Management styles will almost certainly continue to change.
Senior managers will require a lot more than the efficiency that they've always needed.
Above all they'll need great skills in leadership, so that their organisation can initiate and respond to change in a fast-moving world, where they face lots of competing requirements and potential conflicts.
In most of the world, the senior managers of large businesses are mainly men in their fifties and sixties.
The predominant style of management will almost certainly become more consultative and collaborative, caused above all, by more women moving into senior management positions.
Many of the changes are influenced by developments in the wider economy.
The traditional emphasis of business was manufacturing, and of course the service sector is very important.
But we shouldn't overlook the growing financial contribution of IP, that is, intellectual property.
Some books and films generate enormous sums from the sale of related DVDs, music, games, clothes, and so on.
Another point I'd like to make is that although I've been talking about companies, one trend that they have to face is the move away from people working for the same employer for years.
Instead more and more people are becoming self-employed, to gain the freedom and control over their lives that they're unlikely to get from being employed.
OK, well that's all I want to say, so let's open it up for discussion.
That's the end of section 4, you now have half of a minute to check your answers.
That's the end of listening test. In the IELTS test, you will now have ten minutes to transfer your answers to the answer sheet.