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Book reviews for "Drucker,_Peter_Ferdinand" sorted by average review score:

Adventures of a Bystander
Published in Paperback by Transaction Pub (1994)
Author: Peter F. Drucker
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"Drucker isn't just a bystander, he's more an adventurer."
The Chinese have a proverb "first we have people who can recognise good horses, then we can have 1000-mile horses", suggesting wonderful things are everywhere, it only takes one who can appreciate wonders.

Drucker, in his unlikely autobiography, introduced some interesting and unforgettable characters at his times, entertains, educates and empowers us to think there are always equally interesting and unforgettable souls at our times, and probably at all times.

An enjoyable experience to have read this book, and more enjoyable experience when we can learn from him the passion and depth in appreciate people around us.

highly recommended.

A gem, the best one could hope for in discovering Drucker.
Wonderful and a joy to read for anyone interested in the life and times of one of our best and among our first great management consultants. Drucker's stories are so enlightening in both a historical context and in terms of the develoment of the profession of management. Nothing has so thrilled me in appreciating this short history of western industrial civilization from the eyes of this original thinker. I review 10-20 books a year for different professional management journals but this is one of the most enjoyable as well as educational book I have ever read. Far beyond the work of Tom Peters and other known pundits, this is the work of a man with experience that easily transcends six decades. In a world of rush, rush and fads ad nauseaum this work is full of wisdom. Few other books would satisfy as well for anyone wanting to know about the man, his times and the forces that have created the management profession. Please tell Peter to get this book out to a wider audience and to bring several hundred copies to the 1998 Academy of Management meetings in San Diego this summer and I will try to bring my copy for his signature. This is the one book I have gotten up in the middle of the night to read just for the pure pleasure of reading. In fact last night at 4:30am I had to circle his commentary of "self governing workplace communities" so that in my own work I dont fail to cite the original source of ideas that many of us are researching and talking about today. Peter was only 50 years ahead of the field on this theme and I personally hope he will be around to help us develop these ideas for the next half century. ken

This Bystander helps to shape the future.
I laughed and I cried as I read Adventures of a Bystander. I have always had enormous respect for Professor Drucker, but this book has taken my respect and awe of him to another plateau. To learn how and what Professor Drucker thought as a child and how many momentous decisions he made by the time he was fourteen helps us understand him as a person and the environment from which all of his other works come. My grandmother also grew up in Austria and the "Grandmother stories" brought back very precious memories. Once again, even as a youngster, we see Professor Drucker uncannily knowing what will happen by studying (by living) the events of the times. One cannot really understand and appreciate Professor Drucker and his other works withour reading this book, and yet, reading many of his other works first, made me appreciate Adventures of a Bystander even more.


Fighting for Your Marriage: Positive Steps for Preventing Divorce and Preserving a Lasting Love, New and Revised
Published in Paperback by Jossey-Bass (06 August, 2001)
Authors: Howard J. Markman, Scott M. Stanley, and Susan L. Blumberg
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For Those Who Want to Study Drucker
REVIEW: This book performs a tremendously important task in reviewing and organizing most of teachings found in the public work of Peter Drucker. However, it is not a book for those new to Drucker and it is not aimed at mass market appeal. The author is obviously very knowledgeable about Drucker's work and often adds new insight, but the book has an academic aire and is just plain sterile. The style/tone choosen by the author is an academic one which is totally devoid of the author's personality and opinion. Flaherty wouldn't dare state something that isn't a provable fact. Thus, too many sentences begin with "According to Drucker . . .", or "Drucker maintained . . .", or "Drucker argued . . ." which gets boring quickly and makes for less enjoyable reading.

The book is at its best when it goes beyond organizing the content of Drucker's writings and gives the reader context and additional information. I found this mostly occured in the beginning third of the book when the author injected more of Drucker's personal history and his relationship with others (e.g. Drucker and Sloan). There was just too few of these moments in the book. Despite these limitations, I did find new insights into Drucker. Overall, I'd consider the book an essential for the serious Drucker student only. Others have plenty of other Drucker material to choose from first.

STRENGTHS: A very thorough, analytical look at Drucker's work. I liked the summary list of key concepts ending each chapter. Exhaustively footnoted and indexed. I repeatedly refer to the thorough list of "Published Works of Peter Drucker" at the end of the book.

WEAKNESSES: The book is too academic for my taste. It is totally devoid of the author's opinions and personality. The author has a tendency to use "big" words e.g. "chimerical", "propinquity", "insouciance", "shibboleth", "obsequious") not used by the average person.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Serious students of Drucker who've already read a number of his works. The casual Drucker reader or reader of mass market management/business books should look elsewhere.

ALSO CONSIDER: "Adventures of a Bystander" by P. Drucker (for an autobiographical-like look at Drucker); "The World According to Peter Drucker" by J Beatty (for a biographical look and an overview of Drucker's thoughts); and "The Essential Drucker" by P. Drucker (for a select sample of Drucker's writings).

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Highly Recommended!
Peter Drucker is perhaps the most influential thinker on business and management in the world today, and John E. Flaherty explains why in this in-depth analysis of Drucker's work and ideas. He starts with biographical details and provides a definitive account of Drucker's achievements as a management researcher, thinker, and writer. Flaherty's fascinating book highlights Drucker's contributions to the fields of management and business strategy. Of necessity, the author includes summaries of Drucker's books and quotes from his work. But, reaching a little deeper, Flaherty also shows how Drucker, who began as a social and political theorist, came to create the new academic field of management. Many of Drucker's early ideas are still applicable today, as Flaherty makes abundantly clear in this book, which we [...] strongly recommend to managers of all levels and students of business.

Context and Themes for Drucker's Management Ideas
The book came out after Jack Beatty's excellent book, The World According to Peter Drucker. That ordering of publication was fortuitous for the two authors, and for those who will read their books.

Beatty's book works from the level of the detail, exposing critical sections of Drucker's writings that few will have read. Based on that, many (myself included) found new works of Drucker's to examine. As a result, one's knowledge and understanding grew.

Flaherty's book works from the opposite direction. It begins with the themes and works towards the detail. After being immersed in Beatty's detail and intellectual history approach, this book extends your knowledge in another useful way.

He indentifies the six dominating themes as: (1) a systems approach (2) continuity and change (3) challenge of productivity (4) role of the practitioner (5) moral dimension (6) organization of ignorance.

Anyone who is familiar with Drucker's writings will immediately recognize these themes and recall favorite passages and examples. On the other hand, those who are new to the writings will find them helpful to put Drucker's work in context as the work is learned.

One of the things that amazes all those who know Drucker is the astonishing extent of his knowledge and perspective. He is just as likely to use an example from 1215 as one from 1995. He will refer to the evolution of Japanese art as readily as to the divisionalization of General Motors. Professor Flaherty has a wonderful quote from Drucker that explains that perspective. Drucker defines himself as a " . . . social ecologist concerned with man's man-made environment." Does that sound like any other management thinker you have ever met or read?

As Professor Flaherty points out, almost all management writings draw something from Drucker so these themes will also help you to see the Drucker influence in newer books.

More significantly, these themes are also deeply imbedded in the way almost every manager and executive thinks about managerial tasks and responsibilities. So, you can also connect Drucker to your own thinking and proclivities.

After reading this book, you will probably come away with an expanded and more appropriate understanding of the pervasive and defining influence that Professor Peter Ferdinand Drucker has had on us and our world. Our debt to him can never be repaid.

I congratulate Professor Flaherty on the fine job he has done in this important defining work. For future generations yet unborn, this book will become an important primer into the social effects of Peter Drucker's thinking and life. Even he does not realize how pervasive his influence is. What a wonderful tribute for his 90th birthday!

Use this book to consider how you could create more positive influences on the people who come into contact with you, your ideas, and your ideals.


Silent Pilgrimage to God: The Spirituality of Charles Defoucauld
Published in Paperback by Orbis Books (1977)
Author: Rene Voillaum
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an understanding of modern society
drucker understands the politico-economic realities that drive us all nuts, but he measures it up with magnanimity. the knowledge society--for a knowledge worker his description can actually be somewhat humbling. no more comparing yourself to the laborers as if you've risen above. you depend on others for your living and various forces work against you. i love the way drucker shrugs off government stupidity. he sees through all the hype and hubris, but neither complains nor lectures. ok, sometimes he's a bit dry or bombastic. the originator of the business book style, so cut him some slack.

Discover why the knowledge worker produces growth and Wealth
In Peter Druckers book, "Post Capitalistic Society", he identifies two types of workers: the service oriented worker and the knowledge worker. The knowledge worker produces magnitudes of scale more value to any organization. A knowledge worker represents the "Brains" of an organization. They know how to setup company infrastructure, keep it going, and improve upon its structure.

Capital is not as important as knowledge. Capital by itself does not create wealth, innovation, or increases to productivity. Knowledge produces ideas, innovations, efficiency, and productivity.

A knowledge worker can create a idea without capital, knowledge is brain power. Once the idea is realized, funders provide capital floods transforming the idea into process or product. Knowlege provides an incredible economic company potential. Remove the knowledge worker and growth stops, systems and processes stagnate. Reduce the number of service workers and operations become more efficient. Historically, as service workers number decrease their tasks and output have increased proportionate to their numbers. Basically, the service worker were expected to "Do More with less".

Knowledge represents the whole expertise in domains of finance, information, policy, management, etc.. The knowledge worker generates the "Ideas". Ideas are transformed into processes and systems. Its principles of creativity and credibility which provides trust in the idea. Drucker concludes that knowledge itself is profitable. In the post capitalistic society knowledge produces wealth. Knowledge increase productivity. The sum of knowledge in a domain increases productivity and growth exponentially. Its this radically breakaway phenomenia which knowledge produces providing wealth and growth to an organization.

Knowledge Policy As Root of Economic Stability & Prosperity
Drucker and Toffler agree on one important idea: fiscal and monetary policy is no longer the real driver for national prosperity. At best it is a place-holder, a means of keeping the economy stable. There is a strong element of accountability throughout the book, first with respect to the managers of governments and corporations, and finally with the managers of schools that must ultimately be held accountable for producing students who are competent at both learning and sharing knowledge. For Drucker, the organization of the post-capitalist society must commit itself to being a destabilizer able to change constantly. "It must be organized for systematic abandonment of the established, the customary, the familiar, the comfortable-whether products, services, processes, human and social relationships, skills, or organizations themselves. It is the very nature of knowledge that it changes fast and that today's certainties will be tomorrow's absurdities." So speaketh Drucker of the U.S. Intelligence Community....


Managing in a Time of Great Change
Published in Hardcover by Truman Talley Books (1995)
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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Great even if dated.
Even dated there is something to be learned from this book. Drucker is one of the few people who not only talks about the future of business but clarifies the present business climate. Even when he is wrong about what will happen, which he will be one of the first to say, he is smart enough to admit it and learn from it. Drucker gives solid practical advice and insight to all aspects of business. And more importantly what should be part of business. I give the book a B+ on the StuPage just because of it being dated.

Packed with Knowledge!
Peter Drucker's greatest hits. That's the easiest way to describe this book, which compiles essays written by the ultimate management guru from 1991 to 1994. All of theses essays are about change: changes in the economy, society, business and in organizations in general. Drucker's advice on how managers should adjust to these tectonic shifts centers around the rise of the now ubiquitous knowledge worker and the global economy. As always, Drucker's analysis is far enough ahead of the curve that his 90s-era observations and conclusions are still relevant in the 21st century. We from getAbstract recommend this seamlessly organized book as the perfect introduction to one of the most important management thinkers of his generation.

The best scientific book on managing
Peter F. Drucker 1995 book is the expected counter scientific answer for Managers in a Time of great change. To manage complexity properly in all fields we always have had the need of a good theory so that we can make not only predictions but also controling our changing environment. The Drucker`s theory of Business is based on a fundamental schema he also uses in the most original theory of society we have ever heard. Transcending the traditional dualistic paradigm of dividing society into two sectors, the Public sector or Goverment and the Private sector or Business, Drucker propose a threefold schema, which can be very useful among all in, in those countries in which "the social sector" is a political mean to maintain the control of people at any price. In this sense he is completely right when he says that there are not poor countries, but countries bad administrated. The most important thing with Drucker thought is that is consistent, precise and why not scientific. Today when change is a fashion word this book is a great aid for those leaders interested to take their organization into a new stage of mankind.


Managing for results : economic tasks and risk-taking decisions
Published in Unknown Binding by ()
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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good
This relates good basic, but not necessarily obvious rules for getting results. There is some overlap with other Drucker books. But his stuff is worth reading twice, so I'm not complaining. He does seem to contradict himself, however, when he writes that what he's relating can be learned by most anyone. Then elsewhere he relates how "generals" are quite rare, suggesting leaders are born, not made. So, I'm not quite sure what to think of his take on that. But otherwise, he is the management guru of our time, and worth reading.

The key to understanding the economics of any business!
This book is very unique by its very applicability across businesses and across time. The focus of the book is to explain the economic realities behind business decisions and explain how to go about systematically analyzing your your business result areas, the inferences to draw upon, and the strategies to plan and implement.

The real force of this book becomes apparent by the very applicability of it in today's scenario of great economic and social change. Concepts like the result areas of business, and managing knowledge as the ONLY crucial economic resource of an organization are most relevant today. The book also explicitly details strategies that can be developed depending on each individual organization in times of change.

This book is a great asset to every manager! I recommend it as one of the best and most comprehensive books on business analysis and strategy.


Managing in Turbulent Times
Published in Paperback by HarperCollins (paper) (1993)
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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Still the best
I think Drucker, even after all these years, still stands head and shoulders above the other management gurus, writers, and flash-in-the-pans that we've seen in recent decades. His thoughts and insights are still the most profound in the business and this recent book is no exception.

Gran Libro
es un gran libro, como nos tiene acostumbrados el señor Drucker y les hará muy bien leerlo a los ejecutivos y managers cuyas empresas estan en problemas


The age of discontinuity: guidelines to our changing society
Published in Unknown Binding by Heinemann ()
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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Read it NOW!
Today when we almost fumble to keep ourselves running behind the rapid change this is something helpful.


World According to Peter Drucker
Published in Paperback by Bantam Books (01 January, 1999)
Author: Jack Beatty
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Go to the source
Anyone familiar with Peter Drucker's writings will probably be disappointed with this book. Drucker is a better and more provocative writer. Anyone not familiar with Drucker's writings probably won't appreciate the Drucker "world" and might even be deterred from reading Drucker himself, which would be a shame. The best part of the book discusses Drucker's relationship with Albert Sloan Jr. at GM. The worst part of the book has to be the irritating manner in which Beatty incorporates quotes and fragments from Drucker's writings. At times, Beatty's only contributions seem to be a horde of "ands," ubiquitous ellipses, and trite summations.

The Best Way To Deepen Your Understanding Of Peter Drucker
Jack Beatty has taken on a very difficult task here: Capturing the essence of the world's most successful and prolific business thinker and author. I think that he succeeded very well, and certainly added to my understanding of Peter Drucker's writing. Having read many of Drucker's articles and books, I was astonished to find out how many important works I had missed. I appreciate having Jack Beatty open my eyes. In the year since I first read this book, I have read more Drucker than in the last 20 years. This has been a good benefit from THE WORLD ACCORDING TO PETER DRUCKER. I am one of the people mentioned in the book, during the chapter about Professor Drucker's consulting practice, and I found Mr. Beatty has really captured the essence of the man in a way that no other books or articles do. I salute Jack Beatty for having made a great gift to us all, and urge you to buy, read, and use the book to guide your study of Peter Drucker.

Superb Overview
In this superb, slim 186-page volume, the author manages to capture the quintessence of Drucker's life-work on management. Drucker's neo-Weberian sociology, the search for the moral basis of capitalism, the influence of Schumpeter (the renegade Austrian economist), the roles of European intellectual currents, his spiritual underpinnings in Kierkegaard, and the social context of Drucker's thought and development--all are ably portrayed here, in all the richness of their context. Penetrating, insightful and never blinded by adulation, the book is also extremely well written. I read a chapter a night and was done inside a week. There are only 2 blemishes. First, he is a bit skimpy on some biographical details (*when* was Drucker born, for example?). Secondly, what in the world does "elide" mean? Here's the sentence: "...Drucker's bold reinvention of government...elides the cardinal difference between government and business...--democratic accountability." You can't even infer the meaning of this strange word from its context. Before I was even finished, I was able to use information in this book to choose (and purchase) 3 other Drucker classics. And excellent, valuable read--don't miss it.


Concept of the Corporation
Published in Hardcover by John Day Co (1972)
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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worth to be read
Since it has only words, no graphics. it is really hard to read through. but I have to say, i's opion is great

Historically Very Important - Still Relevant, Parts Outdated
REVIEW: This book has had a tremendous impact on management thinking and practice worldwide. As the first book to take an analytical study of a business corporation (GM) from the inside, many consider it to be the catalyst of the management boom that followed. It is certainly the first book to examine the business corporation as a social structure that brings together human beings for economic and social needs. The book is also a sort of bridge from Drucker's more political and social writings in "The End of Economic Man" and "The Future of Industrial Man" to his later more managerial writings. It is credited with having established management of organizations as a discipline and a distinct field of study. However, as a book originally published in 1946, is it still relevent and worth reading today? Yes, but not for everyone.

Drucker raised many new issues and concepts basic to organizations. For example, he touched upon: dignity and status of the worker, corporate purpose, corporate contribution to and harmonization with community, management compensation and succession, worker training and development, workers as resources not costs, etc. Since new ideas will tend to seep into the popular consciousness over time, many of the ideas he introduced have long since become popularized and accepted (e.g. the benefits of decentralization, suggestion plans, and reengineering). However, there are also a number the concepts which are not fully appreciated today or which we tend to just give lip service. For example, the basic concept of corporations as both economic and social institutions is still not fully appreciated or understood (neither by those on the "right" or the "left"). For me, the book was worth the read for these insights alone. In summary, I very much recommend this book if you've read some of Drucker's other writings and are interested in reading Drucker's founding writings on the corporation as both an economic and social organization. One option you may want to consider is to skip Part II which mostly discusses GM decentralization as a model.

STRENGTHS: Great thinking and understanding from Drucker on corporations as social structures. First thorough analytical look at a business corporation from the inside. Important economic concepts explained too (e.g. monopoly, profit motive).

WEAKNESSES: Some parts are rambling and others more concise. Part II of the book (more specific to 1940s GM and decentralization) is more outdated. Never a graph or equation to help understanding.

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those interested in understanding corporations as both economic and social organizations.

FOR SIMILAR/RELATED TOPICS, CONSIDER: Any of Peter Drucker's other books still in print. "My Years with General Motors" by Alfred Sloan. "Maslow on Management" by Abraham Maslow. "First Break All the Rules" by M. Buckingham & C. Coffman.

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The Last of All Possible Worlds
Published in Hardcover by HarperCollins (1982)
Author: Peter Ferdinand Drucker
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An Unharmonious and Unappealing Quartet
Peter F. Drucker may have gone the way of Southwest Airlines. Just like the low-cost carrier is famous for its no-frills, comical service within its own niche of flying short, profitable routes, Mr. Drucker is considered the founding father of the very recently developed art of effective, result- oriented management. His adventure into the tumultuous world of today's fiction may be akin to Southwest's dangerous foray into the cutthroat business of flying long-distance routes. "The Last of All Possible Worlds" occurs in the world of upper-class European society of the transitional age just before World War I. Central to its story are: the aristocratic Polish Prince Sobieski, a wealthy landowner, businessman, and the Austro-Hungarian diplomat to Great Britain; Hinton, a mathematics historian and an immensely successful banker; and the wealthy Jewish banker Mosenthal. "An Die Musik" completes the quartet. Sobieski's fourth of the novel takes place over only a few days, but seemingly all of the narration is either a look back into his long and eventful past or an insipid description of his daily duties. His dry, dull rise through diplomatic circles, countless one-night stands, and quixotic adventures with two lovers hardly arouses immediate interest, nor does it prove to contribute to the recital of the basic story, if there is any. Throughout the book, terms unfamiliar to most people, including élève, beau sabreur, Doppelgänger, jeune fille, ein Gebildeter Mensch, and even whole sentences (Ce pauvre homme; Je suis Grèque, vous saves, mais j étais née Egypte; Wo mich des Lebens wilder Kreis umstrickt) appear, presumably to express certain thoughts that English is not suitable for. The over-frequent references to European history, such as the Polish Soldier-King Sobieski of the late seventeenth century who freed Vienna from the Turks in 1683 and the Paris Commune of 1871 and the ensuing Prussian siege, would fluster the ordinary, perhaps even the well-educated, reader. Mr. Drucker's proclivity for erudite colloquy is evident in his narrative style. No less puzzling is the portrayal of the mathematical genius Hinton, who figures out his life by studying his mantra of Riemann's saying, "Don't define a problem, organize the set." Through long-winded examinations of three previous situations in which his life took major turns due to the financial scandals those around him had gotten involved in, Hinton discovers what he must do when a prominent English lord he has ties to is caught operating a counterfeiting operation in the French Riviera. Although the underlying thesis and focus of Hinton's struggle to act properly to salvage a bank are quite clear, Mr. Drucker strays off several times into half-riveting, though irrelevant, accounts of minor acquaintances of Hinton such as psychologist Dr. Ferenczi. He proposes the "Oedipus Complex" in which little boys develop libidinous feelings for their mothers and repulse their fathers. Although Mr. Drucker's novel begins like a typical fiction book, with characters engaging in relationships and having adventures, it quickly becomes obvious that he cannot restrain himself from discussing business. There are traces of explanations of the intricacies of banking and managing in Sobieski's section, but it begins in earnest with Hinton. Mosenthal's fourth of the book is filled with references to the Jewish styles of banking and management of Sobieski's estates, not to mention ambitious plans to industrialize backward, rural Austria and Hungary through the development of railways financed by the three men. "An Die Musik" is both a name of portrait of a woman fifty years older than she was in another portrait and a musical composition by Franz Schubert. This last fourth of the book hardly ties together the disparate story of the first three parts, though few, certainly not Mr. Drucker, could have written a conclusion capable of resolving the story. He has proven himself one of the best and most respected thinkers on management and society, but that is as far as he ought to go. Other airlines endangered themselves by leaving their niches, as Southwest may be doing. Mr. Drucker's endeavor into fiction has not been successful; he must stick with his specialty. After all, as he himself would say, "You've got to go with what works."


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