The fast development of technology in all business fields, and the information technology in particular, has augmented the sophistication in customer needs, hence the survival of business as well as the lifetime coveted business leadership is under threat.

Now for ensuring success, organizations’ emphasis on striving for the economies of scale is shifting to an innovative player in a highly-competitive market through innovation and continuous improvement in the existing products and services to match the fast changing demands of the market. As such leaders in industry, apart from having the conventional behavioural and technical attributes, need to develop a strategic organization model where members of the management hierarchy are able to make sound and creative decisions with total precision and well in time regarding the short and long term corporate objectives.

The corporate decisions mainly relate to:

* Setting the financial targets.

* Developing new products and services.

* Tapping the characteristics of markets.

* Establishing a set-up with an environment to enhance operational efficiency of the organization.

* Developing human resources, by taking care of the needs and aspirations relating to career progression and job satisfaction through involvement, participation and commitment.

The business environment all over the globe have necessitated the development of human resources to achieve the targeted goals. In other words the shift towards people-oriented approach to management is gaining momentum.

The question is, as to what symbolizes the people-oriented management? According to John Rey - a Seattle-based Internet management consultant, ‘the top management or the leader in an industry who is identified with the following personal and professional attributes will likely succeed as a motivator, innovator and the people-oriented manager or leader:

* The person has consistency of ideas but is capable of changing the mind. He/she makes decision but easily accepts the input from others, also.

* He/she sees information as a tool to be used and not as a power to be hoarded.

* He/she is an extrovert. Management is a people skill. It is not a job for someone who does not enjoy people.

* The person is honest and straight-forward. His/her success depends heavily on trust for others.

Presently, business leaders in Pakistan depict mostly entrepreneurial or the asset-building management approach in the private sector, and a bureaucratic style of management in the public sector corporations. A peculiar type of the top management synonymous with the “strong natural leader” (SNL) type,which has its origin in America and is visible in some European countries too and has its traces in some of the private sector corporations of Pakistan also, most of which are culminating into big business groups. Under the SNL management style the leaders are visionary, action-oriented, energetic, but at the same time they are egoistic and totally intolerant of the incompetence of their subordinates. In all the three strategies little concern is paid towards the people of the organizations. There are very few multinationals where the top management concern for the development and growth of their employees builds their image as the “people-oriented entities”. Though some private sector corporations are showing excellent growth in assets, but their neglect towards developing the human capital will make these industries face recession in the long run. In order to achieve higher growth rate and diversification of market by introducing new products and services, they need to develop human resources to reinforce better expertize in the industry.

In case of public sector corporations, where bureaucratic culture over-rides, they depend on the individual competence of the leader or the top management, hence with the change of the top management the performance is effected.

In a people-oriented organization which works on the concept of team management, its leader is earnestly concerned for the employees of all level and at the same time he/she has maximum concern for the growth of the industry. In other words incumbent depicts a 9,9 style of management (introduced through the managerial grid developed by Dr J.S.Mouton and Dr.Blake - the behavioural scientists). He/she generates all learning opportunities for people in the industry through their involvement, commitment and creativity, which are the pre-requisites for a rapid growth of an organization. Accordingly, in the people-oriented entities a pool of competence is developed to ensure the leader succession. As such, the successor having the same ideology is automatically developed and whenever such a leader leaves the organization, a replacement is always available to perpetuate the team approach to the management, hence the growth momentum is maintained.

In the dynamic global economy of today, all business concerns need to use the latest technology for frequent changes in the products’ design and more sophistication to be added to the services, not only to match the fast changing demands of the customers, but also to expand their market share. At the same time they need to achieve superior cost performance ratio also. It is obvious that the desired results cannot be achieved unless the culture of team management or “working together” is injected into the industry, to prepare the people to meet the challenges put forth by the globalization.

In the context of financial sector in Pakistan, an immediate pruning is needed in hierarchical set-up of banks, and the commercial banks in particular, enabling them to absorb the rapidly changing technology, to be placed in line with the economically developed countries. The banks need to have a management hierarchy with an all-out concern for developing the human resources who are found totally committed to the organization. The Pakistani private banks particularly exhibit the entrepreneurial style of management, leading to fast growth in their assets and profits. They need to develop their field staff and treat them as an ingredient of the management hierarchy as the banks shall have to shift to the electronic banking sooner or later. It is the operating staff or the junior management, which has the required expertize in the Information Technology. They are the first to be aware of the change in customers’ taste and what is demanded of them with regard to the service, both within and outside the country. Hence, the field staff and the junior management need to be involved in the decision-making process with regard to the new services/products to be introduced.

The top management of these banks must promote continuous change in the organizational practices in order to motivate and prepare the employees of all level to meet the challenges of the growing competition, both nationally and internationally, and to achieve that, there is a need to do away with various unwanted levels of hierarchy, and re-orient the management practices. In western countries and even here in Pakistan, the multinationals and some foreign banks have reduced their hierarchical levels, and delegated the decision-making powers down the line to make their entities customer-focussed, and have geared their systems and operations to meet the customer needs, for opening new markets, and integrating latest technology in their businesses.

Carlzon, a behavioural scientist, has gone to extremes regarding his views on the management hierarchy of the service industry in particular. He is in favour of reversing the hierarchical pyramid. He desires the operating staff to be placed at the top, entrusted with the decision-making powers relating to research and planning for developing new products/services, as they are in direct touch with the customers and the first to know the changing demands of the market. According to him the area of responsibility of the top and senior management should be restricted to creating enabling environment for implementing the decisions. During the eighties and nineties of the last century, blessings of the Japanese style of management were widely talked about which ensured lifetime employment and total regard to seniority in the matter of deciding incentives for the people in the industry, but of late, the fast move towards globalization and the unprecedented advancement in technology have brought about changes in their management approach towards human resource management, and many organizations had resorted to the lay-offs in a large number to combat recession in their economies. However, by and large the Japanese believe in the people-oriented style of management with a blend of paternalism.