Challenges and legacies in current management

An analysis from the modernity and bureaucratic society

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze the challenges and dilemmas of contemporary management through the lens of modernity and bureaucratic society. The methodology employed is qualitative, utilizing hermeneutics combined with content analysis for a theoretical triangulation of three categories: modernity, bureaucratic society, and management. To this end, nine scientific articles were carefully selected, meeting the peer-review criteria, indexed in databases such as Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science. This methodological triangulation demonstrates that contemporary management is heir to a double legacy: on the one hand, advances in bureaucracy's efficiency and rationality, and on the other, its inherent problems of rigidity and dehumanization. The article's central discussion argues that the challenges of the digital age, such as the ethics of AI, are a modern manifestation of the Weberian "iron cage." The main conclusions underscore that the future of management lies not in abandoning bureaucratic structures, but in transforming them. A "synthetic leadership" is proposed, capable of balancing efficiency with adaptability and humanization, thus navigating the ethical and existential dilemmas of contemporary management.