Managers in today's corporation are under fire. Throughout the world, their ability to manage the affairs of the corporation is being called into question. The emergence of a multitude of government regulations, corporate critics, media attacks, and most importantly, substantial competition from Far Eastern and European firms have put the modern manager in a pressure cooker. He or she finds an increase in the external demands placed on the corporation and a decrease in the internal flexibility of the corporation to respond. Criteria for Performance are no longer clear and the notion of “effective management” is increasingly becoming a contradiction in terms.

Meanwhile, the “solutions” to the dilemma of the modern manager dominate the best-seller lists. Lessons from Japanese, U.S. and European companies are drawn; the latest techniques from psychology are touted to solve the “people problem”; ringing cries are issued for less government, givebacks by labor and a new industrial policy; and managers are urged to work harder and longer, take more courses, learn the latest techniques and to focus on rebuilding their companies to be more competitive in global markets.

I believe that these current analyses of the managerial dilemma are only partially correct. And, I believe that the underlying issue is that managers must have new concepts that enable them to see their Jobs realistically.