Management Tasks Responsibilities Practices

by Drucker Peter

Please Read Brand New, International Softcover Edition, Printed in black and white pages, minor self wear on the cover or pages, Sale restriction may be printed on the book, but Book name, contents, and author are exactly same as Hardcover Edition. Fast delivery through DHL/FedEx express.

Genres: Business, Management, Nonfiction, Leadership, Reference, Economics, Buisness

Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

Reviews

[Adam Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the magnum opus of one of the greatest business minds of the 20th century, filtered and updated by one of his students five years after his death.

It took me a year and a half to make it through this book. Each chapter was so dense with thought-provoking concepts that I couldn't read more than about one a week. The book's preface recommends reading each chapter as a standalone essay, which I agree with.

The core hypothesis here is both simple and grand. Organizations (meaning for-profit companies, schools, hospitals, etc) are organs in the body of our society. The role of a manager is to make organizations perform. Therefore, a healthy society depends on the managers which populate its organizations.

From that foundation, it becomes obvious why studying and improving the craft of management is not only worthwhile but perhaps even a moral imperative.

I was surprised how much of the information here is directly relevant to management in an early-stage startup. Drucker was in his prime in the 1960s through the 1980s. Startup folks like me think we're throwing all the rules out, but perhaps the core principles of running an effective business are timeless.

Note that Drucker did not spend much of his career as a manager. He was an economist, journalist, and business consultant. He observed, recorded patterns, and fed that back into practical use via his role as an advisor.

This is a seriously weighty tome, and I probably made a bigger time investment reading it than any other book I've ever read. But what a payoff.

[Gene Babon · Rating 5 out of 5]

No manager worth her weight should be allowed to manage people, projects or businesses without a fundamental understanding of the teachings of Peter Drucker, The Man Who Invented Management. Management captures a lifetime of Drucker's principles in one legacy guide book on the practice of management.

The original text was published in 1973. This revised edition integrates Drucker's findings from then until his passing in 2005 at age 95. At more than 500 pages it is comprehensive, yet easy to read. The material has stood the test of time remarkably well.

While many of us consider ourselves "knowledge workers" in the Internet age, it was Drucker who coined the term—in 1959! The forward by Jim Collins puts this work into context: "The very best leaders are first and foremost effective managers." This book provides the road map to becoming effective in the workplace.

Here are five nuggets that capture the essence of this work:

~ "One can divide the work of a manager into planning, organizing, integrating, measuring and developing people." Yet, how many of us excel at each of these tasks on a weekly basis, especially the responsibility of developing people?

~ "Not to innovate is the single largest reason for the decline of existing organizations. Not to know how to manage is the single largest reason for the failure of new ventures." Yet, what innovation have we introduced into our organization in the past 30 days, in the past 12 months?

~ In the industrial society schooling traditionally stopped when work began. In the knowledge society, it never stops. "The fastest-growing industry in any developed country may turn out to be the continuing education of already well-educated adults." Yet, how many of us have a plan for continuous learning?

~ "The most effective way to manage change successfully is to create it. This requires the organized abandonment of things that have been shown to be unsuccessful, and the organized and continuous improvement of every product, service, and process within the enterprise." Yet, how many of us can identify one product, service or process improvement we've contributed to our organization over the past 30 days, over the past 12 months?

~ "One does not 'manage' people. The task is to lead people. And the goal is to make productive the specific strengths and knowledge of each individual." Yet, how many of us know our own strengths, not to mention the strengths of those we work with?

Five nuggets and I haven't summarized more than the first 80 pages!

The modern workplace needs our help and the practice of management begins with each of us. How well we manage ourselves is a reasonable indicator of how well we might manage others, and "the very best leaders are first and foremost effective managers."

Buy this book, read it cover to cover, place it on your desk at work and refer to it daily!

For additional guidance on the topics of leadership and management access the following five-star reviews:

~ Strengths-Based Leadership
~ It's Your Ship: Management Techniques from the Best Damn Ship in the Navy

Access Gene Babon's reviews of books on Business Leadership and Business Strategy at Pinterest.

[Fahed Al Kerdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Without hesitation, I called Kotler's "Marketing Management" as the Bible of marketing, and using the same perspective, I will name this terrific book "The Bible of Management". There is not lecturer can teach management without using one of Drucker's publications, especially this book.
I made a good use of the content of this book to quote some definitions about the social implementation of management literature, such like entrepreneurship.
I have read the kindle version and it was well designed.

[Matt · Rating 4 out of 5]

Drucker has been a recent discovery for me. The clarity he brings to the role of manager at any level is refreshing. Though I would recommend the Essential Drucker as an intro.

[Luke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this book and skip the airport bookstore where much of what is included here is repackaged as fresh and new.

[Toma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately it is way too theoretical. I had huge expectations about this book but although I am sure there are some hidden gems, I would say it is not worth the effort.

[Moayad · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a mixed bag for me. It did help me realize how management has changed in the age of information and knowledge workers and get a better understanding of how one is supposed to work alongside his team rather than try to keep a handle on all things himself. That said, a lot of this book felt like that last shot of a movie that has a sequel, panning above an an undiscovered mystery that you want to delve into but nope, you'll have to look for it elsewhere.

I'll admit that it has been a while since I finished this book and the review may be a choppy due to that, but I'll do my best to cover the topics the author covered in this book. Drucker talks about the history of work and managing teams and how it has evolved from the olden days where one was kind of born into a career .vs. now where one's knowledge determines the field they end up working in and how these specializations affects management (after all, there's a limit to what a manager knows in all of the specializations that he/she may require).From there Drucker aimed to provide us with the tools to manage this new type of colleagues by taking into consideration their capabilities, personalities, and what they know best into factor when giving out assignment. He continues to what I believe to be the best chapter of the book, self management. In this chapter, Drucker enlightens you about what you need to know about yourself and how you can utilize the way you receive and use information while gauging your progress as time goes by.

The book did provide me with a lot of insights, but as I mentioned it w
Is a bit too shallow to truly grasp the core takeaways. I can't really blame the author that much for it, the title of the book gives a glimpse of how great of an undertaking it is, but I can't really say that I got to a concrete level of knowledge that can be applied. Perhaps case studies would have been the better way to go, and he did go with that method at times but it didn't feel it was done to the right level (with the exception of the personal management chapter).

The narration was great but I played it at 1.25 the speed to get through the almost 20 hours of listening times without getting bored.

I would recommend this book as a primer into management and it would provide managers with the basic principles that differentiate management of today (that is of knowledge workers) from days of the past when it used to be command and control.

[Bob Wallner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the Audio version of Management as so many people have listed this as THE BOOK on management. I had read this for my business undergrad, but by not being in the workforce, it didn't mean much.

So much of my reading focus has been on leadership and leading people. This book reminds us that there is so much more to all businesses than simply Leading. Processes, Focus, Vision, etc need to be managed.

Many reviews can get into the meat and potatoes of what Management is about. I would prefer to focus on two take-a-ways that I had from this.

For years in my Continuous Improvement training sessions (TOC, Lean and now 6 Sigma) I was told that Taylorism or Scientific Management was a flawed system that would produce flawed results. I was never really explained why. All I got was it taught how to make people work harder not smarter. Drucker speaks highly of Scientific Management which peaked my curiosity. The next book I intend on reading is Principles of Scientific Management. I want to know first hand what it is about and what makes Taylor such an evil man so I can make my own decision.

A few things that I disliked about the book (keeping it from getting 5 stars) were:
1 - I strongly disagree with Drucker's philosophy that management should participate in 2-3 team projects during their career is very short sighted.
2 - Building off of #1 I think that in the revised edition, there is real short-sightedness about what has made Japanese Management styles so effective. I know books have been written about this, but Management seems to gloss over this.
3 - Finally Dr. Drucker places the emphasis on the "knowledge worker". I truly believe that the people doing the work on the floor hold THE KNOWLEDGE and are the true knowledge workers. I think too much that knowledge workers tend to spend their time in vacuums and don't interact with the people who will make or brake the system. To use an analogy...my experience with many knowledge workers is much like the spoiled child at the toy store - they want it their way or they are going to hold their breath.

All in all this book is excellent. Ironically once I was done listening I started catching up on my podcasts. Two of them mention Dr. Drucker and one is LDRLB #503 with Dr. William Cohen author of The Practical Drucker.

[Mohammad Noroozi · Rating 5 out of 5]

What other readers have written here is absolutely true. Anyone who wants to manage others should read this book first.

As I read through the book, I found myself thinking to myself over an over again "how did one person put together all this knowledge?" The whole book reads like a home maintenance manual in that it answers questions you didn't even know you had before you read through, or poses problems that you hadn't considered but are vital to the health of any organisation, and gives clear salient advice about how to make an enterprise acheiving.

I noticed some other readers mention they thought Drucker was a bit repetitive with some points throughout the book. I have two comments about that. First, I felt he did a good job of underscoring how a previously made point still applies in a different situation and encouraging his readers to see the patterns he's obviously discovered in his career of consulting and study of management. Second, I felt a sense that I was being encouraged in the same sense that any hard driving coach continually repeats the fundamentals to their students. Drucker does the later very smoothly by continually ending chapters or sub-points by encouraging managers to take up hard challenges and make their business acheiving.

I'll also echo some previous comments which say the book really should be read at a pace of maybe a chapter a day or even less. Taking time to ruminate on Drucker's ideas, seeing how it applies in organisations you know or participate in really helps the ideas settle and become a part of your own thinking.

Finishing the book, I find that rather than feel satisfied, I feel that Drucker has touched enough on all these facets of successful management that I find my interest piqued and my reading list burgeoning with new additions. This is a great starting point and will likely lead to some excellent study tangents. I'm also very much looking forward to reading more books by Drucker over time.

[Jurgen Appelo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, though a bit long. I took many, many notes, which shows I learned a lot from it. But the writing style was a bit dry.

[Stephen Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this about 18 years ago, from my dad's library. I saw the revised edition at the bookstore today. Yes, it's the classic tome. I believe it has influenced me in subtle ways. Worth a re-read.

[Lucas · Rating 5 out of 5]

So much information I haven't found elsewhere. A must re-read, although there's a lot at the beginning (and some scattered throughout) that is more philosophical and less actionable. Also too long to properly summarize.

The theory of the business has 3 parts:
1) Assumptions about the environment of the organization (society and its structure, the market, the customer, and technology). These define what the organization expects it can be paid for.
2) Assumptions about the specific mission of the organization. These define how the organization intends to make a difference in society and what results are meaningful.
3) Assumptions about the core competencies needed to accomplish the organization's mission. These define in which areas the organization must excel in order to achieve its mission.

These three assumptions must fit one another and reality. The theory of the business must be understood throughout the organization.
When an organization takes its theory for granted, it stops thinking and questioning the very premises of its existence. And every theory eventually becomes obsolete. Without systematic abandonment, an organization will squander its scarce resources on what it should not do and deprive itself of resources it needs to exploit opportunities.
One of the most effective ways to test the validity of a theory is to study the behavior of noncustomers.

The purpose of a business:
Because its purpose is to create a customer, the business enterprise has two - and only these two - basic functions: marketing and innovation.
The aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself.
Innovation is not invention. It is a term of economics rather than of technology. Innovation can be defined as the task of endowing human and material resources with new and greater wealth-producing capacity.

"What is our business and what should it be?"
The answer to the question "What is our business?" is the first responsibility of top management. That business purpose and business mission are so rarely given adequate thought is perhaps the most important single cause of business frustration and business failure.
With respect to the definition of business purpose and business mission, there is only one such focus, one starting point. It is the customer. The customer defines the business. A business is not defined by the company's name, statutes, or articles of incorporation. It is defined by the want the customer satisfies when he buys a product or service. To satisfy the customer is the mission and purpose of every business.
The question "What is our business?" can therefore only be answered by looking at the business from the outside, from the point of view of the customer and market. "Who is the customer?" is the first and the crucial question in defining business purpose and business mission. Most businesses have at least two customers. It is also important to ask "Where is the customer?" The next question is "What does the customer buy?" (Cadillac competes with diamonds and mink coats.)

"What should it be?"
What changes in the environment are already discernible that are likely to have a high impact on the characteristics, mission, and purpose of our business? How do we now build these anticipations into our theory of the business, into its objectives, strategies, and work assignments? Again, the market, its potential and its trends, is the starting point. How large a market can we project for our business in five or ten years, assuming no basic changes in customers, in market structure, or in technology? And, what factors could validate or disprove these projections? The most important trend is changes in population structure and population dynamics. Finally, management has to ask "Which of the consumer's wants are not adequately satisfied by the products or services offered to him today?"
"What will our business be?" aims at adaptation to anticipated changes. It aims at modifying, extending, developing the existing, ongoing business. But there is need to ask "What should our business be?" What opportunities are opening up, or can be created, to fulfill the purpose and mission of the business by making into a different business?

Objectives:
Defining the purpose and the mission of the business is difficult, painful, and risky. But it alone enables a business to set objectives, to develop strategies, to concentrate its resources, and to go to work. It alone enables a business to be managed for performance.
The basic definition of the business and its purpose and mission have to be translated into objectives. Otherwise, they remain insight, good intentions, and brilliant epigrams that never become achievement.
1) Objectives must be derived from "what our business is, what it will be, and what it should be." They are not abstractions. They are the action commitments through which the mission of a business is to be carried out, and the standards against which performance is to be measured. Objectives, in other words, are the fundamental strategy of a business.
2) Objectives must be operational. They must be capable of being converted into specific targets and specific assignments. They must be capable of becoming the basis, as well as the motivation, for work and achievement.
3) Objectives must make possible concentration of resources and effort. They must winnow out the fundamentals among the goals of a business so that they key resources of people, money, and physical facilities can be concentrated. They must, therefore, be selective rather than encompass everything.
4) There must be multiple objectives rather than a single objective. Much of today's lively discussion of management by objectives is concerned with the search for the "one right objective." This search is not only likely to be unproductive, but it also does harm and misdirects. To manage a business is to balance a variety of needs and goals, and this requires multiple objectives.
5) Objectives are needed in all areas on which the survival of the business depends. The specific targets, the goals in any objective area, depend on the strategy of the individual business. But the areas in which objectives are needed are the same for all businesses, for all businesses depend on the same factors for their survival.

A business must first be able to create a customer. There is therefore a need for a marketing objective. Businesses must be able to innovate, or else their competitors will obsolesce them. There is need for an innovation objective. All business depend on three factors of production of the economist, that is, on human resources, capitol resources, and physical resources. There must be objectives for their supply, their employment, and their development. The resources must be employed productively and their productivity has to grow if the business is to survive. There is need, therefore, for productivity objectives. Business exists in society and community and therefore has to discharge social responsibilities, at least to the point where it takes responsibility for its impact upon the environment. Therefore objectives in respect to social dimensions of business are needed. Finally, there is a need for profit - otherwise none of the objectives can be attained. They all require effort, that is, cost. And they can be financed only out of the profits of a business. They all entail risks; they all, therefore, require a profit to cover the risk of the potential losses. Profit is not an objective, but it is a requirement that has to be objectively determined with respect to the individual business, its strategy, its needs, and its risks.
Objectives, therefore, need to be set in these 8 key areas:
1) Marketing
2) Innovation
3) Human Resources
4) Financial Resources
5) Physical Resources
6) Productivity
7) Social Responsibility
8) Profit Requirements

Marketing objectives:
Marketing performance requires a number of objectives:
-for existing products and services in existing and present markets
-for abandonment of "yesterday" in product, services, and markets
-for new products and services for existing markets
-for new markets
-for the distributive organizations
-for service standards and service performance
-for credit standards and credit performance and so on
Objectives in these areas can be set only after two key decisions have been made: the decision on concentration, and the decision on market standing.

Innovation objectives:
There are three kinds of innovation in every business: innovation in product or service (product innovation), innovation in marketplace and consumer behavior and values (social innovation), and innovation in the various skills and activities needed to make the products and services and to bring them to market (managerial innovation).

Resource objectives:
The first sign of the decline of an industry is its loss of appeal to qualified, able, and ambitious people. In the two areas of people and capital supply, genuine marketing objectives are therefore required. "What do our jobs have to be to attract and hold the kind of people we need and want? What is the supply available on the job market? And, what do we have to do to attract it?" Similarly, "What does the investment in our business have to be, in the form of bank loans, long-term debts, or equity, to attract and hold the capital we need?" Resource objectives have to be set in a double process. One starting point is the anticipated needs of the business, which then have to be projected on the outside, that is, on the market for land, labor, and capital. But the other starting points are these "markets" themselves, which then have to be projected onto the structure, the direction, the plans of the business.

Productivity objectives:
The task of a business is to make resources productive. Every business, therefore, needs productivity objectives with respect to each of the three major resources - people, capital, and products of nature - and with respect to overall productivity itself.

Social responsibility objectives:
The social dimension is a survival dimension. Society or the economy can put any business out of existence overnight. The enterprise exists on sufferance and exists only as long as society and the economy believe that it does a job, and a necessary, useful, and productive one. That such objectives need to be built into the strategy of a business, rather than be statements of good intentions, needs to be stressed here. These are not objectives that are needed because the manager has a responsibility to society. They are needed because the manager has a responsibility to the enterprise.

Profit: a need and limitation
Only after the objectives in the aforementioned seven key areas have been thought through and established can a business tackle the question: "How much profitability do we need?" To attain any of these objectives entails high risks. It requires effort, and that means cost. Profit is therefore needed to pay for attainment of the objectives of the business.

The end products of business analysis are work programs and specific and concrete work assignments with defined goals, with deadlines, and with clear accountability. Unless objectives are converted into action, they are not objectives; they are dreams.

Making the Future Today
I human affairs it is pointless to try to predict the future. But it is possible and fruitful to identify major events that have already happened irrevocably and that will have predictable effects in the next decade or two. It is possible, in other words, to identify and prepare for the future that has already happened. A dominant factor for organizations in the next few decades is going to be demographics. The key factor for business will not be overpopulation that we have been warned of for many years but underpopulation of the developed countries - Japan, South Korea, and the nations of Western Europe.

Strategic Planning: The Entrepreneurial Skill
Strategic planning prepares today's business for the future. It asks, "What should our business be?" It asks "What do we have to do today to deserve the future?" Strategic planning requires risk-taking decisions. It requires an organized process of abandoning yesterday. It requires that the work to be done to produce the desired future be clearly defined and clearly assigned. The aim of strategic planning is action now!

Managing Service Institutions in the Society of Organizations
To make service institutions and service staffs perform does not require genius. It requires, first, clear objectives and goals. Next, it demands priorities on which resources can be concentrated. It requires, further, clear measurements of accomplishment. And finally, it demands organized abandonment of the obsolete. And these four requirements are just as important for the service staff of a business as for the service institution in society.

What Successful and Performing Nonprofits are Teaching Business
The first lesson business executives can learn from successful nonprofits is to begin with mission. Successful nonprofits such as the Salvation Army avoid bland mission statements and focus their mission statement on specific strategies and action: "to turn society's rejects - alcoholics, criminals, derelects - into citizens." Successful mission statements focus on the outside - the community and the customer. They look outside for what are considered meaningful results.
Many nonprofits have what is still rare in business, a functioning board with clear duties and responsibilities and measures of both CEO and board effectiveness. Nonprofit boards often serve as volunteers and contributors to the organization and feel commitment toward the mission and active involvement in the actual operations of the organization. As a result, they know more about operations of the organization than their business counterparts.
Finally, successful nonprofits know how to manage volunteers. Managing volunteers requires a clear mission (or score), high demands, accountability, and training. Those requirements for effective volunteers are very close to the requirements for leading knowledge workers in other sectors of the economy.

Entrepreneurship in the Public-Service Institute
For a society to prosper, it must have engines of capital formation. Service institutions are paid out of the surplus of wealth-creating institutions. A developed society cannot afford to have its service institutions waste capital. As a result, public-service institutions must be made to perform and to innovate. One way to do this is to privatize whatever activities a service institution can outsource and convert from a nonprofit to a for-profit activity. This single step will make service activities more effective so long as their missions are clear.
The bulk of service activities performed in social-sector and governmental organizations cannot be privatized. These institutions must go to work to eliminate the obstacles to innovation. There are many successful examples to point the way, including the Girl Scouts of the USA, the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and cities such as Lincoln, NE.
There are four requirements for successful innovation in the public-service institution:
1) Provide a clear definition of mission
2) Establish goals that are attainable and stated in terms of the optimum rather than the theoretical maximum
3) Probe objectives that are not being attained after repeated attempts; failure to obtain objectives after repeated attempts means either that the objectives should be redefined or that the objectives should be abandoned
4) Build into public-service institutions entrepreneurial policies and practices that have been demonstrated to work in other sectors of the economy

Making Work Productive and the Worker Achieving
The main challenges to managing work and working are the changed psychological and social position of the manual worker; the crisis of the traditional role and function of the union as a result of its success; and the emergence of knowledge work as the economic and social center of the postindustrial, knowledge society.

Managing the Work and Worker in Manual Work
The realization that skill and knowledge are in the working rather than in the work is the key to making work productive. The generic nature of work implies that work can be studied systematically, if not scientifically. Until recently, the study of work has been confined to manual work for the reason that this was the main work around. But the same principles and approaches apply to any other production work, such as most service work. They apply to the processing of information, that is, to most clerical work. They even apply to most knowledge work. Only the applications and the tools vary. Making work productive requires four separate activities, each with its own demands. Because work is objective and impersonal and a "something" - even if it is intangible, like information or knowledge - making work productive has to begin with the end product, the output of work. It cannot start with the input, whether craft skill or formal knowledge. Skills, information, knowledge, are tools; and what tool is to be applied when, and for what purpose, must always be determined by the desired end product. The end product determines what work is needed. It also determines the synthesis into a process, the design of the appropriate controls, and the specifications for the tools needed.

Managing the Work and Worker in Knowledge Work
For thousands of years no one thought that manual work could be made more productive. Even the term "productivity" was not known until around World War II. But as soon as Frederick W. Taylor, in 1881, looked critically at how the manual worker did his job, manual-worker productivity rose dramatically. In the century after 1880, productivity grew steadily at 3 to 4 percent compound per year, and that meant a fiftyfold growth in a hundred years.
In manual work the task is always a given. The machine or the assembly line program the factory worker. The manual worker's productivity is thus never a question of what to do. The question is always how to do it. And for the great majority of manual workers the employer owns and controls the means of production and the workers' tools. With knowledge work, however, what to do becomes the first and decisive question. For knowledge workers are not programmed by the machine or by the weather. They largely are in control of their own tasks and must be in control of their own tasks. For they, and only they, own and control the most expensive of the means of production - their education - and their most important tool - their knowledge. This is not just true of the people who apply high and advanced knowledge. It's just as true of the computer service technician who comes to fix a problem; of the technician in the hospital lab who makes a bacterial culture; of the trainee who oversees a market test of a new product in the supermarket. The how in knowledge work comes only after the what has been answered.
There are a number of steps to improve knowledge-worker productivity. They include:
-Define the task
-Focus on the task
-Define results
-Define quality
-Grant autonomy to the knowledge worker
-Demand accountability
-Build into tasks continuous learning and teaching
The only true competitive advantage for a company or a nation will increasingly be the productivity of its knowledge workers. This will have a future impact on the governance of the corporation.

Other chapters:
Social Impacts and Social Responsibilities
The Manager's Work and Jobs
Managerial Skills
Innovation and Entrepreneurship
Managerial Organization
New Demands on the Individual

[Mansur Mustaquim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a thought-provoking read. Its subject matter is possibly too broad for this to be read in a few days or weeks. I ended up reading this over the course of a year. Going back and re-reading some chapters and sections was quite common as, while reading, I would be unable to resist searching for prior passages that I couldn't always recall. For the most part, this book doesn't teach management, it invites us to think about the various responsibilities and impacts of management.

I discovered that the authoritative tone of the text made it difficult to think critically about some of the ideas presented here. For example here's one statement that I just read a few minutes ago from the last chapter: "The key to the productivity of knowledge workers is to make them concentrate on the real assignment". This is fairly dogmatic. And also impractical. You can take a horse to water but you can't make him drink it. How do we 'make someone concentrate'? More important than focusing on the real problem is the problem of self-motivation and ability to turn work into play. This is expressed in chapter seventeen where the author says, "Knowledge workers, except at the very lowest levels, are not productive under the spur of fear; only self-motivation and self-direction make them productive. They have to be achieving in order to produce at all." The second statement resonates with my own experiences and, to me at least, seems to counter the implied need to use authority in the first statement.

But then this what I liked the most about this book. It led me to ponder what I probably would not have otherwise.

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Management: Tasks, Responsibilities, Practices by Peter Drucker is a great book.

I carried this book with me on my first submarine, USS Permit SSN594, in 1979-1982. I saw that the management skills of the submarine engineer, Wilson Frye LCDR USN, matched this book by Peter Drucker.

I showed the book to Wilson and told him that it looked to me like he was using Peter Drucker's guidelines. Wilson smiled and said the submarine management was developed and taught in collaboration with consultants hired by the Navy Bureau of Submarines (https://www.navsea.navy.mil/home/team...).

I was impressed. Later in Drucker's biography I learned that he and his team had done a lot of consulting with government agencies in addition to private businesses.

When I went to work for CACI I asked several managers if they were familiar with this book. They had never heard of Peter Drucker! I could not believe that civilian managers did not even consider reading professional essays on business management. They settled for management handouts from the CACI business education groups. I was not impressed with these CACI hand outs. I may have one in my box of old records, need to check that out.

Unfortunately when I retired I gave Peter Drucker's books away. Looking back I wish I had kept my copy of this one. I may buy another copy just for my remembrances.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

This might be the most impressive and impactful book I'll ever read. Almost every single one of the 61 chapters (which feel like they are filled with multiple essays) came with eye opening but crisp statements.

Organizations exist to serve society.
The purpose of a business is to create and serve a customer.
A key task for top management is to define the business and what it should be.
Operations are growing and optimizing existing things while Innovation is creating the new.
Managers, above all, must accept responsibility to make individual strengths productive and workers achieving.

Maybe sounds basic to you, but with all the stories and examples, this transformed my way of thinking and filled many holes in my mind that opened up over the last years in my career.

Very few people will read this book due to its length, but I believe every manager can learn a lot from this. Fully recommended.

[Sooraj · Rating 4 out of 5]

The longest academic book I have ever read, but absolutely worth it.
How did our organizations, professions and our work begin and evolve to where we are today?
What is the difference between businesses, services and innovative organizations.
What are the different ways of producing work in organizations?
What are the different ways of creating organizations?
The answers to all these questions will definitely develop in you a new enriched perspective.

Negatives:
Very academic in nature, requires slow patient reading. Takes months to finish the book.
Not the greatest English and grammer, not the greatest editing. One would need to read some sentences multiple times to guess what the author was trying to imply

[Carina · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few outdated things in this book so it’s still applicable.

My only complaint was this quote from the last chapter:

‘You have to know them so well you can go and say, “Mary, you think you ought to move up to this next job? Well, then you have to learn not to have that chip on your shoulder. Forget you are a woman; you are an engineer. And you have to be a little considerate. Do not come in at ten minutes to five on Friday afternoon to tell people they have to work overtime when you knew it at nine AM.”’

I really don’t like this paragraph. “Forget you are a woman” is pretty terrible advice, and practically impossible.

[Jorė · Rating 5 out of 5]

Took me four years to read it through, but oh, how much Drucker has my heart!
I've taken a book annoyed with some presentation where he was quoted. It seemed to be a case of putting just a quote without ever reading the actual work. Through the years I've collected my own fav ideas of Drucker and integrated them in my work because they just make so much sense. And that the book is finally finished doesn't mean I'm finished reading it. Planning to return many times to review what Mr. Drucker has to say. Really, I have a slight crush on his thinking.

[Juste · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best book ever read on Corporate Organization and Management. The book that make you feel more intelligent and allow you to show wisdom.
But the human and/or interpersonnal skills should be taken somewhere else.
Personally, a mix of Covey (7 habits...) and Carnegie (How to...) may fulfill the blanks of the absolute necessity to deal with People and boost your executive career and capabilities.

[Li Li · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic management book - The Bible.

I've read quite some management books and took variety of online and live training. All management concepts and guiding principles are in this book. It is practical and simple. If you choose to read one book and only one book on management subject, this is THE one.

[Pulkit · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read it as part of promotion requirements - the approach is very 20th century like but the world is a very different place now and the businesses have changed drastically. Not recommended for anybody.

[Jacob O'connor · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a beast. I should get college credit for reading it. It compares to Adam Smith's Wealth of the Nations, and this is the most satisfied I've ever been finishing a business book. Required reading.

[Joey Dumont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goes straight to the point on specific organizational design patterns, and discusses their pros and cons theoretically, then backs it back with specific examples.

I'd like to have a version of this that reflects the state of the art of 2022.

[Jason · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books I have ever read in any genre concerning any subject - period.

Surprisingly readable given the density of the subject and overflowing with useful information.

Not at all what I expected going into it.

[Malusi Chamane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grateful for this book. I regret delaying to read it until now. This is now my Bible at Roots of Abundance, this book has definitely reshaped how I looked at management and is already having an impact in how we go about consulting our small business clients.

[Maxat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply must read for all managers and who wants to become one. Not too easy, not too complicated. A very well balanced book. I should have read it at least five years ago.

[Wolfb · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks

[M.WASIM · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good

[Will West · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing book. A must read. It will change the way you see business and the future. This man is brilliant and ahead of his time.

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deservedly the best book on management for the knowledge economy.