of negative future events or to take maximum advantage of positive risks.

Change Management

Change is to modify or make something different from the previous state of a thing or a condition. Change management is a process in which the organisation implements change by preparing and supporting the employees, taking necessary steps for change, etc. Monitoring the activities before and after the change is implemented to ensure its success.

Change often includes many different entities in an organisation. A systematic approach is to be followed to bring in the transition and alleviate disruption. There can be resistance to change by people or processes or systems that are outdated.

Globalisation

Due to globalisation, various global business practises have emerged. Global management refers to practises followed to manage the international business.

When a business runs in different countries, its managers face challenges in such global scenarios. There is a need to have proper planning, decision making, controlling and organising because of the differences in time zones, distances and cultural factors. Communication is the key to leading the employees across borders.

Global managers must have a thorough understanding of environmental and competitive issues.

Apart from the generic trends, there are specific trends related to operations, human resources and marketing management. A few are mentioned below.

Recent Trends in Operations Management

• Supply Chain Management- Supply chain managers have the responsibility to fulfil the end-user needs at a quick pace because of shorter product life cycles, demanding customers and technology expansions. Supply chains are now revamped to incorporate digitalization along with traditional physical operations to create improvement in business outcomes.

• Shrinking Product Life Cycle- In contrast to the earlier years where a product developed would stay in the market for a longer period, the need to rapidly change in a short period due to the fast-expanding technologies can be seen nowadays.

Organisations are forced to bring in the rapid development of products to be more competitive and innovative, thus a product gets replaced by a new one quickly.

• Computer-aided Design and Manufacturing- In this age of computerization, the design and manufacturing of products with the help of computers make operations more efficient and quick.

Recent Trends in Marketing Management

• Customer Relationship Management- This plays a very important role in retaining customers by maintaining a good relationship with them by addressing their grievances on time and offering them desired products and services.

• Emphasis on Quality, Customer Satisfaction, and Retention- Marketers emphasise providing the best quality to customers and also intend to “offer more for less” to give utmost satisfaction to their customers. This helps in retaining their customers for the long term.

Recent Trends in Human Resource Management

Workforce diversity is the inclusion of people in an organisation based on various aspects such as age, gender, cultural background, physical abilities, and disabilities, etc.

Organisations that embrace workforce diversity will have a wide pool of applicants to choose from as their employees. When people from different backgrounds collaborate, they bring in innovation and new ideas to solve organisational problems and promote business growth. A problem will be dealt with in different perspectives from different people in contrast to a homogeneous group or an individual's perception which may be limited. 

Different people think differently because of the experiences they come from, different backgrounds and having solved problems in different manners in the past. It also attracts diverse customers.

Trends in Leadership Management

• Soft Skills Development

As a leader one needs to interact with numerous people. They are experts in different areas and they have different technical skill sets. Soft skills play a vital role in communicating with all these people. Soft skills include time management, interactive skills, communication skills, cultural intelligence, etc. Technical skills also referred to as ‘hot skills’ are specific to a role but soft skills are learnt over time and experience. Soft skills enable satisfaction in the workplace, improve the performance of employees, build a positive work environment, increase leadership potential. Hence firms are investing in soft skills training courses for their employees.

• Gender Balance

Nowadays women are seen in leadership roles and they are very successful. In the workspace, gender equality is seen, it leads to professional growth and overall development. Many female managers have set an example for successful leadership Programs.it improves the economic growth of the country. It increases performance and enhances the reputation of the organisation. It helps in talent recognition and retaining employees. Many companies are trying to reach gender equality.

• Remote Working

Post pandemic, the entire world shifted to remote working and It is very flexible. Before the pandemic, people used to work remotely for various reasons like health, child care, etc. The latest technologies smoothen the process of remote work. work-life balance is achieved. It helps in recruiting people from different countries, backgrounds and also helps in having a pool of talent that promotes the growth of the business.

• Flat Organisational Structures

Flat organisational structures enhance the communication between the employees, morality, and help in decision making. It enhances the responsibility of employees and improves job satisfaction.

• Self-development

As the world is progressing with the latest technologies, competition increases. So there is a need to update yourself. At every stage of your career path, master your role and don’t be outdated.

• External Consultants

When leaders accept that they don’t know about these specific topics, then consultants from outside are given an opportunity. They can share their experiences and knowledge. They can facilitate communication skills, leadership skills, interactive skills, time management and other technical skills.