Managing People and organizations: Peter Drucker's Legacy

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Drucker was timely and inopportune at the same time. It is clear that from his

extensive, solid and continual formation there has been born a singular, and at the same time multi-faceted, philosophy, which is deliberately difficult to summarize.

Drucker was one of the first, if not the first, to discover the imminence of this far-reaching change. Precisely because he is not a specialist, he was able to perceive details and nuances that had been missed by the great gurus of management. This is why Drucker is considered to be the forerunner of modern management, as well as other concepts. This book shows the lesser-known side of Peter Drucker as far as his views on his own ideas are concerned. Drucker is most commonly thought of as a management theoretician; undoubtedly this is the most well known dimension of his work. However, Drucker’s aim was also to write about man in his (man’s own) social context. Guido Stein elucidates Peter Drucker's thinking in a way that its relevance for today and tomorrow can be fully comprehended. He challenges the reader to engage personally in deep reflection as opposed to finding a new management "solution" or quick fixes for problems of the day.

"Guido Stein sets out in wonderful detail how Drucker's timeless insights have come to dominate management thinking – even when managers themselves do not realize they are operating under his influence."

"I cannot do better than Drucker's own response to Prof Stein's work: it is both profound and scholarly. You could not wish for a better introduction to Drucker's work."

– Stefan Stern, Management writer, Financial Times

Author Bio

Guido Stein is Professor at IESE, Chairman and CEO of EUNSA, and has extensive experience as a business consultant. Guido Stein has authored books and essays on various subjects and is a regular contributor to the business press. Under the Spanish publisher Gestión 2000 he has published several books including: Managing in Uncertain Times; Success and Failure in the New Economy; To Change or Not to Change, That is the Question; and Management, Leadership and Adventure.

Praise for the Spanish Edition

"Peter Drucker will always be relevant; we should thank Guido Stein for reminding us of this and for bringing us Drucker's ideas undistorted. In these times when the leading business schools of the world focus on the relevance and applicability of corporate knowledge, the thinking of Peter Drucker once again becomes the undisputed reference for those working in this field."

– Pedro Nueno, IESE professor

*****

"The author is sure to become a classic of business literature and this book, his reference work."

– Actualidad Económica

Praise for this edition

In a crisis-ridden world we need to rediscover management as a purposeful function beyond short term objectives and profits. Guido Stein's book contributes to establish orientation and meaning. He achieves this by masterfully re-tracing the fundamental ideas and concepts of Peter F. Drucker, thus making them accessible to the reader in a compact but never superficial way. Guido Stein elucidates Peter Drucker's thinking in a way that its relevance for today and tomorrow can be fully comprehended. He challenges the reader to engage personally in deep reflection as opposed to finding a new management "solution" or quick fixes for problems of the day. I would hope that this book will help experienced managers and executives to rediscover Peter Drucker and above all that it will find its way to the young generation, who are keen to develop a new understanding of management's role in 21st century society.

– Richard Straub,
Founder and President of the Peter Drucker Society Europe