Section Twoof the following categories: technology and organizational
structure, worker values and attitudinal trends, managerial
trends, demographic trends, trends in the utilization of human
resources, and inter-national developments. These trends and
developments will be discussed in the following sections.
TECHNOLOGY AND ORGANIZATIONAL
STRUCTURE
Broad Influences of Technology
Technology, particularly information technology, is having a
major impact on the structure of organizations and on the
nature of managerial work. Enterprise software systems have
been implemented to integrate the major areas of business:
manufacturing, sales, finance, supply-chain management, and
human resources. These information systems have enabled
companies to gain numerous benefits such as efficiency gains,
quicker response times, better inventory control, enhanced
coordination, and improved decision making. Companies now
spend $23 billion a year on enterprise software such as Oracle,
SAP, and PeopleSoft, compared with only $1 billion in 1990.^1
Information systems such as these and others have eliminated
the need for many middle management positions. Because
much of middle management involves coordination and
dissemination of information, many of its functions have been