The most serious of challenges facing businesses today is how to survive and grow in a highly competitive environment, where the success of one often means the failure of another.

An enter prize is strong or weak only in comparison with its competitors. This necessitates a constant scanning of the rivals' strengths and weaknesses: price, distribution channels, promotional techniques, suppliers, technology, public image, human resources, managerial skills, financial resources, customer loyalty, political connections, etc.

In a zero-sum game, the competitors' strengths and weaknesses represent threats and opportunities respectively. However, in a world where change is swift and sweeping, the strengths and weaknesses, threats and opportunities keep changing.

Today's businesses operate in an environment of global economic integration where changes in one part of the world affect another. Globalization offers tremendous opportunities for businesses in the form of low trade and investment barriers and greater market access.

But at the same time, it intensifies competition and increases consumer expectations and choices. Firms all over the world are facing increasing competition from foreign firms.

Even a purely domestic enter prize cannot operate in disregard of the challenges of foreign competition. The increasing level of customer satisfaction is a third big challenge confronting businesses.

In a market economy, the customer with a full purse has immense choices, and will buy from the seller which gives him the highest value for his money. The greatest strength of a firm consists in the ability to create value for the customer higher than that offered by competitors.

It is on this ability that customer loyalty rests. Obviously no firm can rest assured that it will maintain customer loyalty. Everywhere in the world, there is emphasis on cost cutting without comprising quality.

Cost cutting in an organization necessitates efficient utilization of resources. It may also entail restructuring and downsizing. Some positions may have to be abolished; a few workers may have to be laid off. In such a situation, it is often very challenging to maintain employee loyalty and morale.

The present era has witnessed tremendous growth of the concept of social responsibility of businesses. It is widely accepted now that businesses being a part of society owe it a lot.

Not only they should not spoil the environment, they should play an important role in increasing the quality of life in society given their managerial and financial resources.

The challenge that today's managers face is to strike a balance between organizational goals and goals of society, between profit maximization and social welfare.

Of all external business factors, technology is the most dynamic. Strides in computer-based technologies including automation and widespread use of the Internet are representative of the technological revolution.

Technological developments have created what is called global information society in which information is the principal strategic weapon and the capital source of competitive advantage of both nations and corporations.

Technology has solved many of our problems but at the same time created many as well. What matters however is how technology is applied. An intelligent and responsible application of technology is what is required of businesses.

The last century witnessed depersonalization and dehumanization in the wake of scientific development and technological advance. However, toward the close of the century, there was a shift toward the human factor as the key factor in business relations.

It came to be recognized that it is the development of human capital that is the key to economic development and business growth. Hence, human resource development (HRD) was accepted as the main business goal. Almost every business enterprise of note established its HR department.

Now it is universally agreed that businesses have to invest a lot in the training and capacity building of their workforce. The increasing emphasis on HRD is supported by world wide spread of education and democracy: Education is now regarded as the inalienable right of every individual.

This realization has created what is called education society resulting in greater knowledge and awareness, a desire to participate in decisions that affect oneself, need for work that is challenging, and decline in authoritarian style of management.

Ours is an age of democracy. Democratic ideals have won world wide acceptance. In the business sphere as well, democratic values are gaining currency. A big challenge for businesses is to introduce is to democratize their working without at the same time compromising discipline and efficiency.

Having outlined the major corporate challenges, let's turn to the right strategy to grapple with the same. The elements of such a strategy are discussed as under:

The foremost element of such a strategy is total quality management (TQM). A people focused management philosophy, TQM enables businesses to produce goods and services that provide the highest value to the customer at low real cost.

It is about building a culture within an organization based on total customer focus. TQM is a logical response to the challenges thrown up by the competitive business environment.

In a world of intense competition, only the firms that provide the highest value of money to customers at low real cost to themselves will survive. The firms that have a TQM culture are always looking to please customers.

They are well aware of the wants and needs of the target market and offer goods or services that satisfy the same. This not only results in customer satisfaction but also increases the productivity and profits of the firms.

Management style also needs to be changed. The traditional authoritarian style of management in which all decisions are made at the top needs to be replaced with participatory style of management.

For effective management employee empowerment is a must. Employees must be involved in making decisions that affect them. They must be encouraged to take initiative and freely float ideas that will encourage company performance.

Moreover, if workers are to work as a team, there must not be barriers between the top management and the lower staff. For such a basic change both management and staff will have to be prepared.

The management must be prepared to share decision-making power with workers. The staff must be prepared to shoulder the responsibilities created by participatory management. This explains why there is so much emphasis on human resource development and capacity building of the workforce.

In order to keep pace with the latest technological developments, business research needs to be an area of high priority. This puts mega firms in a position of advantage for they have the human and financial resources to undertake research.

To restore and build employee motivation, loyalty and morale, corporations must inculcate a sense of belonging among the employees. This calls for job enrichment and a work accomplish environment in which managers are partners not bosses, where employees are invited to participate in goal setting, where information is shared, where upward communication is encouraged and where reward is linked to performance.

The present global competitive environment has enormously increased the pace of organizational change and made change management a difficult process. Change is always met with some resistance. Traditionally resistance to change was considered an irrational process.

Hence, coercion and manipulation were considered to be the only way to overcome change resistance. Well, that approach might have enabled the management to overcome change resistance but only at the cost of de-motivation, demoralization and alienation of workers.

In the present scenario, no organization can compete successfully if its principal asset - the workers-is demoralized or alienated. Therefore, change management itself needs a fundamental shift.

Those likely to be affected by change must be made a part of the change management process and their legitimate interests taken into account. Moreover, the management should help and facilitate employees passing through change For example, if the management wants to introduce office automation, workers should be imparted computer training.

Traditionally organizations have been activity-oriented rather than goal oriented. However, in a competitive environment only the organisations that are goal-oriented can remain in the field. What is important is not what an employee does but what he accomplishes.

The "Look busy do nothing" approach has to be discarded. This realisation has already prompted many organisations to give more importance to the final productivity of their workforce rather than the time they actually spend working.

Hence, organisations are saying good-bye to 9-5 approach and adopting a more flexible work schedule suited to achieving goals rather than merely doing things. Traditionally organisations have been characterised by rigidity of policies and procedures.

There is little if any attempt to re-examine the basic objectives or principles of the enterprise. Hence, whenever any problem crops up, the best perceived solution is in the light of the existing principles and policies. This leaves a very limited capacity for businesses to adapt to change.

Instead there should be a constant re-examination of the basic policies and objectives, which may be revised if the situation so warrants. Emphasis needs to be placed on experimentation, innovation and creativity. No doubt, experimentation does not always succeed. But even in the event of failure, there is some learning and thus possibility of improvement.