social, technological changes are having profound effects on the world of work. Millions of jobs have been lost. Reduction in work force. Prospect of a secure and life time career with one employer is fading rapidly. Internationalization. Global economy reflects another major changes in the world of work and organizations will need to adopt a global perspective to survive and flourish. Career developments within the global organizations ( MNCs) are also changing. Companies are adopting global strategies. Managers must have a significant exposure to international operations. Most manger must learn to understand foreign politics, markets, cultures, employees, and new management styles if they are to be effective in MNCs.
Technology. Technological advances have affected every phases of business. Computer technology has upgraded skills and made existing skills obsolete. It creates new career paths fro employees and displace many existing and old jobs. Technology create new occupation like artificial intelligences technician, divorce mediator, issues manager, robot salespersons. Changing structure of organization. Many organizations are making dramatic changes in their structure to meet the challenges of a highly competitive, global marketplace. Customer-driven horizontal organization structure contains few levels of management and uses cross-functional autonomous work teams to manage virtually every process of management. Organizations are becoming decentralized and flat. Flat hierarchy Small permanent core employees Use outsourcing, More reliance on temporary or contingent workers. Many partnership or network with other organizations.
Network organizations link a variety of firms together to provide the expertise and resources needed to complete a given projects or manufacture specific products. These changes result in psychological contracts between employer and employees. A psychological contract is an implicit and unwritten understanding that specifies the contribution an employee is expected to make to the organization and the rewards employee receives from the organization in exchange for his contributions. Here job security is less. Focus is on employability, not employment. Organizations are becoming leaner, flatter and flexible.
Changing nature of work. The organizational changes discussed earlier have significant implications for the type of work performed by managers and workers. Fewer managers in the organization to supervise employees. Managers will derive power from expertise, not from position they hold in the organizational hierarchy. Employees need to become skilled in self-management. Managers and employees will be required to become effective members and leaders of cross-functional and cross-organizational teams and will attain power and influence as they gain greater information and visibility through their participation in these groups.
Culturally diverse work force. Work force will become culturally diversified. Future work force will be older, more female, more disadvantaged. Employees and managers must understand different cultures and to work cooperatively with others who may hold different values and perspectives. Career success in many organizations may well depend on an employees ability to work in a multi-cultural environment. Work and family. Management of work and family will pose a big challenge to employer and employee. More married women with children in the employment market. They have more family commitments. Increasing divorce rate. More single-parent. Women are in conflict with work life and family. Dual-career couples and single parents must learn to balance their careers with extensive family responsibilities. Work and family roles have also been altered by technological advances. Personal computers have moved work activities from office to the dining and study rooms.