29 - 30 NOVEMBER 2018 - IMPERIAL PALACE VIENNA
management . the human dimension

The Drucker Forum on Nov 29 and 30 is now fully booked,
except for a limited number of places on Nov 30 only.

You can still join the Drucker Forum via pay live stream,
and/or attend the Vienna Innovation Leadership Summit (VILS) on November 28, 9:00 - 13:00.

LIVE Stream FORUM NOV 30 VILS NOV 28

What we really need is
a business reformation.

Charles Handy, Social Philosopher
Closing Address at the 9th Global Peter Drucker Forum 2017

VIDEO

ARTICLE

Introduction to the Drucker Forum 2018

by Richard Straub

"What would robots do if humans took over?"* The joky question posed by Shagun Tripathi at the Global Peter Drucker Forum 2017 raises a fundamental issue. It prompts us to remember that the economy, technology, business and government are not givens – they are shaped by human choice. Yet it also forces us to recognize that the human perspective has been increasingly sidelined in the way we think about and enact the relations between technology and society, leaving the most precious, human, potential undervalued and underused. "Taking over" means actively shaping the organizations of the future and taking on a different mind-set: Should leaders in the 21st century become as good in understanding the human dimension as they are in grasping the latest scientific discovery, technology or management technique? Should they be able to frame challenges differently and ask different questions? At best, should we more actively manage the creation of our own future?

The relentless encroachment of machine intelligence into domains that were previously human raises important issues around the role of individuals in decision making, improvisation in the face of sudden events, and innovation. Likewise, the disruption of existing structures by the platform economy brings pressing questions of coherence and a new social settlement for the future into the frame. What are the consequences for the learning and competencies of 21st century managers? How can strategy be developed, and work reliably performed in a age when pressure and instability are constant and increasing?

All today’s institutions and organizations face a similar challenge by turning needs into value for others, for themselves and wider society. Can we do that through the application of “hard” technocratic logic – or do we need a fundamental reset, as Charles Handy powerfully suggested at the 2017 Drucker Forum? What place do we give to the human in organizations? What are the new role models? The answers will have profound consequences for the practice of management and the type of leaders required for our institutions.

Aristotle defined three dimensions of human intelligence: episteme (intellect), techne (craft) and phronesis (practical wisdom and ethical values). In management they correspond to what we would call the “what”, the “how” and the “why”. Of course, managers must deliver performance – Peter Drucker was firm about that – yet at the moment humanity too often suffers as companies measure human capital as a cost rather than an asset. Reasserting the human dimension means above all asking the “why” questions that enable us to ponder deeply who we are, what we do and where we should be going. We may need to reframe issues beyond narrow positions; and reconcile apparently conflicting stances to create common ground. Bearing direct responsibility for confronting these issues in the workplace, management can light the fire – and must do it now, before it is too late.

FORUM VENUE 2018

IMPERIAL PALACE
VIENNA

Read more about the historical location

THE VENUE

SPEAKERS AND CHAIRS 2018 INCLUDE

Alex

Adamopoulos

Chief Executive Officer, Emergn Limited

Tim

Brown

President and CEO, IDEO

Dorie

Clark

Marketing strategist; Adjunct Professor of Business Administration, Fuqua School of Business, Duke University

Claudio

Fernández-Aráoz

Senior Adviser, Egon Zehnder

Marshall

Goldsmith

Business Educator & Executive Coach

Lynda

Gratton

Professor of Management Practice, London Business School

John

Hagel

Co-Chairman, Deloitte & Touche Center for the Edge

Gary

Hamel

Professor, London Business School;

Director of the Management Innovation eXchange

Hermann

Hauser

Serial entrepreneur; Director, Amadeus Capital Partners; Chair, European Innovation Council High Level Group of Innovators

Sally

Helgesen

Womens’ Leadership consultant and author

Andrew

Hill

Management Editor, Financial Times

Linda A.

Hill

Professor of Business Administration, Chair of the Leadership Initiative, Harvard Business School

Xavier

Huillard

Chairman and CEO, VINCI Group

Adi

Ignatius

Editor in Chief, Harvard Business Review Group

James P.

Keane

President and CEO, Steelcase Inc.

Isabelle

Kocher

CEO Engie

Philip

Kotler

S.C. Johnson & Son Professor of International Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University

Gina

Lodge

Academy of Executive Coaching (AoEC)

Roger L.

Martin

Institute Director, Martin Prosperity Institute, Rotman School of Management

Mariana

Mazzucato

Chair in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value; Founder and Director, The Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, University College London