Five organizational challenges and how to meet them

Kelly Smith — To help organizations succeed, key individuals need to be tasked with the efficient management of an organization insofar as its growth and achievement. Leaders are often expected to face a number of challenges, and in the 21st century, these challenges include:

• Globalization


• Ethics


• Diversity


• Teamwork


• Intellectual Complexity

To meet the challenges above, leaders should keep the following five concepts in mind:

Globalization Means Competition

Just like military leaders are often reminded that potential enemy forces are always preparing for the possibility of facing other forces in combat, strategic business leaders must always keep in mind that globalization and free trade foster competition. To this end, leaders must take time to learn about enterprises in other parts of the world within their industries, particularly when those enterprises are expanding their global reach.

Ethical Means Justify Ethical Ends

The best way for leaders to face a competitive ethical climate is to check their own moral compass. This means that they should become familiar with the ethos within their own industries and apply the adage of leadership by example. Cutting ethical corners will enable subordinates to follow a similar path; it is easier to explain and portray the means that will justify the ends, which means that leaders should take the time to instill ethics across their organizations.

Rich Diversity, Rich Organizations

Organizations are becoming more and more diverse each day, and that’s a very good thing. Leaders embrace diversity because it is a natural byproduct of globalization. Diverse workforces tend to be more effective, flexible and adaptive because individuals tend to learn from each other. Leaders should be sensitive and learn about different cultural aspects among their subordinates; in this fashion, they will learn to adapt best practices that can be applied to the enterprise.

Effective Teamwork, Effective Organizations

Managing relationships is at the heart of managing teams. Leaders must learn to foster relationships from the very first time they are introduced to someone, and they should encourage their subordinates to do the same, particularly with members of their work team. The glue that bonds teams together is trust; to this end, leaders should instill trust-building exercises among their enterprises.

Another important issue for leaders to recognize is that teams are far more effective at achieving goals than individuals, but some key individuals who can be trusted to work on their own should be given the opportunity to do so if they can perform better that way.

Fostering an Intellectual Organization

The Information Age is constantly encouraging people to seek knowledge, and this can be a challenge for leaders in the sense that they are now tasked with capitalizing this opportunity for enterprise improvement. Leaders must provide guidance in this sense by fostering intellectual endeavor, but they must do so without taking time away from the primary mission of the enterprise.

In the end, leaders depend on their ability to act and think accordingly, as well as their power to influence others in their organizations when they face any of the challenges listed above. This is crucial to the success of the enterprise they are tasked with managing.

 

About the Author

Kelly Smith writes articles about business and leadership.