This is the book on how to make a business WORK! I am president of a small company and immediately took the ideas and practices out of this book and applied them to great success. This is not a quick read, and every item will not pertain to each individual person, but the observations presented explained a huge number of obstacles I was facing. If you are trying to manage any form of modern organization, buy this book and spend the time reading it. It made me a huge Drucker fan.

This book is only one of its kind! Written well over years ago, even today it is of utmost relevance to all businesses. Recently we have come across so many "management gurus" who propogate different theories which ordinary business managers cannot relate to. One is never sure what the assumptions have been in such studies, nor does one know the extent of their applicability to the ordinary business.

BUT WITH PETER DRUCKER, YOU ARE ALWAYS SURE!!!

Go for this book if you want to have a real insight into the challenges a company faces and the right questions to ask to overcome those. An absolute must read for anyone serious about business management!

The culmination of Peter Drucker's work. I am glad that 20 years after the book's first publication, a reprint is available. Still very relevant today.

Excellent book on Management.

A compilation of the papers on the contemporary trends and what they indicate for the future as seen by Drucker in the mid-eighties. This revised edition with only slight changes stands good for the economic realities of even today. That's precisely the speciality of this book.

The chapter on economy deals with the economy as seen differently by Keynes and Schumpeter, two contemporary economists of which the latter is not very well known. The concept of Dynamic disequilibrium is elaborated in an easily understandible manner. Also the concept of profit as to be the future cost and the ethical questions attached with profit making are clearly answered.

Cartel theory with relevance to the oil cartel and the developments leading up to the fall of the same is also dealt with.

Chapters on the relevance of unions and their changing role in today's industry, inevitability of automation, need for the rationalisaing the salaries and wages of the blue collar workers, chapters on IBM Tom watson, dependence of Japanese economy on US economy and the exim policies of the successive governments in US and their effect on the competitiveness of US exports all make an interesting read.

The macro perspective one gets after reading the book will enable you appreciate the relevance of the projections and caveats sounded by Drucker long before today's events(and those of the recent past) showed any signs of occurence at all.

Bookstall 99 stands in awe of this collection of expessions of management genius. For a great tool in understanding Drucker as the master of management in America, this is your book. Great reading no matter who you are or what you do.

As the title suggests, the scope of this book is vast. Drucker touches on the mega-trends affecting us ~ as individuals, consumers, students, workers, and voters. Interesting to read, especially since many of his projections of the future (remember this was written in 1989) are surprisingly correct:

1) Politicians in developed countries are increasingly becoming centrist, and function-oriented. Most political debate is focused on the means, not the goal. Chrisma is not needed.

2) The concept of government as the savior of society is dead. Instead, it will offer specific remedies for specific ills. The government cannot run the economy, but just help create the right climate for business, trade, and activity.

3) Society is segmenting into knowledge workers and non-knowledge workers (laborers). This concept runs through all his books.

4) Russia will segment and collapse. This will create imbalance as the majority of Russians are actually Asian and Muslim.

5) The military will continue to be a drag on the economy. Weapons will become increasingly counterproductive as the enemy unknown and elusive. Terrorism will rise, and the military will suffer an identity crisis.

6) The third sector (after the knowledge workers and manual laborers) will be non-profit. This serves a large function in society and provides many of the services once expected from the government. Volunteer hours totalling $150 billion (in imaginary wages).

7) Interest groups will continue to gain political influence. Drucker calls it the "tyranny of the small majority". These single cause minorities will be very vocal and usually against (rather than for) something.

8) In the transnational economy, cheap direct labor will no longer the way to competitiveness (since the portion of direct labor for goods is declining)

9) George Stigler, University of Chicago economist and Nobel prize winner, showed that NOT ONE of the regulations through which the US government tried to control, direct, or regulate the economy has worked. (pg 166)

10) Information based organizations should most resemble an orchestra. Each participant is a specialist and an individual contributor. They have separate responsibility and are expected to handle that work without direct supervision. Things get done, but only if the common objectives (the score) is clear and simple.

In the current world, almost everyone is a specialist. With a minor ailment, a patient may have to visit with several medical professionals before receiving an accurate diagnosis and treatment. Peter Drucker is the exception to that rule when it comes to social, governmental, organizational, and personal trends. He notices what is going on in each area, points out where the current direction is a dead end, and asks clear questions that point us toward creating our own solutions. Although this book was first published in 1989, it is more current now than before. The main reason is that so many of the social, political, organizational, and personal debates and experiments of the last ten years were first framed in this remarkable, ground-breaking work. I recently reread this book, and was struck that I understand what to do with it now much more than I did ten years ago when I first read it. Whether your interest is the Internet, entrepreneurship, lean manufacturing, charitable organizations, having less government, or more personal responsibility, this book is an essential guide. You will enjoy reading his prediction of the end of the Soviet empire only months before it ceased to exist. His crystal ball has been very clear so far. We need this clarity especially now as many of the first initiatives that he proposes have been successfully completed. The design is in this book for deciding what to do now.

This book is a great, but short, biography ont he great Peter Drucker.

Having served on many boards, this no nonsense approach to the "real" work of a board is a must. Too much time and energy is wasted by boards, its members and staff doing non-strategic work. This assessment tool helps to clarify the "real" work.

In spite of a well-crafted selection of essays from Mary Parker Follett's lectures and writings, it is unfortunate that the subtitle of this text may be misleading. The significance of this publication is not that Follett wrote in the 1920's -- or even that she was a prophet of what has been discovered in management to date. The significance of this text is that it may help the reflective practitioner and theoretician create the future of management on a more sound footing than we have accomplished throughout most of this century. As Peter F. Drucker, Warren Bennis and others have pointed out, Follett developed her approach to management on a fundamentally different assumptive base than did her contemporaries. What remains to be articulated is the fundamental character of that contrast and their implications. These questions will not be answered in the commentaries, but there is an implicit invitation to consider the issues. One may find that Follett's assumptions anticipate our own time in its complexity, turbulence, and uncertainty, more adequately than most writers or practitioners who are currently grappling with these sorts of issues. If you are a reflective practitioner or a theoretician, and wish a leg-up on the future, this is a good place to start.

Peter Drucker begins this book by pointing out that there is no science of how to improve executive effectiveness, nor any naturally-occurring effective executives. The redeeming point of this problem is that he argues that executive effectiveness can be learned.

The principles begin with a focus on time management. We can get greater quantities of every other resource we need, except time. Drucker reports that executives spend their time much differently than they think they do and much differently than they would like to. His solution is to begin by measuring how you spend your time, and compare it with an ideal allocation. Than begin to systematically get rid of the unimportant in favor of the important. His suggestions include stopping some things, delegation, creating policy decisions to replace ad hoc decisions, staying out of things that others should do, and so forth. Any student of time management will recognize the list he suggests. One of the best points is to give yourself large blocks of uninterrupted time to do more significant tasks. He also cautions us not to cut down on time spent with other people. If an hour is required, don't try to do it in 15 minutes.

Next, Drucker argues that we should focus on what will make a difference rather than unimportant questions. Otherwise, we will fill our time with motion rather than proceeding towards results.

Beyond that, he points out that we have to build on our own strengths and those of the people in our organization. That is how we can outperform the competition and accomplish much more.

We also need to be systems thinkers, getting to the core of the issue first. If we are weak on new products, we need to work on the new product development process before fine-tuning our marketing. If we reverse the order of these activities, our results will be far less.

Perhaps the best section in the book has to do with executive decision-making, when to make a decision, about what, and what principles to apply. If you only read this section, you would be well rewarded for studying this fine book.

I especially liked the familiar Drucker use of important historical examples to make his points. You'll remember the principles better because the examples are so vivid.

Although this book was written some time ago, it retains the strength of its insight today. Truly , this is a timeless way to achieve greater effectiveness.

You may be concerned about how you are going to learn to apply these concepts. That is actually quite easy. Drucker provides questions in each section that will guide you, step-by-step, to focus your attention on the most promising areas.

If you only read one book about how to improve your personal effectiveness as an executive, you will find this to be a rewarding choice.

One of his classics, and among the few that focuses on the practicioner (the manager) instead of the practice itself (management). Drucker delivers in his classic lucid style, insightful but never pedantic. There are lots of truisms in this book, but the one that stands out is the power of focus -- do one thing at a time. In practice, this is among the hardest things to do for a manager. As owner of a growing consulting firm, I am strecthced in all directions at all times. Applying this simple principle -- focusing on a "rock", as opposed to the "pebbles", not only increased my productivity -- and thus revenues -- but level of personal satisfaction as well. We all know what needs to be done. It's how to get it done (being effective) that's often the problem. Read this book and learn.

The content of this book is very timely and applicable to anyone who is considered to be a 'knowledge worker'. Regardless of title, the knowledge worker really is an executive. Several pages in the first chapter are dedicated to setting up this argument and scoping out the audience.

Drucker is very methodical in laying out his 5 principles of effectiveness. These are the basis for his two arguments in the book - executives must be effective and effectiveness must be learned. In each chapter that supports his principles, he lays the foundation for the principle, builds walls around it with countless real-life examples, and then drives them home with even more real-life examples.

Perhaps the greatest asset within this book is the rich examples that Drucker has provided. He is the oracle of management that has real experience as a strategist and theorist. He has no qualms with hitting common textbook theory head on in his books and has countless examples to back him up.

One drawback is that it can become tiresome to read some parts. Drucker really drives home some points and if you've already got it, you lose appreciation for the extra examples.

Ok, so it's not like reading a Grisham novel, but I promise you will take some valuable nuggets away from this book that can help you in building your career.

REVIEW: It has been said that the non-profit sector has been slow to accept the value of management education and practices basically because of the assumption that "management" means "business management". This book clearly bridges that gap and explains lucidly what makes for achieving non-profit leaders and effective non-profit institutions. The book is not a theoretical work or an academic one. It is rather an extremely practical show-and-tell about being a great manager in a non-profit organization. It is almost a "how-to" but doesn't stoop to the level of the ubiquitus but never effective "10 step program". You will be more effective by absorbing this material.

Drucker has done an excellent job at extracting material from three of his management books: The Effective Executive, Managing for Results, and a little bit of Innovation and Entrepreneurship [Note, these three are available as a collection called The Executive in Action]. The material is presented simply, concisely and is completely targetted to the non-profit sector with many examples including interviews with about 6-7 non-profit leaders. Highly recommended.

STRENGTHS: The book is fairly short, consise, easy to read yet full of great content. Each section includes a brief summary at the end and has at least one interview with a non-profit manager that makes the ideas even more practical.

WEAKNESSES:The book could use some select references to his other works and some graphics. But this is not Drucker's style.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Managers/leaders in the non-profit sector should consider this a must read. Other fans of Drucker that would like a refresher on some of his concepts.

Having sat on the boards of two international nonprofit organizations for decades, I can say that this book could have saved me years of confusion and ineffectiveness, had I come upon it earlier in my career. I am purchasing it for all the people I am mentoring, and highly recommend it as basic but indispensable reading to anyone working or planning on working in the nonprofit sector. Thanks, Peter!

A tremendous book. This book has to be one of the main titles in any library of the non-profit or future non-profit manager. The amount of expertise that Mr. Durcker relates is amazing. His conversational style, as well as conversations are very engaging and easy to read. Although this is not a "pleasure" read, it is pleasurable to read. One never feels preached at or lectured to, just informed by THE MAN!!!

There are many, many inmportant theories that are related in this book. I feel that the for-profit manager can also gather good knowledge reading this book. I also liked the format of the written chapter seperated by the Q & A discussion chapter. The chapter discussion with Philip Kotler and Dudley Hafner were my favorites. There is good, solid advice on management practices, and there are also many items that can be used to improve personal management style. Marketing and "Fund Development" are also presented in a knowledgeable and engaging fashion.

I don't like to talk too much about the contents of a book, but I feel very comfortable telling you that if your are studying to be a non-profit manager, or sharpening your current techniques, then read this book, as well as all the other Peter Drucker books you can. One cannot go wrong with this kind of intelligence. A hearty thanks to you Mr. Drucker....

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!!!.

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.

Forget the fact that the book was written in the 1950s. It is just as relevant today as it was back then. The analysis of decision making and organizational design is pretty good. It's a seminal book worth reading.

I enjoyed reading this book, especially because it focuses so much on anecdotes. I definitely understood Drucker's point that innovation and entrepreneurship come out of changes in the environment.

However, I believe Drucker missed the most important point, which is: What makes someone more able to exploit an opportunity than someone else? For example, he tells a story about how Ray Krok found out about McDonalds, bought it, and made it great. However, I thought he should have focused on why it was Ray Krok, and no one else, who saw the opportunity, rather than how he bought and made McDonalds. It is an entertaining read, but do not expect any lessons on how to be an entrepreneur.

This book is filled with insights about management. Peter Drucker considers innovation and entrepreneurship to be part of the executive's job. Drucker's premise is that the attitudes and skills of a successful entrepreneur can be cultivated and that the search for innovation can be systematized and managed.

This is my pick for the best business book of the 20th century. I have read this book three times, have taken extensive notes on it, and still learn a great deal with each re-reading. Peter Drucker has written many excellent business books, but this one shines. Unlike other books with "entrepreneurship" and "innovation" in their titles, this book does not go through the mechanics of setting or running up a business, but instead focuses on the essence of good business planning and practice.