With head office staff reduced in number to the minimum
possible and growth no longer the overriding strategy of
most firms, unit managers are now being asked to perform
differently. They are being asked to compete effectively
on the local level, where conditions are becoming
extremely competitive, to scan the environment for threats
and opportunities, and to build a strategic plan for their
units based on this type of analysis. This leaves the unit
manager with the need to become a much more
independent decision maker and one who is much more