With the advent of knowledge industry, rapid technological advancements, and services industry overtaking the manufacturing sector, traditional managers are compelled to don the role of an executive. That is to say, every manager today in every organization has become an executive and a knowledge worker in his own right, contrary to what we have said earlier. The intense competition, the rapid expansion of globalization coupled with instant communication facilities, have made more and more managers to work across the borders of multiple countries. For them just managing is not enough, they need to be effective and to be so they have to produce results.

The job of a manager is to create a conducive environment for the managed team so that organizational objectives are accomplished. Inspiration, motivation, and direction are some of the tools a manager uses to engender the enthusiasm, and an innate desire in his subordinates to achieve the set goals. An open mind, a level head, and keenness to go beyond the call of the duty are some of the managerial attributes which need no emphasis. `Salesmanship' and `people skills' are the lifelines of a manager. Dynamism, moral integrity, and organizational abilities complete the picture. If it is so, do these traits make him an effective manager? Can he be identified with `managerial effectiveness' per se? Management guru Peter F Drucker gave us the concept of an `effective executive'. Before we proceed further, it is pertinent to examine another concept called `knowledge worker' which again owes its existence to the aforementioned legendary figure. Intelligence, imagination, and knowledge are a great combination and they have little relevance in isolation. It is the effectiveness that converts the synergy of these resources into results. Gone are the days of recognizing efficiency by number crunching or by doing things right, which was the sole prerogative of handful of technical experts in the organization, who were known as knowledge workers. Today `knowledge society' is all pervasive and assumes the proportions of an industry by itself.

However, the peculiarity of knowledge is that it is immeasurable; nor can it be effectively supervised. A knowledge worker gives ideas, knowledge and information for others to convert them into products. His work consists of thinking and producing results in terms of innovation. Effectiveness and being able to achieve, are his motivational forces without which he would be among the `also- rans'. Now every knowledge worker in a present day business situation can be labeled as an `executive' which otherwise implies that an executive has no choice but to be `effective'. An executive is the one who assumes responsibilities for his actions, takes decisions, right or wrong and faces the consequences. The question then arises - "Is every manager an executive?" The answer is: Some managers are, most others are not. They simply manage men, like a foreman of a factory assembly line, who neither has any responsibility nor any decision- making authority. His output is measurable at the end of the day, and hence does not fall under the category of knowledge worker.

Global CEO Magazine, Knowledge Industry, Technological Advancements, Manufacturing Sector, Conducive Environment, Decision- Making Process, Knowledge Industry, Peter Druckers, Organizational Goals, Technical Skills, Cultural Adaptability, International Organizations.