The Role of Managers in the 21st Century Is Increasingly Diverse and Challenging.

In today’s turbulent and hypercompetitive global environment, managers must help their companies innovate more than ever.

The consumer experience in a service encounter is absolutely critical to the prolonged success of an organisation. Driggs (2008) explains that through the delivery of a superior service, a company can create a sustainable competitive advantage, and as a result, establish the roots of customer loyalty. Such loyalty is the direct outcome of personal interactions between employees and customers (Hennig-Thurau et al. 2002).

Successful innovation rests on first understanding customer needs and then developing products that meet those needs. Our review of the literature, therefore, starts with our understanding of customers and their response to and acceptance of innovation. Because we are interested in how firms profit from innovation, the article will then review organizational issues associated with successfully innovating and with how organizations adopt innovations. Customer understanding and the organizational context are underpinnings to innovating successfully. They must be in place before proceeding. Then the flow of innovation will be discussed.

Only 22% of consumers say the average retailer understands them as an individual, and only 21% say the communication they receive from the average retailer are “usually relevant”. Most companies understand how critical is to do better – 88% say their growth depends on personalising the customer experience – but lack the resources and expertise to design an improved customer journey. Only 37% believe they have the

In the book Customers for Life, Carl Sewell teaches us proper approaches to customer service. Sewell does so by presenting how he manages his own business and elaborating on his experiences. Despite the name of the book, many concepts he presents relate not only to client interactions. The ultimate goal of Sewell’s company is to be the absolute best, and to accomplish that, his company must be best at caring for the customers. Even though Sewell says that there is a selfish reason behind all that to earn more money, it would not be possible if he and his employees did not truly want to help clients.

Being innovative does not only mean inventing. Innovation can mean changing the business model and adapting to changes in the environment to deliver better products or services. Successful innovation should be an in-built part of a business’s strategy to create a culture of innovation and lead the

The importance of a leader’s ability to embrace and promote change can not be over stated. It is imperative for a leader to understand and manage changes in the work place in order to promote innovation and therefore creativity from the work force. A leader that promotes innovation promotes an environment of change and with it people that are encouraged to accept changes. The leader’s role is very important because they have a duty to create and atmosphere that promotes innovative ideas and changes (Huber, 2014).

Have you ever went to a grocery store or a retail shop and received bad services? Did you want to go back to the store after they treated you so poorly? One thing I have learned from working in a grocery store is that no business can be successful without the support of their customers. In this paper, I will be comparing and contrasting two major companies, Hot Topic and Nike. By comparing these two successful companies, I will prove that companies have no chance of success unless they take care of their customers. I will compare their missions and history. These comparisons will prove that good customer care is the key to any company's success.

Innovation and change that is brought about by it can completely redefine the playing field, new products and services can be created/built/designed. It can add efficiency to current work processes and services and also has the potential to build a whole new market place. All of this should increase a company’s earnings, profitability and competitive advantages over others

Managing change and innovation are interconnected and in that in order to be innovative, a fundamental change in thinking and the way business is conducted is necessary. Innovation requires a break from the way things were done and requires a new way of thinking that will require new skills and organizational alignment. This new way of doing business is often met with resistance and this is where a transformational leader who can manage his employees through change and explain the vision is most successful.

Innovative leaders take reasonable risks when bringing a new product or service to market. They also expect to fail more than they succeed. Taking acceptable risks starts with experimenting.

Today’s organizations fail to realize the value of their customers when it comes to the success of their business. Without customer loyalty the success of your business will always be uncertain. Organizations must sensitively tailor the designs of a successful firm to the particular challenges of understanding, attracting, and keeping valuable customers. “Having satisfied customers just aren’t good enough”. Kenneth Blanchard and Sheldon Bowles, co-authors of Raving Fans, believe this concept is needed to have a successful business. I agree with this concept of customers being the focal point of any business. I would want more than just a satisfied customer; I want a “Raving Fan”.

Tidd and Bessant (2009) argued that “Unless an organization is able to move into further innovation, it risks being left behind as others take the lead in changing their offerings, their operational processes or the underlying models that drive their business”.

Innovation refers to finding new ways to improve the existing products, services, processes, technologies, and employee performance in an organizational setup. In today's competitive business environment, organizations have to focus on bringing innovation in each and every aspect of their business operations; like products or service offerings, enterprise resource planning systems, marketing and promotional efforts, and organizational structure. The market challenges and competitive pressures also force organizations to use a blend of all these innovation processes in their business activities. Therefore, it is vital to give an equal focus on product innovation, process innovation, marketing innovation, and organizational innovation within the limited organizational resources and capabilities.

The traditional views of a manager's functions are as an administrator working on short-term goals within the current systems and structures. The manager focuses upon making that which exists as efficient as possible. The four functions of management as planning, budgeting, organizing, and controlling resources and problem solving. These managerial activities, they assert, are most appropriate when organizations are basically stable and relatively predictable. On the other hand traditional view of a leader' functions are of one who takes a long-term, big picture, perspective and endeavors to initiate change for the improvement of the organization. When organizations need to adapt and change to new circumstances then leaders who challenge, motivate and inspire