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1994-95: REVIEW AND OUTLOOK : ‘94/’95 TRENDS : Need the Keys to ‘95? Try These : Future Fear: Turn It Into Strength, Hope

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JUDY B. ROSENER is a professor in the Graduate School of Management at UC Irvine

As 1994 was ending, we asked the distinguished members of the Times Board of Advisers to peer ahead into the new year and assess the prospects for the world, national, state and urban economies--and to offer their advice to business people and public leaders for 1995.

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A major issue for all executives in 1995 will be how to manage fear. Men and women who never before worried that they might be unemployed now do. The belief that moving from job to job or up a career ladder was only a matter of time, education, experience or hard work no longer has merit.

The sense of fear is understandable, since managers around the world are living in an environment in which there are no precedents or tested models as guideposts.

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Fear tends to generate behaviors contrary to those needed in times of change--cautiousness instead of innovation, unwillingness to take risks instead of a willingness to fail, the hoarding of information rather than the sharing of knowledge.

So converting fear into hope and confidence will be a central managerial challenge for 1995.

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