Peter F. Drucker was born in 1909 in the city of Vienna. He remained in Europe where he was born and educated until he was 28. After having banking careers in Germany and England, he went on to seek a career in writing and journalism. It wasn’t until Drucker earned his doctorate in International and Public Law at Frankfurt University in 1931 that he began traveling the world. Drucker left Europe for a variety of reasons. He quoted, “The main problem is Europe has outgrown its social structure. I don’t know any other reason there hasn’t been an upsurge in vitality” (Forbes). Europe’s organizational problems are what led him to tackle the ultimate topic of his career, the principle science of management.
Drucker says, “The manager is the life-giving element in every business. Without his leadership the resources of production remain resources and never become production.” (Drucker, 1954.pp.1). In 1942, he published The Future of Industrial Man (Forbes). In the book, he focused on how the social tasks of community and family were shunned from organizations and business enterprises. The reaction to the book was so profound that in the fall of 1943, General Motors invited Drucker to visit their corporate office and compose an in-depth study of their top management. After viewing GM, Drucker went on to write “Concepts of the Corporation” (Drucker, 1954.pp.73). He coined the term "intellectual integrity" which means, “Having the ability to see the world as it is, not as you want it to be” (Forbes). In many ways, Drucker can be viewed as a social ecologist.
What are Drucker’s predictions for the future? First, he predicts that there will be a backlash against corporate chieftains at the top of the food chain. Second, he predicts that computers are causing management a great deal of harm by making their work more inwardly focused and discouraging less interaction between outside businesses. Third, online colleges are going to replace physical universities and schools. Finally, he predicts that the giant, most successful companies are going to be hard pressed to attract the best and brightest employees mainly because of the corporate cultures. Instead, they will move to medium / smaller companies with a little more personal recognition. Drucker is identified in today’s culture as a “management guru” (Free Press). His teachings are worldly, and his seminars are helping corporate culture adapt into the next century.
Drucker, Peter (1954). The Principles of Management. New York, NY HarperCollins Publishers 1986.
The Free Press, “The World According to Peter Drucker.” (1/03/98). http://www.theatlantic.com/unbound/bookauth/jb1.htm.
Forbes Magazine Online, “Peter Drucker – Still the Youngest of Minds”. (3/10/97) http://www.forbes.com/forbes/97/0310/5905122a.htm.
Written by: Corey Allex