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The Peter F. Drucker Reader: Selected Articles from the Father of Modern Management Thinking
The best of Peter F. Drucker’s articles on management, all in one place.
That “management” exists as a concept, a practice, and a profession is largely due to the thinking of Peter F. Drucker. For nearly half a century, he inspired and educated managers—and powerfully shaped the nature of business—with his iconic articles in Harvard Business Review.
Through the lens of Drucker’s broad vision, this volume presents an opportunity to trace the great shifts in organizations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—from manufacturing to knowledge work, from career-length employee tenures to short-term contract relationships, from command-and-control structures to flatter organizations that call for new leadership techniques.
These articles also offer a firm and practical grasp of the role of the manager and the executive today—their responsibilities, their relationships, their decisions, and detailed processes that can make their work more effective.
A celebrated thinker at his best, in this volume Drucker paints a clear and comprehensive picture of management thinking and practice—both as it is and as it will be.
This collection of articles “What Makes an Effective Executive,” “The Theory of the Business,” “Managing for Business Effectiveness,” “The Effective Decision,” “How to Make People Decisions,” “They’re Not Employees, They’re People,” “The New Productivity Challenge,” “What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits,” “The New Society of Organizations,” and “Managing Oneself.”
That “management” exists as a concept, a practice, and a profession is largely due to the thinking of Peter F. Drucker. For nearly half a century, he inspired and educated managers—and powerfully shaped the nature of business—with his iconic articles in Harvard Business Review.
Through the lens of Drucker’s broad vision, this volume presents an opportunity to trace the great shifts in organizations in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries—from manufacturing to knowledge work, from career-length employee tenures to short-term contract relationships, from command-and-control structures to flatter organizations that call for new leadership techniques.
These articles also offer a firm and practical grasp of the role of the manager and the executive today—their responsibilities, their relationships, their decisions, and detailed processes that can make their work more effective.
A celebrated thinker at his best, in this volume Drucker paints a clear and comprehensive picture of management thinking and practice—both as it is and as it will be.
This collection of articles “What Makes an Effective Executive,” “The Theory of the Business,” “Managing for Business Effectiveness,” “The Effective Decision,” “How to Make People Decisions,” “They’re Not Employees, They’re People,” “The New Productivity Challenge,” “What Business Can Learn from Nonprofits,” “The New Society of Organizations,” and “Managing Oneself.”
- GenresBusinessManagement
184 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 15, 2016
24 people are currently reading
101 people want to read
About the author
Peter F. Drucker
578 books1,980 followersPeter Ferdinand Drucker was a writer, management consultant and university professor. His writing focused on management-related literature. Peter Drucker made famous the term knowledge worker and is thought to have unknowingly ushered in the knowledge economy, which effectively challenges Karl Marx's world-view of the political economy. George Orwell credits Peter Drucker as one of the only writers to predict the German-Soviet Pact of 1939.
The son of a high level civil servant in the Habsburg empire, Drucker was born in the chocolate capital of Austria, in a small village named Kaasgraben (now a suburb of Vienna, part of the 19th district, Döbling). Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, there were few opportunities for employment in Vienna so after finishing school he went to Germany, first working in banking and then in journalism. While in Germany, he earned a doctorate in International Law. The rise of Nazism forced him to leave Germany in 1933. After spending four years in London, in 1937 he moved permanently to the United States, where he became a university professor as well as a freelance writer and business guru. In 1943 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at New York University as a Professor of Management from 1950 to 1971. From 1971 to his death he was the Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate University.
The son of a high level civil servant in the Habsburg empire, Drucker was born in the chocolate capital of Austria, in a small village named Kaasgraben (now a suburb of Vienna, part of the 19th district, Döbling). Following the defeat of Austria-Hungary in World War I, there were few opportunities for employment in Vienna so after finishing school he went to Germany, first working in banking and then in journalism. While in Germany, he earned a doctorate in International Law. The rise of Nazism forced him to leave Germany in 1933. After spending four years in London, in 1937 he moved permanently to the United States, where he became a university professor as well as a freelance writer and business guru. In 1943 he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He taught at New York University as a Professor of Management from 1950 to 1971. From 1971 to his death he was the Clarke Professor of Social Science and Management at Claremont Graduate University.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 2, 2025
Takeaways from reading the book:
What makes an effective executive:
Page 1: He or she searches for opportunities more than for problems.
Pages 1 and 2: He or she finds out what what is the right thing to do for the company.
Page 1 and 2: He or she finds out what needs to be done.
Page 1: He or she uses "we" more than "I".
Pages 1 and 5: He or she leads meetings that are productive
- Follows up on what is to be done.
Pages 1 and 6: He or she develops action plans.
- Checks results against plans.
Pages 1 and 4: He or she takes responsibility for communicating
- Gets inputs to action plans from all relevant people.
Pages 1, 4 and 7: He or she takes responsibility for decisions
- Delegates decisions to people who know the most.
- Defines who is responsible for doing what.
- Defines by what date things will be done.
- Defines from whom inputs need to be received.
- Defines who must be informed.
- Corrects decisions when necessary.
The theory of the business:
- Page 25: Challenge every product, service, and every distribution channel by asking the question: If we were not doing this already, would be do it now?
- Page 26: Find out what noncustomers need.
Managing for business effectiveness:
- Page 33: Analyze opportunities and costs. Find out what has the largest result potential.
- Page 33: What 10% will produce 90% of the results?
- Page 37: What actions will produce the best results with the least resources?
- Page 38: What small improvements will strongly increase results?
- Page 40: What do we start doing? What do we stop doing?
The effective decision:
- Page 57: Start out with what is right.
- Page 58: No decision has been made unless carrying it out in specific steps has become someone's work assignment and responsibility. Until then, it is only a good intention.
How to make people decisions:
- Page 69: Find out what strengths a person has, and whether those strengths fit the work that the person will do.
- Page 70: Talk to people who worked with the person.
- Page 71: After a person has worked for 3 months, ask the person to write down what he or she has to do to succeed.
They are not employees, they are people:
- Page 83: Not all people, who make contributions to organizations, are employees. For example, some are temporary contributors. Others are formally retired employees who continue to contribute in various ways.
- Page 84: Knowledge workers have become major creators of wealth and jobs.
- Page 85: The system needs to serve knowledge workers - not the other way around.
- Page 85: Knowledge workers are capital, not labor.
The new productivity challenge:
- Page 89: To measure productivity, divide the output by the inputs needed to create the output. The fewer resources it takes to create the same amount of output, the higher the productivity. For the last 120 years, the productivity of making and moving things has been increasing at 3% to 4% per year.
- Pages 91 and 94: The easiest productivity gains come from defining the task and eliminating what does not need to be done.
- Pages 91 and 99: To increase productivity, find out a) how important quantity is for doing what works for the user and b) how important quality is for doing what works for the user.
- Page 93: Whether capital, technology and tools help increase productivity depends on how people use them to create outputs.
- Page 101: Frederick Taylor was criticized for never once asking workers he studied how they thought their work could be improved. Taylor considered both managers and workers "dumb oxen."
What business can learn from nonprofits:
- Page 105: In the United States of America, more than 80 million people work without getting paid. If they were paid, their wages would amount to at least USD 150 billion per year. The nonprofit sector is by far the largest employer in the US.
- Page 111: Nonprofit directors tend to have a personal commitment to the organization's cause. For example, few people are members of a school board, unless they care deeply about education.
- Page 112: Each member of the Harvard University board of overseers is assigned as a "visitor" to one area of the university, for example the medical school. The "visitor" acts both as a source of knowledge and as a critic of its performance.
- Page 113: It is routine that board members of nonprofits go through systematic training.
- Page 114: Of the 730,000 people, who work for the Girl Scouts, 6,000 people get paid.
The new society of organizations:
- Page 123: It is a safe prediction that during the 50 years from 1992 to 2042, education will change more than it has changed over the last 300 years. What will force these changes: 1. New technologies. 2. Demands of the knowledge society in which learning is a life long process. 3. New theories about how people learn.
- Page 128: Community and society are defined by the bonds that hold their members together. Bonds can be location and/or languages. Community and society are multidimensional environments.
- Page 128: An organization is a tool and is defined by its task. Like any tool, the more specialized it is, the more effective it can be in solving the task.
- Page 129: All organizations say, "People are our greatest assets." However, most still believe, though perhaps not consciously, that people need organizations more than organizations need people.
- Page 129: Organizations attract people, reward people, and serve people.
- Page 131: Without the knowledge, which people who use it have, a machine is unproductive.
- Page 132: There are 3 kinds of teams. 1. The team that plays together in tennis doubles. In this small team, the players adapt to each others' personality, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. 2. A European football team. In such a team, each player has a fixed position but the whole team moves together. 3. The baseball team or the orchestra in which all members have fixed positions. As more and more organizations become information-based, they are transforming themselves into tennis doubles teams and European football teams, in which every person has to see himself or herself as a leader who continuously makes decisions that contribute to solving the common task.
Managing oneself
- Page 137: To know where we belong, we need to know our strengths.
- Page 138: The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Feedback analysis will quickly show you what you need to improve.
- Page 141: Ask what you have a talent for and focus on improving that talent.
- Pages 142-143: Do you learn well by reading, listening, writing, doing things, or talking?
- Pages 144-145: Do you accomplish most by working alone or with other people?
- Page 145: Do you produce better results as a decision maker or as an adviser?
- Page 145: Do you perform well under stress, or do you need a structured and predictable environment to perform well?
- Page 145: Do you work best in a big organization or in a small organization?
- Page 147: What are your values?
- Page 149: Throughout history, the great majority of people were told what to contribute. That is changing. Knowledge workers are learning to ask the question "What should my contribution be?"
- Page 149: To find out how to contribute in the best possible way in a situation, ask yourself these 3 questions: 1. What does the situation require? 2. Given my strengths, my way of performing and my values, how can I make the greatest contribution to what needs to be done? 3. What results have to be achieved to make a difference?
To be updated.
What makes an effective executive:
Page 1: He or she searches for opportunities more than for problems.
Pages 1 and 2: He or she finds out what what is the right thing to do for the company.
Page 1 and 2: He or she finds out what needs to be done.
Page 1: He or she uses "we" more than "I".
Pages 1 and 5: He or she leads meetings that are productive
- Follows up on what is to be done.
Pages 1 and 6: He or she develops action plans.
- Checks results against plans.
Pages 1 and 4: He or she takes responsibility for communicating
- Gets inputs to action plans from all relevant people.
Pages 1, 4 and 7: He or she takes responsibility for decisions
- Delegates decisions to people who know the most.
- Defines who is responsible for doing what.
- Defines by what date things will be done.
- Defines from whom inputs need to be received.
- Defines who must be informed.
- Corrects decisions when necessary.
The theory of the business:
- Page 25: Challenge every product, service, and every distribution channel by asking the question: If we were not doing this already, would be do it now?
- Page 26: Find out what noncustomers need.
Managing for business effectiveness:
- Page 33: Analyze opportunities and costs. Find out what has the largest result potential.
- Page 33: What 10% will produce 90% of the results?
- Page 37: What actions will produce the best results with the least resources?
- Page 38: What small improvements will strongly increase results?
- Page 40: What do we start doing? What do we stop doing?
The effective decision:
- Page 57: Start out with what is right.
- Page 58: No decision has been made unless carrying it out in specific steps has become someone's work assignment and responsibility. Until then, it is only a good intention.
How to make people decisions:
- Page 69: Find out what strengths a person has, and whether those strengths fit the work that the person will do.
- Page 70: Talk to people who worked with the person.
- Page 71: After a person has worked for 3 months, ask the person to write down what he or she has to do to succeed.
They are not employees, they are people:
- Page 83: Not all people, who make contributions to organizations, are employees. For example, some are temporary contributors. Others are formally retired employees who continue to contribute in various ways.
- Page 84: Knowledge workers have become major creators of wealth and jobs.
- Page 85: The system needs to serve knowledge workers - not the other way around.
- Page 85: Knowledge workers are capital, not labor.
The new productivity challenge:
- Page 89: To measure productivity, divide the output by the inputs needed to create the output. The fewer resources it takes to create the same amount of output, the higher the productivity. For the last 120 years, the productivity of making and moving things has been increasing at 3% to 4% per year.
- Pages 91 and 94: The easiest productivity gains come from defining the task and eliminating what does not need to be done.
- Pages 91 and 99: To increase productivity, find out a) how important quantity is for doing what works for the user and b) how important quality is for doing what works for the user.
- Page 93: Whether capital, technology and tools help increase productivity depends on how people use them to create outputs.
- Page 101: Frederick Taylor was criticized for never once asking workers he studied how they thought their work could be improved. Taylor considered both managers and workers "dumb oxen."
What business can learn from nonprofits:
- Page 105: In the United States of America, more than 80 million people work without getting paid. If they were paid, their wages would amount to at least USD 150 billion per year. The nonprofit sector is by far the largest employer in the US.
- Page 111: Nonprofit directors tend to have a personal commitment to the organization's cause. For example, few people are members of a school board, unless they care deeply about education.
- Page 112: Each member of the Harvard University board of overseers is assigned as a "visitor" to one area of the university, for example the medical school. The "visitor" acts both as a source of knowledge and as a critic of its performance.
- Page 113: It is routine that board members of nonprofits go through systematic training.
- Page 114: Of the 730,000 people, who work for the Girl Scouts, 6,000 people get paid.
The new society of organizations:
- Page 123: It is a safe prediction that during the 50 years from 1992 to 2042, education will change more than it has changed over the last 300 years. What will force these changes: 1. New technologies. 2. Demands of the knowledge society in which learning is a life long process. 3. New theories about how people learn.
- Page 128: Community and society are defined by the bonds that hold their members together. Bonds can be location and/or languages. Community and society are multidimensional environments.
- Page 128: An organization is a tool and is defined by its task. Like any tool, the more specialized it is, the more effective it can be in solving the task.
- Page 129: All organizations say, "People are our greatest assets." However, most still believe, though perhaps not consciously, that people need organizations more than organizations need people.
- Page 129: Organizations attract people, reward people, and serve people.
- Page 131: Without the knowledge, which people who use it have, a machine is unproductive.
- Page 132: There are 3 kinds of teams. 1. The team that plays together in tennis doubles. In this small team, the players adapt to each others' personality, skills, strengths, and weaknesses. 2. A European football team. In such a team, each player has a fixed position but the whole team moves together. 3. The baseball team or the orchestra in which all members have fixed positions. As more and more organizations become information-based, they are transforming themselves into tennis doubles teams and European football teams, in which every person has to see himself or herself as a leader who continuously makes decisions that contribute to solving the common task.
Managing oneself
- Page 137: To know where we belong, we need to know our strengths.
- Page 138: The only way to discover your strengths is through feedback analysis. Feedback analysis will quickly show you what you need to improve.
- Page 141: Ask what you have a talent for and focus on improving that talent.
- Pages 142-143: Do you learn well by reading, listening, writing, doing things, or talking?
- Pages 144-145: Do you accomplish most by working alone or with other people?
- Page 145: Do you produce better results as a decision maker or as an adviser?
- Page 145: Do you perform well under stress, or do you need a structured and predictable environment to perform well?
- Page 145: Do you work best in a big organization or in a small organization?
- Page 147: What are your values?
- Page 149: Throughout history, the great majority of people were told what to contribute. That is changing. Knowledge workers are learning to ask the question "What should my contribution be?"
- Page 149: To find out how to contribute in the best possible way in a situation, ask yourself these 3 questions: 1. What does the situation require? 2. Given my strengths, my way of performing and my values, how can I make the greatest contribution to what needs to be done? 3. What results have to be achieved to make a difference?
To be updated.
March 3, 2022
Surprisingly amazing insights from a person well ahead of their time.
August 12, 2024
Feels very simplified to the extend it sounded like proclamations.
September 15, 2025
Great to hear the thoughts of this giant of management thinking. The last article, Managing Yourself, was the most interesting for me.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews