In a concise introduction to the philosophy of the 20th century's most
\t\t distinguished business theoretician, Edersheim explores the insights that have
\t\t shaped management thinking from the 1940s through the 1990s. Drucker himself
\t\t chose Edersheim to interview him, based on her previous book (McKinsey's Marvin Bower, about the man who built the
\t\t global consulting firm McKinsey & Company), but he had in mind a biography
\t\t of his ideas, not a traditional bio. Edersheim blends brief summaries of
\t\t Drucker's thinking on various management topics (innovation, customers,
\t\t leadership, decision making) with examples of how his ideas have been practiced
\t\t at specific organizations and comments from contemporary business leaders. She
\t\t doesn't try to trace the development of Drucker's ideas over time; instead, she
\t\t focuses on the challenges managers face today and tries to cull useful advice
\t\t for tackling them from Drucker's writings. Those seeking a broad intellectual
\t\t and social context for Drucker's work might prefer Jack Beatty's 1998
\t\t The World According to Peter Drucker, while
\t\t aspiring managers should turn instead to one of Drucker's own books, whose
\t\t intellectual rigor and lively prose make them immensely readable to this day.
\t\t (Feb.)
