Presently, millions of Muslims around the world are experiencing global changes. The size of the group labeled as the Futurists, which consists of young, innovative, and open to changes people, has already significantly exceeded the number of Traditionalists, older Muslims strongly dependent on their communities and faith. The Futurists want to change the world, particularly managing and leadership practices, with the help of the Islamic perspective. I largely agree with many concepts of the Futurists and believe that their ideas can be used to attain better management practices in every organization and sphere of business since they promote the characteristics, which both Muslims and non-Muslims employees and consumers are searching for in every organization.
First of all, the Islamic perceptive in leadership and management has nothing to do with religion. If an organization decides to apply Islamic principles, its employees will not have to change the way they dress, wear religious symbols, and so on. That is the biggest misunderstanding between Muslims and non-Muslims. Values the Futurists promote are much more universal than Islamic. For example, the Futurists want honesty, fairness, transparency, loyalty, tolerance, respect, etc. Even if an individual is not Muslim, he or she probably wants the same things.
In the article I have read, I see two most important changes that firms should implement to improve their management practices and, consequently, the revenue, reputation, and all of those things that organizations strive to strengthen and enhance. The first one is transparency. With a great number of nepotistic and corrupt systems that exist nowadays, this change is essential. Corruption lies at the very core of an organization and affects all its policies and actions. By making the decision-making process transparent and evident, we can avoid corruption, which will not only have its positive impact on the budget and efficiency of an organization but also will inevitably enhance its reputation and increase the public’s trust.
The second thing that I like about Islamic perceptive is its focus on people. People should be treated equally, with tolerance and respect, regardless of whether it comes to employees or customers. Employees should be provided with the flexibility, possibility to innovate and grow, and better communication. Every leader should involve his or her followers into equal dialogues, build on trust and respect, and make every worker feel valued and needed.
To conclude, I strongly believe that many of the ideas of the Futurists are useful in any organization and every possible sphere of business since they are much more universal than Islamic, and that is why they will attract more people regardless of whether those people are Muslims or non-Muslims. The two most important changes that should be implemented in the first place are transparency in decision-making and people-oriented practices.