The Practice of Management

Rating:
Summary: A priceless collection of Drucker's most significant work
Review: For nearly half a century Peter Ferdinand Drucker (1909- ) has inspired and educated managers-and influenced the nature of business-with his landmark articles in the Harvard Business Review. Here, gathered together and framed by a thoughtful introduction from the Review's editor Nan Stone, is a priceless collection of his most significant work.

One of our leading thinkers on the practice and study of management, Drucker has sought out, identified, and examined the most important issues confronting managers, from corporate strategy to management style to social change. Through his unique lens, this volume gives us the rare opportunity to trace the evolution of the great shifts in our workplaces, and to understand more clearly the role of managers in the ongoing effort to balance change with continuity.

Now, these important articles and essays are strategically presented here to address two unifying themes: the first examines "The Manager's Responsibilities" while the second investigates "The Executive's World". Accompanied by an interview with Peter Drucker on "The Post-Capitalist Executive", as well as a thought-provoking preface by Peter Drucker himself, a complete picture of management theory and practice emerges, both as it was and as it will be.

Infused with a perspective that holds new relevance today, these essays represent Drucker at his best: direct, wise and challenging. Peter Drucker on the Profession of Management, sure to be studied, debated, and enjoyed by everyone concerned with management, everyone concerned with management, is a timely offering from one of the most respected and prolific authors to appear in the Harvard Business Review.

At 90, Peter Drucker is, by all accounts, the most enduring management thinker of our time. Born in Vienna, educated in Austria and England, he has worked since 1937 in the United States, first as an economist for a group of British banks and insurance companies, and later as a management consultant to several leading companies. Drucker has since had a distinguished career as a teacher, including more than twenty years as Professor of Management at the Graduate Business School of New York University. Since 1971 he has been Marie Rankin Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at the Peter F. Drucker Graduate School of Management, Claremont Graduate University in California, where he still teaches in the fields of management and business policy. He is the founder of The Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, and has counseled numerous governments, public service institutions, and major corporations.

Drucker is a writer, teacher, and consultant with a long-term business perspective second to none. His twenty-nine previous books have been published in more than twenty languages and span sixty years of modern history beginning with The End of Economic Man (1939) and Managing in a Time of Great Change; Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices; Innovation and Entrepreneurship; The Effective Executive; Managing for Results and The Practice of Management. Nan Stone is the editor of the Harvard Business Review.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but dated...
Review: Having read this book, I really am surprised how many of his ideas have stood the test of time. I'm certain many leading CEO's, CFO's and managers have read Mr. Druckers work.

One thing I found somewhat annoying is the that this book hasn't been updated to reflect the management of the 21st century. There are managers today that wern't even born when this book was published, so it would seem natural to revise it for the modern day manager.

We can not rely solely on ideas of the past, but must constantly strive to create new and inovative methods in our constantly changing economic climate.

Rating:
Summary: The origin of most of today's best sellers
Review: It's really susprising how a book dated 54 can be so modern. Throughout its pages you can see paragraphs that simply are the source of many later killing books. Mac Gregor's theory, Hertzberg's ergonomic factor, the vision of Ted Levitt about marketing myopia, the search for simplicity, the moder concept of ethical behavior of companies and so many others. Really amazing how Drucker already peeked on these points many years ago. what new have all those new gurus been speaking about?.

Nevertheless, the most striking issue it's his lookout for human vertues in managers. Integrity anf character are the main tools of the right manager. We are still on the search for them!!!.

Rating:
Summary: The Most original work on management ever written
Review: Peter Drucker needs no introduction. His works have shaped the management thought and philosophy for the last half a century. What he discusses in this volume, other management thinkers will find only 40 years later. A must read for understanding- What management and business is all about.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant book and still relevant
Review: What can I say about Peter Drucker that hasn't already been said.
Written in 1954 it is as relevant to today's world (perhaps even more so) as it was back then. Fundamentally what strikes me about the Practice of Management is that it advocates a profoundly ethical view of management and the responsibilities of management.
If you walk away with a just a few of the ideas he presents, you will be a better manager:
1) Management by objectives
2) The imporance of having the right "spirit" in an organisation.
3) The need for managers to feel empowered and have all the authority they need to carry out their job.
4) Appropriate rewards for strong performance and the need for censure when performance is weak.
5) Creating an open culture where mistakes are expected and form a basis for future knowledge.
I could go on.
As a final note, Peter Drucker foresaw one of the most remarkable changes in industry - a change that allowed the movement from vertically integrated industries to a distributed supply chain model - and that strong managers would be needed to deal with it.

I would rate this as one of the best buys I have made this year.