Management Review

It is quite fitting to take a look back at a management book written ten years ago that tries to explain the future of management in developing countries. Peter Drucker’s Management Challenges for the 21st Century is a thought provoking book that provides keen insight into the various challenges and opportunities that are available in the 21st Century.

In the recreation and tourism world of management there are various styles in which managers and leaders must learn to interact with not only various types of customers, but also manage and interact with a diverse group of employees. Early in Drucker’s book, he immediately dismisses the common ideology that there is only one right way to manage people. However, he states that “the goal is to make productive the specific strengths and knowledge of the individual” (Drucker, 22). Each individual person and unique organization has specific strengths and talents that must be utilized affectively in order for the organization to be a success. Therefore, the leader or manager must manage people in a way that focuses on these strengths to create a productive environment.

Although not all organizations and people can be managed the same way, there is one important aspect that all management teams must have and that is the ability to change. A leader within any industry must be willing to promote change by “look(ing) for change, know(ing) how to find the right changes, and know(ing) how to make them effective both outside the organization and inside it” (Drucker, 73). Every organization must be willing to adapt to the every changing surroundings of society, because if they do not they will suffer an abysmal downfall that will force the organization to finally close its doors.

There is one point that Drucker makes that does not align with the tourism industry and that is the belief that an individual must be educated by those around them. It states, “If the marketing vice-president does not understand what these high-grade knowledge specialists are doing, it is primarily their fault, and not that of the marketing vice-president. They have not told her. They have not educated her.” (pg. 187). However, it is HER responsibility to train and educate herself in the new position to understand what the high-grade knowledge specialists are doing within the organization and conversely tell them what she does and how she performs.

Also, Drucker emphasizes that an individual must be able to manage oneself by figuring out who they are based on their individual ethics and values, what their strengths are, and what their contribution to the organization will be. Ethics is important in the professional life of any individual and will determine if they can be a productive employee within the organization or if the values that they have conflict with what is asked of them. When the ethics and values of an individual do not align with those of the organization, it is important that the individual change their work environment and not try to change their values.

In one of Drucker’s chapters, he discusses the productivity of the knowledge worker in today’s society and how each individual has a unique offering to the workplace because of their specific knowledge that only they possess, unlike the manual worker who has learned a task that can not be transferred to another work environment. Drucker points out that the individual must be given responsibility over their work and with that the freedom and autonomy to complete the task as their knowledge and expertise will allow them. In the unique service industry of recreation and tourism, if employees are not empowered, by being given the ability to make decisions, to meet the needs and desires of guests then there would be very little success within the industry.

Stephen McIntosh wrote an article about Drucker’s book and how he was able to relate the management challenges within the book to a more human resources perspective. One of the key elements that McIntosh is able to pull from the book, is the idea that “our employees will be operating in a virtual workplace” (McIntosh, 2). He realizes that with the new information age people are going to be involved with human resources at an entirely different level that is going to require many technology savvy knowledge workers in order to be effective in the workplace.

Overall, although Drucker’s book is a decade old, it still has the potential to tell us about what is going on in our society today in regards to effective and ineffective management as well as outlining some of the current managerial problems that plague our society today.

Drucker, Peter F. Management Challenges for the 21st Century. Harper Business, 1999,
207 pages.

McIntosh, Stephen S. "Management Challenges for the 21st Century –Book Review-." HR
Magazine. October 15, 1999. Retrieved on October 12, 2009 from:
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3495/is_11_44/ai_58174742/.