Management Challenges Faced by Modern Business Leaders

The goal of management is to achieve strategic business milestones by supporting and guiding employees, keeping them organized and focused while working together. While executives work at a high level establishing the vision for a company, managers work on the frontlines of business, determining the best allocation of resources, including employees, equipment and expenditures. Managers help create strategies that guide a company’s direction and then align employee efforts to achieve those goals.  

The challenges management faces to achieve those goals can shift over time and require the right skills and mindset to overcome.  

Management Challenges

One of the foremost challenges confronting modern business leaders is staying ahead in the digital age. Technological advancements such as artificial intelligence, automation and big data analytics have impacted almost every industry. The pace that this is happening continues to accelerate. 

Another challenge includes a changing workforce, as remote workers and specialized contractors are more mainstream in the labor market and in employee demands. Understanding how to properly manage these types of workers on their teams and leveraging their capabilities to obtain the optimal levels of productivity and efficiency are key challenges for modern managers to overcome. 

Globalization across industries has intensified competition and introduced complexities in supply chains and regulatory frameworks. Today’s managers must possess a global mindset, understanding diverse cultures, markets and geopolitical risks. They need to devise strategies that balance the benefits of global expansion with the need for localized adaptation. 

Managers must keep up with the challenges in their business and provide recommendations on what strategies a business should adopt. This often requires upskilling employees and fostering a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, embracing new technological innovations and focusing on reducing inefficiencies to optimize productivity. In addition to the complexities of the modern office, Forbes also lists a number of issues first-time managers can expect to face. They include the challenge of managing peers, overcoming thinking that they already know everything they need to know, shifting to an “organization first” mentality and developing the ability to coach others.  

Managing a Diverse and Aging Workforce

Diversity and inclusion are important topics for today’s managers. They are expected to not only respect and understand the cultural differences between employees, but also understand the best approaches to bringing a diverse group of employees together to work toward common goals.  

Another issue in this area is the aging workforce. The older workforce (65 and older) has quadrupled in size since the 1980s, with an estimated population of nearly 11 million per Pew Research Center. Many people also feel the need to work longer to make money because they live longer and will need more money in retirement. According to research compiled by Palgrave MacMillan, myths about those over 60, such as an inability to learn new technologies, are not accurate. Today’s workforce is more diverse and multi-generational than ever before, and managers must foster inclusion and harness the unique strengths of everyone. 

Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility

Some industries are touched by these issues more than others, but modern consumers expect every company to have sustainability and corporate responsibility plans in place. This expectation springs from the increased awareness of environmental and social issues, with people putting businesses’ sustainability practices and corporate social responsibility initiatives under great scrutiny. 

Business leaders are also under pressure to align their organizations’ strategies with broader societal goals while ensuring profitability. This requires embedding sustainability into the core of business operations, reducing environmental impact and engaging with stakeholders transparently. 

Navigate Management Challenges with Confidence

Professionals who earn a Master of Science in Management (MSM) can help prepare themselves to face modern management challenges, whether they are launching a startup company or managing in a global corporation. Dr. Nahyun Oh, Assistant Professor of Business Administration at Eastern Connecticut State University (Eastern), teaches in Eastern’s master’s program in management. It’s one of four online master’s programs offered through the school. 

“The MSM program is designed to develop students’ academic and practical skills for solving organizational problems. Students will learn how to manage diverse aspects of organizations and their workforce. Courses in the MSM program will help students improve their ability in critical thinking, communication, quantitative reasoning, and ethical reasoning,” Dr. Oh says.