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The paradigm shift from the mechanistic model of organizations to the systems view has also meant that the organization of the future would be a shape-shifting one that has the ability to adapt to new market conditions quickly and rapidly than before. This has also meant that the emphasis on machine like bureaucracies has given way to systems approaches to management as the shift from manufacturing to services means that organizations are flatter, leaner, and fit than their predecessors. Rather, the point here is that the services sector that includes the IT and financial services commands the lion’s share of the economy when compared to manufacturing. Of course, this is not to say that manufacturing is dead. The paradigm shift has also resulted in organizations adopting CSR or Corporate Social Responsibility and embracing diversity, which means that social and environmental concerns apart from inclusivity and tolerance are the buzzwords for managers.įurther, the rise of the Knowledge Worker means that information has become the raw material that is transformed through the organizational processes rather than physical resources that are transformed through machines. This means that managers and management need to adopt a global outlook and at the same time execute the functions locally, which has given rise to the term, “Glocalization” that has been popularized by the noted expert, Thomas Friedman.

This changing paradigm has been concomitant with the increasing globalization of the world economy, which has meant that corporations now operate across the world rather than in their own countries. In other words, the industrial organization that is characterized by the smokestack or the picture of factories and plants manufacturing goods and services has now given way to companies that use computers and the digital highway to perform their activities. The changing management paradigm has come about mainly because of the change from the “Smokestack” era to the ∽igital Era” which means that the industrial paradigm is giving way to a conception of the organization as part of a system as well as information replacing machines as the central pivot around which organizations function. It has also changed the importance given to employees who are now treated as key sources of competitive advantage rather than yet another factor of production.

For instance, it is now common for management experts to stress on the organization and its interaction with its environment as opposed to a machine like organization that is standalone and functions on its own. This paradigm shift has engineered and engendered a corresponding shift in the management thought and practice.

The role of management has changed over the decades as the paradigm shift from manufacturing to services and then to the emerging view of organizations as a holistic whole interacting with its environment in a symbiotic manner. From the Smokestack Era to the Digital Era