Managing in a Time of Great Change

Bestselling management guru Drucker's latest offering is a grab bag of articles published since 1991, though he states that every piece was written with this book in mind. Extending the insights of his Post-Capitalist Society (1993), he stresses that information has emerged as the executive's key resource and a company's bedrock; as a consequence, he recommends that teams replace traditional boss-subordinate relationships. With his trademark cogency and clarity, Drucker offers invaluable practical insights for managers at all levels. One piece enumerates the ``five deadly business sins''; another argues that every company operates according to its own theory of business--a set of assumptions about its environment, mission and core competencies--that needs to be made explicit and monitored. Drucker probes the impact of the information revolution on retailing, sets forth guidelines for family-controlled businesses and urges policy changes to assist nonprofit organizations. He calls upon the federal government to institute periodic performance critiques of every federal agency and program. He is at his provocative best in arguing that we can revive our national economy only by forging an aggressive global economic policy that jettisons protectionism and gives international trade priority over domestic problems. (Nov.)