ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the middle and senior managers of the future from two angles. One will be the managers themselves, their abilities, motivation, attitudes, and, by inference, their performance. The other will be a prediction of the problems executives will face in directing organizations composed of these managers. Comparisons with Management Progress Study will be limited to the white males. Interpersonal skills possessed, or at least displayed, may be expected to decline sharply for the average manager. Layers of management have been erased, functions have been eliminated, managers have been coaxed or pushed into early retirement, and others have been summarily dismissed. Managers, no longer expecting a life-long career, may demand contracts. The negotiations of baseball managers with the team owners come to mind. The strong tendency of managers to lose motivation as they grow older will be compounded by the initially weak motivation of the current generation of new managers.
