You will hear a lecturer discussing how management may change in the future.
First, you have some time to look at questions 31 to 40.
Now listen carefully and answer questions 31 to 40.
I've spoken with managers from several businesses and reviewed surveys about management's future.
In this seminar, I'll suggest how the field might develop over the next decade.
This is not a scientific statistical study, but a set of ideas for discussion.
I'll start with business markets.
One major development is likely to be much greater competition as firms worldwide attempt to sell similar products.
Consumers will have far more choice.
Food sold in Australia, for example, may be produced in the United States, China, Finland, or many other countries.
Meanwhile, mergers and takeovers are allowing large global companies to gain power that governments once held.
We can all identify corporations with substantial influence, and this may sometimes benefit consumers.
A third market trend concerns rapidly expanding economies such as India, China, Brazil, and Russia, where demand is rising extremely quickly.
That growth is placing pressure on resources around the world.
Businesses are also opening themselves to external influence.
In particular, companies increasingly consult customers before making decisions.
They first identify what customers want, and then supply it, rather than producing goods and attempting to sell them afterwards, as they did in the past.
Environmental concerns will also oblige manufacturers to extend product life cycles and reduce pollution and waste.
In some situations, this will require stronger regulation.
As societies become more fluid and democratic, company structures are changing too.
Businesses will place more emphasis on teams assembled to complete a particular project.
Once it is finished, the team will dissolve, and new groups will form.
More people now regard employment as only one element of life, rather than its centre.
In countries with shrinking workforces, companies must compete to recruit staff instead of selecting from large pools of applicants.
Traditional benefits such as flexible working hours can attract and retain employees.
Technology also makes remote work possible from home, abroad, or almost anywhere else.
Management styles will almost certainly keep evolving.
Senior managers will need more than the efficiency that has always been expected of them.
Above everything else, they must offer strong leadership, so their organisations can initiate and respond to change while handling competing demands and possible conflict.
In much of the world, senior positions in large companies are still occupied mainly by men in their 50s and 60s.
Management is likely to become more consultative and collaborative, particularly as more women take senior roles.
Many shifts also reflect changes in the wider economy.
Business traditionally focused on manufacturing, while the service sector remains highly important.
However, we should not ignore the growing financial value of intellectual property.
Books and films, for example, can generate enormous revenue through related music, games, clothing, and other products.
Finally, although I have discussed companies, they must respond to a move away from spending many years with one employer.
Increasing numbers of workers are becoming self-employed because this gives them freedom and control they are unlikely to obtain as employees.
That concludes my remarks.
Let's open the topic for discussion.
That is the end of part four.
You now have one minute to check your answers to part four.
