Management and the Future
Jennifer Frailing
The future always consists of more than one possibility. For example, one future will occur without human intervention. A second future will transpire if the intervention is effective, and still another will happen if it is not. Also, depending upon the effectiveness of the efforts, an infinite number of possibilities can occur in between. This conceptual framework provides a foundation for understanding how administrators can conceive and implement successful tactical interventions.
Unfortunately, absolute certainty remains an impossibility. However, the more managers can reduce this ambiguity, the more reliably they can conceive and implement an effective intervention. This quest for certainty relies heavily upon a great amount of accurate and current information. However, obtaining this information has one major flaw--it takes time. Because the luxury of time does not exist in tactical operations, commanders attempting to intervene must react in one of two ways--they can either increase their information processing capacity, or they can operate on the basis of less information. Both of these approaches have merit and represent methods used by tactical units throughout the world (Heal, 2002).
In today’s society companies needs to rely on the four functions of management: planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Planning is specifying the goals to be achieved and deciding in advance the appropriate actions needed to achieve those goals. Plans set the stage for action and for major achievements. Organizing is assembling and coordinating the human, financial, physical, informational, and other resources needed to achieve goals. Organizing activities include attracting people to the organization, spe ...