Essay - In the Past, the Role of Managers Was That of...

In the past, the role of managers was that ***** thinkers for ***** organization and the employees were encouraged only to follow directions. This has led to the disillusionment of ***** initially, highly motivated people. In current times, managers have to be more proactive in an org*****ization than reactive. There is an increasing trend ***** organizations allowing their employees more freedom to make decisions and changes in the work process. The age of worker empowerment is here. In this situation managers have ***** change their attitude and *****come ***** like coaches ***** enforcers of the rules or referees. (White, 1997)

Employees generally work to their full potential if they are aw***** of their importance, allowed reasonable latitude with the way they perform their jobs and receive constant feedback on the *****ance of *****ir jobs from their managers. The Japanese concept—real power rests with the *****—is catching on in industrialized society and more managers are realizing ***** benefits ***** such a structure. (Oono, 1978)

***** will ***** ***** also constantly update their skills and become proficient at multi-tasking. ***** the current business world a manger is expected to have knowledge of more than just his field ***** expertise—he needs additional inform*****ion to make sound decisions. With lead-times becoming shorter and profit margins shrinking, managers have to become more knowledgeable of the o*****r external and internal factors that may be affecting their operation. ***** ability to react to the market and forecast for future *****s as opposed to operating on the b*****is of past markets is also ********** more crucial ***** managers in organizations today.

***** management used by many managers is simply the exploitation of the environment—opportun*****m (Harvey and Brown, 1976). In t***** si*****uation the manager's role is ***** of a strategic player who copes with the uncertainties that the environment imposes on the organization. Managers ***** in the past ***** organizational development (OD) as bullets or strategy tools (Arogy*****wamy, et al. *****) to infuse life into an organization ***** give it a new direction and will continue to use OD in ***** *****.

Bibliography

Arogyaswamy, et al. 1997. Organizational turnaround: Understanding the role of cutbacks efficiency improvements, and investment in technology. IEEE Transaction on Eng*****eering Management, 44(1): 3

Harvey, D*****ald F. ***** Brown, Donald R., 1976. An Experimental Approach ***** Organization

Development. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentiss-Hall, Inc.

*****, and the Toyota Production system 1979. The Toyota Production Corporation

White, Eleanor, *****. Relying on the Power ***** The People at Saturn. National Productivity Review, Winter 1997, pp 5-10 by John Wiley and Sons,