Management in the 21st century is particularly difficult when considering that competition, advancements in technology and greater customer and client expectations place exceeding pressure on businesses to perform. This paper will accordingly propose a number of strategies and ideas for improving and sustaining businesses in the current business setting and ensuring that employees remain highly loyal and connected with the vision and objectives of each company respectively. In supporting this focus, the American companies, Dunkin Donuts and Apple will be analyzed with respect to their own strategies for maintaining success in the 21st century.

There are a number of actions that managers can take to ensure that companies remain successful and also in the future. The first major action focuses on the use of innovation and change management in current company settings (Apple, 2014). Adequate change management and innovation strategies ensure that companies are currently evolving in response to changing customer and client expectations. In the 21st century, this action is particularly pertinent as people become more reliant on self sustaining technologies such as smartphones, more innovative databases for the management of customer accounts and electronic monitoring systems, particularly in the financial service industry worldwide. Furthermore, managers can propose change initiatives, which will make the company not only innovative but constantly attractive to current employees and may promote them to become further successful and high performing currently and in the future (Swidey, 2014).

For example, Apple Incorporated focuses on flexibility and the provision of wide ranging opportunities that inspires its employees to perform at a higher level and to achieve goals, which were seen to be too challenging at the start. Managers at Dunkin Donuts have continued to innovate their business by introducing new technologies in line with the company, New Horizon. Most recently, Dunkin Donuts introduced a new online ordering system that would make its business more efficient and effectively utilize available technologies to inspire further customer service excellence. Managers can also remain flexible as a source of inspiration for current and future success (Apple, 2014).

In the long term, managers can help to establish a foundation for future success and this can focus on flexible working systems that allow employees to work from home or to acquire certain amounts of leave in instances where employees experience personal issues or circumstances (Swidey, 2014).

There are in addition to the first point of this paper, a number of philosophies and standards that managers can reinforce within their companies to help employees remain connected to the company mission. The establishment of effective communication pathways is the first requirement that can ensure employees are constantly updated with respect to the mission and objectives of the company (Swidey, 2014). Communication can ensure that employees are not caught off guard and can be provided with the time to become accustomed to new standards and working conditions. This also relies on a trust system whereby employees are encouraged to trust the decisions made by companies in return for trust in their work and ability to provide a high level of work and performance levels on a constant basis. Furthermore, managers can instill a number of more conventional philosophies such as strict discipline guidelines that enforce employees to abide by company policies and which reinforce notions behind compliance, trust and reliance. In some cases, more relaxed regimes can enforce lower levels of performance and employees may be more responsive to tighter regimes where they are constantly monitored and have a number of deadlines to adhere to (Apple, 2014).

Managers can also relate company missions to respective benefits provided to employees and this can help employees to further understand why they are required to perform at a high level and what they may receive in return. For example, at Apple, high performing employees are rewarded with more leave and flexibility with respect to where they can work and how they can work. They are also offered with relocation initiatives, which may more closely align with their personal requirements (Apple, 2014). The business of Dunkin Donuts has over the last decade, relied heavily on flexibility and ensuring that its employees understand that the company has a well defined promotion system and hierarchy. Both Apple and Dunkin Donuts have similar philosophies with respect to rewarding employees for continued commitment.

Expansion can be both an advantage and disadvantage and relies extensively on timing and the current strategies of the particular company. When Apple decided to expand its phone coverage to the provision of smartphones in 2009, it determined that it had the right customer service strategies and levels of innovation to make this decision work. Consequently, the Iphone has been one of the largest technologies of the 20th and 21st centuries and with the highest sales of all time (Swidey, 2014). Dunkin Donuts has focused more on strategy and updating its internal systems to allow for growth and development. Expansion can also be too excessive for a company particularly if it has not been high performing or is struggling to maintain a surplus and significant capital. Additionally, companies rely on competition, growth and development and this cannot be achieved if they are not performing or have preparations in place for expansion. Expansion should be seen as an initiative to further develop the company when it has reached its full potential (Apple, 2014).

In conclusion, managers have extensive autonomy with respect to changing the current business culture of their respective companies and ensuring that the company can facilitate change, development and better working conditions for current and future employees. Both Apple Incorporated and Dunkin Donuts exemplify two different cases where effective management has let to success.