EDITOR’S LETTER: Renewal

One of the joys of management is its constant sense of renewal and reinvigoration. Even after 52 years of reporting on this stuff, here on the magazine we are constantly discovering new ways to view the world. Take, for example, small pamphlet from global consultancy PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) which recently popped through the mail and which charts the refreshingly candid thoughts of almost 1100 CEOs across 50 countries. (More on this on page 7 of this issue.)
PWC has been checking in with world-leading CEOs like this for decade now so it’s revealing to step back and see just what’s changed for them in the past 10 years. More revealing still, are their thoughts on the shape of things to come.
For context: These CEOs and others of their ilk have weathered 10 years of high-speed change. They have ridden high on the e-business roller coaster, celebrating the heady days of optimism before so many technological business hopes crashed and burned. Then the capital markets took their toll. These CEOs adjusted to the economic and political fallout post 9/11, recovered from the shock of Enron’s collapse and battled the burdens of compliance in mood of gathering optimism. Last year they forged ahead in their missions to go global.
As the report asks, market forces are rebalancing the global equation, so how are today’s business leaders responding to change? decade ago these CEOs were thinking about business within borders. Now they’re working across borders. Will they be operating without borders in the future? Is their role, as the report suggests, shifting from chief control officer, to chief executive officer, to chief empowerment officer? And what does that say about the future of management? It’s exciting stuff. The world of management keeps shifting.
On personal note, this is my last issue as editor of Management magazine. After eight years with the company, first editing sister publication Marketing Magazine and more recently Management magazine and The Director, I am leaving to follow other passions. I leave knowing that the magazine is in good shape and excellent heart. Thank you to everyone who has so generously shared their knowledge, insights and energy with both myself and the magazine.
He aha te mea nui te ao? Maku e ki atu. He tangata, he tangata, he tangata. What is the most important thing in the world? I say to you. It is people, it is people, it is people.