AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY–BANGLADESH (AIUB)

Faculty of Business Administration (FBA)

Report On
‘Prospects and Challenges of Leadership/Management in the current century’

DEPARTMENT OF MBA
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree
Master of Business Administration (MBA)

Submitted By
BITTA SAHA
22-92667-3
Department of MBA

Supervised By
A S M ABDUL BATEN
LEADERSHIP & MANAGEMENT OF ORGANIZATION
Section: B

Date of Submission: 30-03-2023

Introduction:
The 21st century is characterized by constant change and upheaval. During that time, the world
has reached historic milestones that have profoundly impacted how people work and live. The
dotcom boom, technological innovations (personal computing, entertainment), the invention of the
smartphone, the emergence of digital as a platform, and the emergence of social media are some
of the epoch-making events that happened in a short period of time. They have a significant impact
on how organizations function and how businesses operate around the world. The overall result of
these events has been an information explosion and democratization. Information, coupled with
the acceleration of technology-driven globalization, has led to the creation of a flatter, seamless
and fluid global economy.
In addition, emerging economies such as China and India have rapidly emerged, resulting in a shift
in global economic power.
All these changes are having a profound impact on leadership roles in modern organizations.
Today's leaders face the daunting task of navigating their organizations through complex and ever-
changing global economic conditions. The influence of these strategic forces extends beyond the
country level to industries, markets, segments, individual products, and brands. Effective
leadership in this modern age requires a proactive approach to managing change and its impact on
long-term business growth.
Kodak was a good example of a company that was forced out of the market because management
failed to manage turmoil and change effectively. Kodak was once the world's largest film
company. However, the leadership team could not fully embrace the revolutionary shift from film
to digital. They feared that digital could undermine the company's core business of film. Kodak
eventually went out of business and was forced to withdraw from many product streams as demand
for film printing declined dramatically during and after the digital revolution. Blockbuster,
Pets.com, and Nokia are examples of companies that have declined due to their failure to
understand the mismatch of their products to the evolving market.
This article provides insight into some of the challenges leaders face in the 21st century and the
qualities they need to possess to effectively meet these challenges.

Challenges faced by 21st century leadership teams:

Leadership is the ability of individuals to influence the actions of others to achieve goals or to get
others to do things they do not have the skills or motivation to do. Our needs, motivations, and
definitions of happiness as individuals have changed significantly in recent times. The ever-
evolving global business environment has a profound impact on both our personal and professional
lives. Leadership becomes more important in these uncertain times. Challenges facing 21st century
leaders include:
Geopolitical volatility: Geopolitical factors can wreak sudden but devastating damage on an
organization. A volatile geopolitical environment can drive out capital spending and deplete
financial assets. High geopolitical volatility can increase government regulation in local markets,
making it costly for an organization to do business in a particular region. Geopolitical risk is an
increasingly important challenge for leadership teams as most components (government,
regulation, environment, trade, labor market, etc.) cannot be controlled.
Technical glitch: The 21st century is one of technological turmoil, and futurists and trend experts
say that disruption is now the norm. Tech disruption is affecting companies in every industry and
sector, from healthcare to manufacturing to computing. Data mining companies are building
databases of human DNA to advance the science of personal identification. 3D printers are used
to print building fixtures, everyday items, entire homes, artificial organs, and with the combination
of cloud computing and artificial intelligence, this is getting even bigger. Scope of data-driven
decision making.
These are just a few examples of how technology has broken his 21st century norms. Associated
with these technological upheavals is the emergence of entrepreneurship and start-ups. Startups
are agile and nimble, with the ability to radically transform business models through new ways of
building and selling products. All these changes are having a profound impact on the business and
operating models of organizations and how they serve consumers in current and future markets.
Economic and political uncertainty:
Businesses must manage economic and political uncertainty to eliminate geopolitical risks at the
country level. Every organization (regardless of its size) prefers to operate in a stable economic
and political environment. Rural environments, characterized by frequent labor strikes, social
unrest, and turmoil, can have significant negative impacts on incomes, profits, and investments.
In the 21st century, dealing with economic and political uncertainty has become a major challenge
for business leaders. As companies scale faster and faster, and start-ups look to scale faster,
economic, and political uncertainty must be factored into any growth strategy. Demographic
change:
Globally, there are major demographic changes, such as changes in family composition (increase
in double-income households and single-parent households), aging populations (requiring more
medical and social services) and increasing job diversity. You can see the change. These
demographic changes mean that the demand for a company's products and services is constantly
fluctuating. It also means that companies' product portfolios are under constant pressure to remain
relevant. For management, this is a challenge in terms of creating growth projections or developing
sustainable growth strategies.

Impact on the next generation of leaders:

The above challenges justify the next-generation leader taking a different approach to leading and
growing her 21st century organization. Here are some influences boards should consider when
formulating a leadership strategy for the 21st century.
Having a balanced short-term and long-term lens: Organizations are under constant pressure
to prioritize short-term business success over long-term strategy. Companies need to take a short-
term view as they need to report quarterly earnings and earnings to reassure shareholders and
financial analysts. However, today's success requires a long-term strategy that requires the use of
organizational resources and deep thinking. This constant tug-of-war between short-term and long-
term goals creates uncertainty and increases risk when it comes to capital spending and resource
allocation decisions. 21st century leadership requires a strategic balance between short-term and
long-term corporate goals. Achieving this balance is critical to counter medium- to long-term
influences (such as geopolitical factors) and short-term influences (such as labor strikes, civil
unrest, and copying by competitors). 21st century leaders must balance meeting stakeholder
expectations through short-term gains with long-term priorities that grow and strengthen the
organization's brand.

Resilience: Resilience will be the cornerstone of leadership success in 21st century boards.
Today's features require resilience on all fronts. Rapidly changing consumer demand patterns,
accelerating technology-driven disruption, increasing market fragmentation, rapid shifts in
potential economic growth, increasingly fluid labor markets, and entry into each market Low cost
is a factor that requires resilience. Add to this the constant distractions of fads, trends and the
proliferation of digital platforms and sales channels.
To achieve short-term and long-term business goals, the leadership team must focus on the core
components of strategy and deliver them relentlessly. This requires resilience to negative forces
that are likely to exist in some form.
Show horizontal and vertical view: Horizontal leadership refers to bringing a team together and
creating motivation to support and achieve a common goal, whereas vertical leadership is the exact
opposite, putting a team under one's control in a top-down military manner. Command a team.
Effective leadership lies somewhere between these two opposing leadership styles. In today's
world, leadership style is defined by organizational structure, employee cultural diversity, global
presence, command and control structures, and local entity roles. As the world becomes flatter and
more connected, effective leadership styles tend to give teams more ownership and accountability.
In a world of collaboration, community, and networking, leadership teams must listen carefully,
foster the sharing of information and perspectives, and create an environment of trust. Vertical
leadership styles also play a role, but in different forms. The ability to make decisions in uncertain
environments, to help teams resolve conflicts, to act as a guide during times of uncertainty, or to
lead with conviction, courage, and empathy.
Global Perspectives and Local Insights: Today, we live in a world that is becoming more and
more global, but also awakening to the pride of nationalism. A high-level assessment of company
operating models reveals the fact that local country companies play a greater role when it comes
to global organizations. Startups with highly disruptive ideas also start at the national level before
expanding globally. This applies not only to workers, but also to consumers (after all, consumers
are two sides of the same coin). Therefore, it is imperative to balance a global perspective with
local nuances when it comes to leadership. Effective leadership has a lasting effect only when it
works at the individual level. It is now common for new CEOs to travel around the world and meet
with teams from all regional market divisions. Former CEO of L'Oréal, Sir Lindsay Owen-Jones,
spends a significant portion of his business time traveling the globe, meeting with L'Oréal
organizations, consumers of diverse cultures and numerous stakeholders. I was. This is just one of
many elements needed to balance global perspective and local insight. As organizations flatten out
and the role of regional entities increases, it is important for boards to appoint leaders who can
influence and lead across multiple regions and cultures. A visible face is not enough. The ability
to connect with employees across an organization, both globally and locally, is a key component
of successful 21st century leadership.
Powerful Strategy Compass: The 21st century demands a strong strategic compass for leaders
and leadership teams. A good leader must be confident, passionately visionary, and lead a team
with clear goals and a clear sense of direction. Finally, their personal vision must be fully aligned
with that of the organization. However, management's investment strategy must remain fluid in
today's uncertain times. While it is important to make progress toward achieving long-term
organizational goals, leaders should be open to considering and exploring multiple avenues to
achieving those goals. Like a compass that always points north, leaders must be relentless in the
face of extreme turmoil and chaos.

Key success factors for 21st century leaders:

The traditional view of corporate leaders as front man, boss and commander is rapidly losing
relevance. Charisma and vision, traits commonly associated with these positions, are still important
in leadership positions, but they are not enough. To succeed in today's dynamic business
environment, leaders must be able to transition effortlessly between different roles. At one point,
they may need to act as commanders-in-chief of their organizations, and at other times, they may
need to act as the leaders of a great team or individual. It is about diversity and the ability to lead
effectively across generations, cultures, mindsets, and different motivations. Key success factors
for 21st century leaders include:
The purpose: Having a purpose is important, but having an inspiring purpose is very important.
Leaders should have personal goals (“What do we want this organization to achieve?”), but they
must align with organizational goals (“What does this organization stand for?”). Both the company
and its management must have a clear purpose to exceed annual revenue and profitability goals.
Unwavering focus, a clear vision, and a true belief in purpose mean that a leader must walk the
path, not just talk. increase. The same thing happens to leaders who do not lead with clarity and
focus. All of these are important leadership qualities required in the 21st century.
Resilience: As already mentioned, resilience is also a coveted quality among today's leaders.
Resilient leaders see failure as a temporary setback and an opportunity to learn. You also have a
strong personality and a positive attitude even in turbulent times. In the face of uncertainty,
resilient leaders always find ways to evolve and stay ahead of the curve. To demonstrate resilience,
leaders must communicate frequently and purposefully, be bold when making long-term strategic
bets, and champion an ever-improving mindset within their organization.
Network: Many leaders underestimate the power of networks inside and outside their
organizations. The advantages of developing and using networks are:
1. Get to know the key stakeholders in your organization better
2. Recognize challenges that hinder teamwork and innovation
3. An effective cascade of critical communications with the most influential stakeholders
4. Find and Hire Top Talent in the Market
5. Identify potential new suppliers, new technologies, consultants, or other leaders in the same
industry that can help accelerate business performance
6. Create, design, and execute effective career paths
Long term lens: 21st-century leaders must focus on long-term strategy over short-term tactics and
must also can proactively plan rather than get bogged down in details. A futuristic vision is needed
to lead the way to strategic execution. One way the leader does this is by identifying internal
stakeholders, investors and shareholders who share similar long-term values, and working
tirelessly with them. In 2016, S&P Dow Jones Indices launched the Long-Term Value Creation
Global Index. This helps investors evaluate companies that have the potential to create long-term
value. Another way to focus on the long term is to clearly communicate your goals. Internal and
external roadmaps and implementation plans.
Adaptability and Agility: best leaders are said to be highly capable of thinking outside the box.
Instead of constantly reinventing the wheel, learn to do new and unexpected things with the tools
you already have, and encourage others to do the same. 21st century leaders must be able to
innovate relentlessly and effectively manage disruption. To do this, we must foster a culture in
which all employees feel comfortable pitching ideas and proposing solutions, remembering that
everyone has something to offer. This goes a long way toward creating a resilient and agile
organization that is well-prepared to face disruption.
Cultural Consistency: Finally, leaders should never take their employees for granted. Employees
at all levels of an organization must continuously invest in skills training, coaching and benefits.
Research shows that millennials now make up a large portion of the workforce (about one-third of
the global workforce) and want more flexibility and control over their lives and careers while on
the right path to career advancement, I think. Leaders need to understand these sweeping shifts in
attitudes towards work and the workplace but must be driven by a consistent set of values to
strengthen brand equity and organizational culture. When leaders do not put people first,
organizations suffer from constant attrition, stunted progress, and a diluted organizational vision.

My role as a leader/ CEO of a Financial Company:

To drive accountability, public money needs to be managed well with accurate data that is
complete and easily accessed. To support organizational performance, finance teams must be
relentlessly committed to continuous improvement. And to enable transformation, the business
needs to positively seek finance teams’ input into strategic and operational decisions to add value
to the delivery of their objectives.
The top 6 issues highlighted by the Financial Management model users were:
1. Budget setting and financial strategy
2. Accountability for financial performance
3. Chief Finance Officer (CFO) role
4. In year agility – management accounting/forecasting
5. Business partnering
6. Corporate governance and transformational change
To address these challenges, several areas can be looked at. Finance teams need to partner with all
stakeholders in the organization and get alongside them to manage financial planning. Budget
setting is not just a finance function but needs input from across the organization so every
stakeholder team has their needs and financial aims and objectives considered. Care needs to be
taken to manage the challenge of targets to cut costs that could cut across the need to plan and
develop services. Service plans should drive financial plans, not the other way around. Budgets
need to be owned by cost center managers or service budget holders. The top-performing public
sector organizations are partnering with all internal stakeholders to enable this.
There are also financial strategy issues facing public sector organizations right now:
• Lack of long-term financial planning.
• Levels of funding have shorter timescales.
• Fluctuations in specific government spending.
• Reactive, not proactive, responses to service delivery improvement requirements.
• Conflict between local political initiatives and government policies.
• Uncertain levels of demand.
• High and volatile inflation.
• Increasing expectations
Short-term funding issues have resulted in short-term plans, but longer-term plans are still
desperately needed. Uncertainties around the cost-of-living crisis, inflation, and dire citizen issues
such as homelessness have presented an enormous challenge with uncertain resources to tackle
them. However, there are ways to develop good and balanced budgets.
A good budget is hard to achieve but should be based on a medium-term focus that supports the
strategic plan of the organization; resources focused on priorities and organizational vision; an
evidence-based, data-driven approach; transparency informed by stakeholder consultation;
integration with capital programs; and maintaining longer-term financial security.
Technology and scenario planning: Financial scenario planning is using a strategic planning tool
for improving financial forecasting by evaluating the uncertainties, risks, and opportunities of
multiple potential future situations. It makes assumptions and then uses contingency planning for
what really happens. It’s about looking at what is more likely or less likely to happen. And using
spreadsheets for this is just not good enough.
The 4 big questions to ask when scenario planning is:
1. How have we done?
What back-end systems are you currently using to provide financial information?
2. How are we doing?
Are we consistent? Are our processes standardized? Is our data reliable?
3. Where are we going?
Consider market variability, fluctuating demand, your growing community, and seasonality.
4. What should we be doing?
The answer to this last question lies in the pain points of using outdated legacy systems or
spreadsheets that are not helping your organization plan as it should. Spreadsheets work for
individual workbooks, but when you have multiple stakeholders across the organization, all with
their own version of the truth, all with their own ‘where do we want to go’ answers, there is a
problem. Planning becomes resource intensive for finance teams, there is no collaboration, and
people work in disjointed silos with no clarity. Budget holders are often non-finance people, so
spreadsheets can create a lack of trust in the data needed for scenario planning.

Conclusion: 21st century leadership is challenging but rewarding

The late Professor Peter Drucker once said, "Every time you see a successful business, someone
makes a bold decision." 21st century leadership is a combination of some bold decisions. Although
more difficult, the impact of positive leadership during this time is also enormous. Some of the
headwinds facing the global economy today are some of the strongest in the history of the global
economy (two wars soon to follow). Effectively operating in the face of these headwinds requires
leaders with courage, conviction, strong mental determination, unwavering focus, and a strong
sense of purpose. However, we must also remember that leaders cannot accomplish anything
alone. This is more relevant than it used to be. Leaders must be open-minded, collaborative, able
to coordinate different perspectives, and have the charisma to lead teams with diverse motivations
and needs in order to achieve the organization's key goals. 21st century leadership can seem like a
big challenge, but it can be very rewarding when done right. Whether it's an individual or a
leadership team, the characteristics of effective leadership apply to both. Individual human
leadership qualities are the pillars of this effective leadership model. Organizations should always
identify leaders with such traits or train existing leadership teams to master these traits.