And both selling and manufacturing create problems for managers. Problems that the managers did not have to deal with before globalization started. Globalization also means more competition. For example companies that did not create a threat in the past are suddenly selling at better prices, making more gross margin than three months ago. Managers have to react quickly and manage smarter in order to continue to be successful (Dessler, 2001).
Managers today must deal with a volatile economy, especially in the United States. Conducting SWOT analysis will help, but now the manager has to think ahead to world disasters, like 9/11, Hurricanes, or Tsunami's, and what those things will do to business. More than likely, how those things will affect business negatively, will they interrupt product flow, or manufacturing? Will the sales market drop out, until customers get their confidence back. Companies that do not have plans for large-scale economic disasters will not survive if something tragic should happen. Fuel prices are also a cost of goods that fluctuating drastically currently, and look to just go up in the near future. Fuel prices are probably causing some fuel sur-charge to customers, or at least forcing companies to raise their prices. All new challenges that managers must deal with to stay successful. .
Concern for ethics has grown over the last five years especially. Many companies have been sued and many managers and CEO's have been brought on criminal changes regarding mistreatment of ethics. Ethics is a hot topic and one that managers of the past did not have to deal with in the detail the manager does today. Ethics is a large scale thought process, it goes beyond how the CEO acts, and what prices the company charge to its customers, but also how that company perceives and behaves in regards to the world environment (Greenwood, 2000). Does the company want and try to reduce pollution, does it recycle? In dealing with ethics, a manager must continue to keep ethics in the front of his or her mind.