Drucker our contemporary
by Stefan Stern

Posted on 2 CommentsPosted in 4th Global Peter Drucker Forum

Economic crisis, political uncertainty, the dangers of extremism: these things haunt us today just as they shaped and influenced Peter Drucker many decades ago. Out of the tumult of the 1930s and 40s emerged the steady voice of the original and best management guru. What would he be saying now?   As the British politician Nye Bevan once asked: “Why look into the crystal ball when you can read the book?” Drucker, of course, left dozens of books for us to study. But in spite of his impressive output we seem to have lost sight of some of his timeless ideas. How many meetings that you attend begin with an agenda and the word “objectives” […]

The Gaming of Games
Roger L. Martin

Posted on 3 CommentsPosted in 4th Global Peter Drucker Forum

I have to admit that the thing I like most about Peter Drucker is how often he said things that were dismissed at the time as improbable, extreme or even wacko and 25 years later were considered so obvious that they are assumed to have always been the case. In 1954, he told managers that they should sit down with their direct reports every year and establish objectives by which they will be managed.  Sounded farfetched in 1954 but now you would be considered incompetent if you didn’t manage by objectives. In 1966, he told the business world that its important players would soon be ‘knowledge workers’ not the physical workers that it was used […]

The Revolutionary Tenets of Management 2.0
Steve Denning

Posted on 1 CommentPosted in 4th Global Peter Drucker Forum

Revolutionary changes in the basic tenets of management are under way. Roger Martin has described the overall transition from shareholder value (making money) to customer capitalism (delighting the customer). For firms to navigate the transition to the new ecosystem of “Management 2.0”, they must master five fundamental shifts:   1. The management mindset 2. The role of managers 3. The way work is coordinated 4. The values practiced and 5. The way people communicate.   Five fundamental shifts in management practice   Shift #1: Management mindset: From inside-out to outside in To accomplish the transition to customer capitalism, reflecting the shift in the balance of power in the marketplace from seller to buyer, firms must […]

Can Europe Become an Entrepreneurial Society?

Posted on 4 CommentsPosted in 4th Global Peter Drucker Forum

In his landmark book Innovation and Entrepreneurship, published in 1985, Peter Drucker described the tectonic shift that he perceived in its early stages—the move from an employee society toward an entrepreneurial society. This shift was, and still is, being driven by unstoppable forces such as changing demographics and ever-hastening advances in information and communication technology.   As Drucker lays out what this new society should look like, he builds upon another great thinker of Austrian origin, Joseph Schumpeter, who had positioned the entrepreneur at the heart of capitalism – as the life force of a market-based, competitive, dynamic and wealth-creating economy. The question for Europe is: Has this sea change happened? Have we seen enough […]

“Capitalism 2.0 Leadership and Paradox Management”
Guest Blog Post by Stephen Rhinesmith

Posted on 10 CommentsPosted in 4th Global Peter Drucker Forum

The globalized world of 2012 is locked in a debate about the appropriate role of corporations. Should corporations continue to have as their primary purpose the maximization of “shareholder value,” (Capitalism 1.0) or should they also be concerned also about creating “shared value” for the societies in which they operate and the world as a whole? (Capitalism 2.0). Ultimately this is a paradox that leaders at all levels of society will need to be committed to recognize and manage.   The key aspect of a management paradox is that it contains two equally valid, but contradictory viewpoints which need to be managed over time so that neither one is totally neglected. Work-family balance is one […]