The Future of Management: Uncertainty

The future of management is uncertain. Fads come and go, trends change over time and industries will rise and fall, but the truth is no one can possibly predict what the future of management will resemble. No one could have predicted in 2001 that a little device called an iPOD would become so ubiquitous that in 2007, cars would come equipped with iPOD docking stations. Even today, after decades of thorough research, economists do not know what causes the business cycle nor how to predict recessions and booms, just that they happen. Uncertainty is the only certainty there is when it comes to the future and management education is no different. In uncertainty however lies opportunity, uncertainty is what makes people invest in equities, start up businesses, take risks and create change. The future is uncertain but it should not be feared, it is something to be embraced and explored.

While uncertainty is inevitable, that does not mean that it is futile to try and predict the possible outcomes, that is what spurs activity in any marketplace after all. This entry however is not going to predict what lies ahead but will state what we need to get there. Whatever lies ahead for the future of management education whether it be more focused on social responsibility or the new paradigms outlined by our professor, it will be attained by people with the creativity to think of the new ideas and the courage to act on them. The future of management education will lie with trailblazers and pioneers, not followers. It may or may not come from the halls Harvard Business School or even a business school at all. It may come from a small company in India that was built on the microfinancing or an environmentalist group in Sweden that seeks to reduce our consumption of fossil fuels. The future of management education will have global implications, will be controversial at first, will create ripples in the pond but whatever it is, it is to remain uncertain.