Conclusions

Globalization, rapid changes in markets and trade, greater labor and capital mobility, continuously changing skill and experience requirements, and more make it difficult today to effectively man and manage operations and enterprises. On top of this, global demands change all the time as do sources of supply and markets, as large developing markets such as India and China with over 36% of the world's population show. These are not only rapidly developing economies which in the past produced both products and services largely for export to the developed world, but are now increasingly under pressure to satisfy their newly, more affluent domestic markets. Their main export-oriented industries largely based on the use of cheap labor trained in basic skills will in the near future have to undergo radical changes, and not only train workers in more sophisticated skills to produce higher level goods for both export and domestic consumption, but also develop increasingly more complex organizations and enterprises to themselves advance product and process technology for more demanding domestic markets, and to be able to continue to supply more advanced foreign markets.

At the same time, enterprises in developed countries no longer with a monopoly of technology, skills, know how, worker training, and organization will be under increasing pressure to advance their operational effectiveness with particular references to worker and capital productivity. To achieve this, they will have to introduce radically changed management systems and make much more effective use of all applied resources, with particular emphasis on worker and manager skill, and technology use. Technology here implies to process, product, information, communication, and control technology, while worker and manager skills are increasingly required in decision planning management, making, and reporting.