Proverbs provides guidelines for management in next century

Management in the next century will require skills and techniques that focus on technology, financial planning, information processing, and other technical areas, but other critical management concerns cannot be ignored. The Chief of Naval Operations' Commission on Personal Excellence and National Security has defined education, health, and ethical behavior as the three critical national security issues in the next century. Certain trends in the United States--the shrinking size of the entry-level labor force, shortfall in high school graduates' ability to succeed in the workplace, escalating healthcare expenditures, and failure of training to produce its intended results--increase the need for managers to focus on these issues. Organizing people, groups, and organizations to achieve excellence requires a set of guidelines with proven sensitivity, truth in many situations, strength, and durability. The book of Proverbs, although 2000 years old, provides such rules that address the issues of education, health, and ethical behavior. These guidelines can be used to strengthen managers' ability to meet the challenges of the twenty-first century.