A challenge for the manager in the 21^st century is to merge the traditional functions of a manager with the new demands of workplace life. The change of value regarding human resources to the organization coupled with technology is shifting the design of organizations towards "boundaryless" and flat organizational structures.  In this theme we examine Fayol's five functions of management as well as the 14 lesser functions of management upon which most management models are based today and how they are bumping up against the constructs of 21^st century management to create tension in the workplace.

Read the following articles on big business' break with telecommuting and managing with technology at

Working from home alone is the real culprit

http://fortune.com/2013/03/19/working-from-home-alone-is-the-real-culprit/

Working from home: how Yahoo, Best Buy and HP are making moves

http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/working-from-home-yahoo-best-buy-hp-moves

The role of informational technology in virtual management theory

http://www.muhlenberg.edu/depts/abe/business/miller/virorg.html

• Examine the role of Fayol's pillars of management and how they may conflict or conversely fit with contemporary organizations and management theories. Explain comprehensively why or how a manager might reconcile happily the two approaches to management.