All these lead to the indubitable conclusion that competition in the twenty-first century is as fierce as it has ever been. Aside the threat of cheap imports, the modern leaders also fear the possibility of losing their best staff members. Again, the forces of globalization have allowed a free circulation of not only commodities, but also human resource. Given that a company invests in the professional formation of its personnel, it is possible that the employees leave the organization for a better paid job within another global region. In this order of ideas, it can be concluded that competition for human resource is also increased. The same can be said about financial opportunities, in the meaning that national investors might find a foreign country to be a better suited investment destination than a national company.

B. Diversity and Cultural Awareness

Cultural diversity existed, especially within the United States, since early history, but increased emphasis on it within the workplace has only been placed recently. Not before long ago, women and minorities were often the victims of discrimination in the meaning that they would get lower salaries for the same amount of job or that they would be presented with fewer promotion opportunities. Today however, the trend is that of equalizing the wages based on capabilities, education and performance, rather than discriminating based on cultural diversity.

The issue of cultural diversity and awareness constitutes today a central point in the organizational statements of various multinational corporations. The website of the Ford Motor Company for instance argues that cultural diversity characterizes the company from its factory floor to its board room, and furthermore, they pride themselves on the long history of including culturally diverse individuals within the company. "Throughout the history of Ford Motor Company, inclusion has been as much a part of the company's success as the great products our diverse employee base has created."

Given this status quo then, the challenge to the modern leader is that of integrating the cultural minorities within the work place.

C. More Demands

As it has previously been mentioned, the twenty-first century has greater expectations from its leaders than the previous century has had. The modern manager is expected to complete a wider series of functions. And not...

Aside the already presented requirements and roles of a leader, it is important to notice that the twenty-first century business community expects the leader not only do his job, but also do it in an efficient manner. The leader is also expected to continually review the internal and external environments and to develop change strategies that ensure that the company he runs is able to respond to the emergent challenges. The manager is expected to identify and solve problems at the same time. Additionally, he is expected to implement now the most adequate solutions and ensure that the respective problem does not occur in the future. The leader must develop and execute strategies for organizational growth and expansion and he has to consider resource allocation and pricing strategies. All of these managerial tasks, alongside with many others, are expected to be integrated within "management strategies [that] adapt to fast-moving market and workforce demographic changes."