Humanistic Management into Practice: What Should a Humanistic Manager Do?

This chapter aims to highlight the managerial implications for companies and the actionable steps that managers should take. Today, in an economical context characterized by polycrisis, inflation, hypercompetition, and digitalization, companies are more than ever looking for growth. This growth will probably come from the marketing activities and orientation of the company. As Prof. Kotler suggested some years ago, the acronym of CMO should be transitioned to CGO (Chief Growth Officer). This is a humanistic manager able to drive sustainable growth and innovation thanks to an ambidextrous approach that combines the human beings (physical world) with technology (digital world). In this sense, the humanistic manager can embrace technological development—such as AI and XR—while integrating it with human touch to enable more efficient—but still human—relationships. At the same time, the humanistic manager embraces a B2B, but also B2C, B2B2C, and even service orientation. In fact, a humanistic manager is able to recognize that companies should offer “extended value propositions” that include products, services, experiences, and solutions. Many companies seem to have an intrinsic human-oriented DNA, but this is not sufficient; managers are compelled to generate a new mindset. The H2H mindset entails different logics among which touch and tech integration, agility, and experimentalism and empathic approach. In relation to this last point, H2H firms have demonstrated commitment to all their stakeholders (customers, suppliers, employees, partners, and society) making sure that they are all treated equally and first of all they are all perceived as human beings.