In this interview, Peter Drucker begins by discussing his book "The Practice of Management", stating that he wrote it because at the time "there was no book on management". In talking about management, he talks about individuals that make up organizations, and that in corporations and organizations in the United States; there is more room for individual personalities than in Europe or Japan. The interviewer also comments that in Jack Beatty's biography of Drucker, he is referred to as the "moralist of our business civilization" and Drucker contends that this is because he does not address issues of political feuds or backstabbing in his books. He states that "my books are meant to set standards". He compares the field of management to the field of medicine in which research and practice are both a part of medicine--a medical practitioner does not simply research possible cures for patients, but instead tests them on patients. He then discusses his own reading interests, citing Shakespeare, medieval history and the Italian Renaissance as what he was currently reading. In the second half of the interview Drucker tells how he often rereads his favorite novels including but not limited to; the works of James Fennimore Cooper, Jane Austen, Charles Dickens, and Joseph Conrad. He then discusses his book, “The Age of Discontinuity” and his emphasis on demographics. He also goes into how businesses can and should learn from non-profit organizations. He discusses his book, “Managing the Non-Profit Organization” and his own work with non-profit organizations and individuals, such as, Rick Warren and Bob Buford and their work with “megachurches.” Finally he gives his thoughts on pension funds and his dealings with Charlie Wilson, the CEO of General Motors at that time.
Interviews Management Consumers Business ethics Corporations Conformity in the workplace Colleges and Universities--Faculty Medicine Executives Organizations Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851 Austen, Jane, 1775-1817 Dickens, Charles, 1812-1870 Conrad, Joseph, 1857-1924 Nonprofit organizations Warren, Richard, 1954- Buford, Bob Big churches Wilson, Charles Erwin, 1890-1961 Pensions Demographics Megachurches
Place
Claremont (Calif.)
Source
Original videotape: Excerpts from six 30 minute VHS Tapes; Tapes 23-28: Peter F. Drucker Biography 12/05/2001
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