Drucker discusses the function of the museum and the importance of the relationship between undergraduate instruction and professors in college and university settings. He moves on to talk about the importance of making mistakes and learning from the process of committing such mistakes, and how academia should be open to such individual blunders, before reflecting on the growth of notable academic institutions and how their populations have increased through the decades. Drucker then considers family businesses and the perils that the children of business owners may face in assuming proprietorship of family operations as inexperienced businesspersons. He then argues that, in looking for the best people to assume leadership roles, one should look for the right man or woman for the job, not, necessarily, the best person. Drucker proceeds to highlight General George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army during World War II, as the greatest management story that he knows, and advises that one should never dwell on others’ mistakes. He moves on to talk about human behavior, observing that, because people are so visible, human beings tend to behave as other human beings do, and tend to model behavior that is rewarded. He continues on the topic to note that one cannot rule over subordinates, and that proper people decisions are the ultimate asset in organization prosperity. He then provides an anecdotal story about the importance of knowing one’s employees/subordinates as individuals, and discusses the significance of starting with assignments, rather than the employee, in delegation considerations. Drucker states that it is only after one understands the assignment that one can begin to think of the people and what qualities or skills are really needed. Drucker then discusses how to handle temperamental personality types and what they need in the workplace, and the class moves on to talk about a case study in product development and how it develops on the market in terms of price before discussing how the museum market is one of the most successful markets in the country. They go on to talk about how art dealers and museum curators have to know more than art historians, a question of breadth versus depth in subject matter, and the necessity and reward of graduate assistant work to museum operations.
Drucker, Peter F. (Peter Ferdinand), 1909-2005 Claremont Graduate University Claremont Graduate School Claremont Graduate University-Faculty Claremont University Center Museums Management Management by objectives Management - Employee participation Industrial management Industrial productivity Industrial relations Industrial organization Family business Employee selection Marshall, George C. (George Catlett), 1880-1959 World War II United States. Army Art historians Curatorship Graduate students Internship programs Universities and colleges Delegation of authority Graduate assistants (Teaching assistants)
Source
Original recording, February 21, 1978; Drucker Archives; Box 68
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