Honoring towering thinkers who left us

We are saddened to report the loss over the New Year of three much esteemed friends and supporters of the Drucker Forum. Their advice and above all friendship and kindness will be sorely missed. On December 13, the irreplaceable Charles Handy left us in his 93rd year, his legacy honored in a special newsletter. He was followed in January by Peter Starbuck, Drucker archivist and analyst who offered profound insights into Peter Drucker’s life and work. Most recently, Ikujiro Nonaka, the renowned professor and honorary fellow of the Drucker Society Europe, passed away. Professor Nonaka’s ground-breaking work on knowledge and its management aligns closely with Drucker’s vision of the knowledge society. More information on their contributions can be found below.

CHARLES HANDY

PETER STARBUCK

IKUJIRO NONAKA

While we mourn the loss of these mentors and guides, their memory inspires us in our efforts to shape a new future for management. As we push ahead with The Next Management Initiative, spanning five years, the work of these great thinkers will be there to illuminate our path forward. The Next Management offers us a lens to look at management not by specific subject areas but to provide a holistic and comprehensive perspective across management disciplines and institutional settings. Well managed institutions are a prerequisite for a functioning society. This is where the ideas of Peter Drucker and those of recent Nobel laureates Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson converge.

This year’s Forum, with the theme “Next Era Leadership – All Hands on Deck”, will mark another chapter of our The Next Management journey. At the same time, it provides us with the opportunity to celebrate the lives and contributions of these trusted counsellors who, while now regrettably absent in person, leave us their wisdom as a lasting source of inspiration.

The Drucker Forum Team