The Main Challenges to 21st-century Business Administration

Abstract

This article presents and analyses the main challenges facing business organisations today: the management of people and knowledge, derived from the great transformations caused by the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions. A new management model, developed in the Basque Country, and the new style of relationships (ner, using its name form in Spanish – ‘nuevo estilo de relaciones’), shared by organisations of the ner Group, are presented and the main results of a study on their cultural features are demonstrated, as perceived by the people who work with this concept. Ner is based on people (the basic pillars of an organisation) who, with communication and information, are organised in self-managed groups and share a future project with trust, freedom and responsibility. They develop an important internal solidarity (the sharing of results, not dismissals) and they dedicate budget and working hours to their commitment to society.