Innovation and Entrepreneurship: Practice and Principles [Hardcover]

Peter Ferdinand Drucker (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1985

Peter Drucker's classic book on innovation and entrepreneurship

This is the first book to present innovation and entrepreneurship as a purposeful and systematic discipline that explains and analyzes the challenges and opportunities of America's new entrepreneurial economy. Superbly practical, Innovation and Entrepreneurship explains what established businesses, public service institutions, and new ventures need to know and do to succeed in today's economy.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

'On bookshelves crowded with books on management principles and practice and promising success and profit to their purchasers, this book stands head and shoulders above the rest.'
The Accountant's Magazine
'Destined to become a best-seller.'
CBI News
'Drucker now adds Innovation and Entrepreneurship to the remarkable series of books about management that he has been writing since 1939. Any book by Drucker is rewarding, and it is impossible to read the man without learning a lot'.
Fortune
--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Peter F. Drucker is considered the most influential management thinker ever. The author of more than twenty-five books, his ideas have had an enormous impact on shaping the modern corporation. Drucker passed away in 2005.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 277 pages
• Publisher: Harpercollins; 1st edition (April 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060154284
• ISBN-13: 978-0060154288
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (43 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #69,768 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) was considered the top management thinker of his time. He authored over 25 books, with his first, The End of Economic Man published in 1939. His ideas have had an enormous impact on shaping the modern corporation. One of his most famous disciples alive today is Jack Welch. He was a teacher, philosopher, reporter and consultant.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Framework For Innovation, November 13, 2006

By 

Dustin Bouch (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Paperback)

Innovation and Entrepreneurship is a good resource for categorizing and identifying sources of innovation. Drucker does an excellent job of organizing the key elements involved in innovation and there is a fair amount of real world examples that help the reader understand the concepts. However, most books on this topic usually leave me asking for more concrete examples of the execution of the topics laid out here, and this book is no exception. Innovation and Entrepreneurship is more about creating a framework for innovation that can be used to compartmentalize current practices and shed light on their origins. Drucker accurately points out that the least likely sources of innovation are from new knowledge and bright ideas. The insight into this alone, makes the book well worth reading. If you are looking for a way to categorize and identify the most effective sources of innovation in an effort to budget the research efforts in you corporation, I highly recommend this book. If you are an entrepreneur looking for new sources, you might me better off looking elsewhere, such as Clayton Christensen's The Innovator's Dilemma.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I fully concur: 1st book to present innovation & entrepreneurship as a purposeful & systematic discipline!, September 30, 2006

By 

Lee Say Keng "KNOWLEDGE ADVENTURER/TECHNOLOGY... (Ho Chi Minh City/Singapore) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Paperback)

I am very gratified to note that this wonderful book is still around & is being re-released as a new print. I read it when it was first published in the mid-80s. I remember that I had reread it during the early 90's when I had just started my own consultancy business.

I fully concur that this book is the first book to present innovation & entrepreneurship as a purposeful & systematic discipline. The book concists of three major parts:

- Part I: The Practice of Innovation;
- Part II: The Practice of Entrepreneurship;
- Part III: Entrepreneurial Strategies;

According to the author, entrepreneurial strategies are as important as purposeful innovation & entrepreneurial management. Together, they make up innovation & entrepreneurship.

What I like most about the book is the author's clear definition & concise elaboration of innovation as a disciplined business practice. He makes a very clear distinction: "Business, because of its purpose, has just two functions, & only two: MARKETING & INNOVATION. Marketing & Innovation make money. Everything else is a cost."

Best of all, he also provides some general guidelines for identifying innovative opportunities.

As a matter of fact, in Part I of the book, he describes the seven sources for innovative opportunities. Each of these seven sources are systematically covered in a specific chapter. For all entrepreneur-wannabes out there, understanding these 'innovative secrets of success' alone is worth the price of the entire book.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forget about that MBA - buy this book and read it!, February 19, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Paperback)

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.