Customer Reviews

Managing in the Next Society

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

REVIEW: Drucker tends to write two types of management books. One type is the more practical/"how-to" type of book where he aims directly at improving the effectiveness of managers of all types through their actions. Such books as "Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices" (1974), "Innovation & Entrepreneurship" (1985), "Managing for Results" (1964), and "The Effective Executive" (1967) fall into this category (all of which are still highly relevant). The second type, while still practical, primarily aims at imparting a broader level of understanding of politics, economy, and society (and their trends) to help executives make effective longer-term decisions and shape the future of their organizations. His typical approach in these books is to bring an historical perspective (over decades or even centuries) into understanding the current trends of human activity that are shaping the future. Drucker's "The Age of Discontinuity" (1969), "Managing in a Time of Great Change" (1995), and "Management Challenges for the 21st Century" (1999) are examples of this type. "Managing in the Next Society" (2002) falls into the second category.

The book is actually a collection of articles that Drucker has published from 1996-2001. The basic theme is that it is not the "New Economy" that executives (and all leaders) should be trying to understand it's the "Next Society". The chapters generally touch upon the three major trends that he's identified as shaping the Next Society: the decline of the young population, the decline of manufacturing, and the emergence of the information revolution.

As he did with his very first book "End of Economic Man" in relation to WWII, Drucker is again reminding us that we must first look to understanding society if we wish to understand major historical events/transitions. This thought is summed up best by the title of a chapter about understanding Japan - "It's the Society, Stupid". While that chapter is limited to Japan, I interpreted the book as telling us that we need to understand society in order to understand all major world events and trends. This is especially important after 9/11 when there's a temptation to look at issues through only political, militaristic, or economic lenses.

STRENGTHS: Since the book consists of articles previously published in magazines from 1996-2001, the text is generally concise, interesting, and easy to read. I also loved the way Drucker brings history into some of the chapters (e.g. he covers Luther, Machiavelli, Hamilton, the industrial revolution, slaves, knights, and inventions such as the book, the stirrup, and the longbow).

WEAKNESSES: The downside of a book of articles is that there is a lot of repetition of concepts and phrases and the book is less cohesive and focussed than it could be. However, I didn't find this too serious of a problem. Also, there are no graphics or charts (it's not Drucker's style).

WHO SHOULD READ THIS BOOK: Those executives and leaders (whether in business, politics, or non profits) who are responsible for shaping the future of their organizations.

Despite being a huge Drucker Fan I give this book a four star rating. In saying this, the book was interesting and a good learning process but it didn't cause me to experience a paradigm shift. The Global Economy and the Nation State (ch. 14) saved my rating of the book because it was so insightful. I found much of the book to be filler because a lot of the content can be found in other Drucker books and can be found from chapter to chapter in this book. To put it into perspective, at least four chapters are nothing more than edited interviews with the author that were published in magazines and I kept finding facts / quotes repeated again and again.

Managing in the Next Society by Peter Drucker is the latest book by the author. The book is a collection of articles and interviews by Drucker in recent years. More specifically, chapters in this book have originally appeared in The Economist, Red Herring, Business 2.0., Inc. Magazine, New Perspectives, Foreign Affairs magazine, Viewpoint, Leaders to Leader, Atlantic Monthly, The Wall Street Journal and in the Harvard Business Review. So, while I wouldn't be surprised if Drucker fans have read one or two of these chapters via magazines I would be surprised if any reader has read most of the content before publication of this book.

The book is segmented into four different sections. They are: The Information Society, Business Opportunities, The Changing World Economy and The Next Society. Each section has approximately 60 - 80 pages of text and the book is easy to read, as most Drucker books are.

If you haven't read anything by the author before don't start here. I would personally recommend new readers of Peter Drucker start with The Essential Drucker as it stands as the authors best work (it is a collection of his best works from over 60 years of writing.) Other Excellent works by the author are Post Capitalist Society, The Age of Discontinuity, The Effective Executive & Innovation and Entrepreneurship.

Most of my reviews are in business / economics and I encourage people to read them, whether here on Amazon or at my personal website. If you are interested in economic history book I would encourage everyone to read The Worldly Philosophers by Robert Heilbroner since it is more international in scope and deals with the lives and times of the most famous economists in history. If you are interested in economic development I would encourage you to read Hernando DeSoto's Mystery of Capital but note his lack of focus on corruption in certain countries.

It is a sobering thought.

In his latest book, Peter F. Drucker, writer, lecturer, business philosopher, argues convincingly argues the greatest technological changes of the Information Revolution lie ahead and most of them will have little to do with information.

To illustrate, Drucker retreats to the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. James Watt improved the steam engine in 1776; it was not until 1785 when the engine was harnessed to an industrial operation - the spinning of cloth, that society appreciated its benefits. During the following half century, Drucker notes, output increased and the price of cotton textiles fell 90 per cent.

In short order the great majority of manufacturing processes were mechanized. Yet it was not until the 1820s with the adaptation of the steam engine to land based transportation - the railroad - that society witnessed its first new product. It was without precedent and it transformed the economy, society and politics of its day.

The Information Revolution is standing today at the same doorstep where the Industrial Revolution in 1820, Drucker believes.

Some of the chapters of the book, which are essays or articles that have been previously published, deal with management topics; some do not. Although none offers a cure-all, it remains a management book. The societal and social changes will dominate the executive's thinking for the next 10 to 15 years. His or her response, Drucker says, may be more important for the success or failure of their organizations than their response to any economic event.

Peter Drucker integrates modern information technology with the
business and organizational dynamics of the present and future.
For instance, he explains how E-Commerce is to information
services as the rails were to the Industrial Revolution.
For sure, we are in the throes of a modern information revolution
according to Drucker. People can purchase autos by E-mail
through CarDirect and commerce is growing exponentially on
E-bay. According to Drucker, the new economy is not here yet; however, it is approaching like a speeding train. The author
cautions us not to reject the unexpected success because it
may not be an outgrowth of your earlier planning. Drucker
encourages companies to develop and reward the entrepreneurial
spirit. He indicates the importance of preserving autonomy
in institutions. In addition, he cites strategies for dealing
with fragmentation in organizations. The present and future
work force will consist of knowledge workers having vastly different perspectives than employees of the past. This book
is perfect for anyone daring to peer into the future of
organizational dynamics.

In this book, Peter F. Drucker provided his assessment of social, economic, and organizational developments of the near future. It might be tempting to discount this important work as just another set of predictions. Yet, coming from Drucker, the insights contained in this book are realities rather than possibilities. The book is about our future, as it is clearly seen by a brilliant visionary-the future, which is described to us with the patience and repetition of a great teacher, so we can internalize and begin to act on its implications even before the rest of us are able to distinguish its features.

This is my first book by Peter Drucker and I regret not reading him earlier! This man thinks differently and offers tremendously enlightening perspective about the past, the present, and the future of business. He is now 90 years old and has been a notable intellectual figure for almost 70 yrs. His advice and outlook, therefore, is unique and invaluable because it is based on at least 70 years of top notch analysis. It is also somewhat amusing when he reminiesces about his old days (like the 1930s) when the widespread usage of the telephone in the office was considered a productivity breakthrough.

I am now convinced that if you really want to understand business, then you must read Peter Drucker. This man is THE guru among the business thinkers for a reason.

What makes me think deeply from this book is the criticism Mr. Drucker writes about the first world modern states. According to his point of view, they are already lagged in the race for being fitted to the new society and the social changes coming up from the new technological wave. If this is the present situation of the best national states, what could we say about the perspectives of the latin american nation-states?.

The globalization creates ties among many firms and people who don't have their national states as a major intermediation. But the other face of the same process is the fragmentation that happens inside the countries. Mr. Drucker does not outline ideas about the fragmentation process, the other side of the coin, the shadow of the globalization process. This reality does not include all people. The exclusion of some from the benefits of the new model of creation of wealth has political consequences. In the fisrt world, with their bureaucracies, long stablished political parties and rich welfare-states, it will be possible the handling of all undesirable consequences of globalization. With the political ground stable enough, the first world should be able to continue allocating its resources, public and private, well, in an ever changing environment. But what about the latin american nation-states?, they don't have political systems with sufficient legitimacy to produce major consensus and improve the performace of the public policies, at the same time that petty private interests are hold back. And, in addition, they lack the financial resources that come from a fully industrialized economy to face the same kind of problems, but at a higher scale.

I recommend this book to every top latin american politican. The future of business and society will depend more than ever on good enough national states and public policies.Every latin american political elite has the opportunity to show how useful they are. And please, don't blame markets, nor selfish and shy investors, neither unfair trade policies. We know that there are some troubles about them, but they are not as important as the flaws of our national states.

This is an insightful book as one always expects from Drucker, though it is by no means his best. I listened to the abridged audio version on CD so that is the edition of this review. Managing in the Next Society is loaded with statistics that are usually very applicable to the topic, but I found the topics to be somewhat disjoint at times - difficult to see where some large sections are going as they progress and an overall theme is difficult to discern at times. Some of this may be owing to the abridged version I listened to, but I believe it may be a more pervasive issue with this book and its topic, which is difficult to consistently organize.

Drucker uses a historical perspective to clarify where he sees our current management practice and what lies ahead in the 21st century, especially as it relates to the transformation of society. He is brilliant at this and the book is very interesting in these parts. Drucker emphasizes four areas as the book progresses in its rather wandering manner:

1. Information Revolution - The outside world has the key information, not IT systems. The Internet flattens many previous hierarchies empowering most everyone to be a knowledge contributor and consumer. Though our current pace seems unprecedented, Drucker shows pretty convincingly it is not moving any faster (and perhaps a little slower) than previous revolutions for business and society such as the steam engine. Another example, our accounting system of debits and credits is still essentially a 400 year old information design which speaks to its genius, but also to its limitations and potentially stranglehold on how we address business transformation. Accounting systems show how money came in and where it was spent, but does not close the loop to show why the spending led to more or less income. I found this intensely interesting and useful to think about. Nevertheless, IT is not the predominant driver of change in the future; global social transformation and the breaking down of failing institutions is. IT will be their handmaiden.

2. Rise of social non-profits to fill gaps not filled by government and corporations. Our non-profits today are largely failing us because they are not managed to objectives like a corporation. Instead of profit they will manage to fulfillment of visions which help an increasingly diverse and complex society. They will be vitally important and need a significant overhaul in management application.

3. Rise of the knowledge worker. No surprises here, but there are some useful insights and perspective. Knowledge workers are not solely, and perhaps not primarily, motivated by money in the next society. Respect for their accomplishments in their field and an increasing sense of community with those who share their passions will be increasingly apparent. For example, today a knowledge worker in one company often feels more kinship to a person far away doing exactly the same job, than they do to their own supervisors/executives. There will be more of the same and since Knowledge workers minds ARE the wealth creating capital in the next society, their desires will not be denied so easily as previous generations of workers who swapped time for money.

4. Diversification and specialization of corporate divisions, management break-up of the corporate concept. The benefits of outsourcing for risk management, flexibility and concentration on differentiation will be too great too ignore. Surviving companies will be those who know how to outsource nearly everything and manage it all globally. The ability to be unique in the global marketplace is the top priority. Top management is the company; all else is outsourced through a network of rapidly assembled and deconstructed suppliers for whatever the current aim is. Only key employees, money and public relations will be directly controlled by the corporation. Even research and other functions thought to be central can now be shown to have superior results when left to outside specialists given proper directives. (Personally, I think this may eventually be the future, and I know some can do this now - but this is so far from most of the corporations I know today, only a starkly Darwinian process could force this on most of them. I think that is what Drucker envisions. It will be interesting to participate in.)

Other topics I found interesting
- Drucker is faintly critical of the "Virtual Money" which has come about through massive currency trading. He brilliantly articulates a question that has nagged me for some time. When a currency trader profits 0.64% on millions or billions of currency in one day, for his clients, what benefit did anyone else get? Is this healthy economics for wealth to be generated when no goods or services were exchanged, no one employed on any continent, not even for a day? What is that economically? And what is its impact when its volume is rivaling that of the "real" economy? I think this is a mess but I am not enough of an economist to be truly constructive about it.

- As mentioned earlier, the book closes with the demotion of IT. "New institutions, theories, ideologies and problems" will be what defines the next society, not IT.

- There is a long section on how Japan's society was mishandled through bungling intervention by their government. This section is too long but is relevant to how capital economies and societies interact. Shorter examples of government economic policies are also mentioned occasionally.

Good book, not great.

Peter Drucker was the father of the post war business revolution.And his every books will stand the test of time as he shaped modern business practises from Watson to Ford to Gates.With due respect, this book is just a reflection of the genius who still sparkles sporadically with his genius thoughts and this book is mediocre..by the standards that Drucker set in his haydays...

A compilation of articles and Interviews, each chapters and sections have no relationship to the title of the book and excessive importance given to Japan and hardly any reference to India and China makes it irrelevant..And US's foreign policy messups /Sep11 did not exist then.Yet think about his predictions on Japan on many fronts ( ex:Bureacracy) and replace Japan with India/China and you have the answer..

Skip this book and go on to other Drucker's book written 25 or 30 years earlier when he was still relatively young.Read Ram Charan, Prahalad's book for latest business wisdom as well

This book is an interesting collection of chapters, interviews and ideas by Drucker. There are a handful of good ideas, but as a whole, the book is disjointed and no clear point or argument is raised. While it is good fodder for quotes, don't expect to emerge with any great ideas or new perspectives.