The Practice of Management by
A classic since its publication in 1954, The Practice of Management was the first book to look at management as a whole and being a manager as a separate responsibility. The Practice of Management created the discipline of modern management practices. Readable, fundamental, and basic, it remains an essential book for students, aspiring managers, and seasoned professionals.
A Functioning Society by
Peter F. Drucker may be best known as a writer on business and management, but these subjects were not his foremost intellectual concern. Drucker's primary concerns were community, in which the individual has status, and society, in which the individual has function. Here he has assembled selections from his vast writings on these subjects. This collection presents the full range of Drucker's thought on community, society, and political structure and constitutes an ideal introduction to his ideas. The volume is divided into seven parts. The selections in parts 1 and 2 were mostly written during World War Two and in the wake of the Great Depression. Part 3 deals with the limits of governmental competence in the social and economic realm. It contains some of Drucker's most influential writings concerned with the difference between big government and effective government. The chapters in part 4 explore autonomous centers of power outside government and within society. Part 5 contains chapters from Drucker's path-breaking work on the corporation as a social organization rather than merely an economic one. The rise of the so-called "knowledge industries" forms the background for part 6. The concluding part 7 is devoted entirely to Drucker's long essay "The Next Society." Drucker examines the emergence of new institutions and new theories arising from the information revolution and the social changes they are helping to bring about. In organizing these representative writings, Drucker chose to be topical rather than chronological, with each excerpt presenting a basic theme of his life's work. As is characteristic of his efforts, A Functioning Society appeals both the general reader as well as a cross-disciplinary scholarly readership.
The Five Most Imortant Question Self Assessment Tool by
The Leader to Leader Institute's best-selling The Five MostImportant Questions Self-Assessment Tool has helped facilitators,leaders, and consultants guide thousands in unleashing theirorganizations' full potential in serving their mission and clients.The third edition of this critical resource builds on the originaland offers facilitators working with nonprofits and social sectororganizations, as well as business and government, a clear andaccessible model for helping participants achieve results thatalign mission, goals, and plans. At the heart of this tool are Peter F. Drucker's enduring TheFive Most Important Questions that facilitators use to leadparticipants in addressing the critical things that make theirorganizations viable and valuable entities. When answeredthoughtfully and addressed with purpose, these questions take onedown a path of organizational transformation that leads to impactand success. The Facilitator's Guide includes: Steps for designing and conducting an organizationalself-assessment, including how to gain commitment and form a team,set goals, gather and analyze data, prepare for and engage infacilitated dialogue, and how to create action by appraising andimplementing strategic and operational plans. Workshop preparation including how to deliver two-day, full-day,and half-day workshops, and resources to help you design andprepare a workshop. An introductory workshop script with step-by-step guidancepreparing you to deliver the information participants need. A Microsoft PowerPointTM presentation for running aworkshop. A bound-in copy of the Participant Workbook. Praise for the Facilitator's Guide Self-Assessment Tool "Time and again Drucker's The Five Most Important Questions'have proven to be the most effective way for nonprofitorganizations to conduct self-assessment and develop plans thatwill help them achieve real and lasting results." -CatheyBrown, founder and CEO, Rainbow Days, Inc., and 2001 FrancesHesselbein Community Innovation Fellow "The Five Most Important Questions Self-Assessment Tool? is agift to the social leadership sector from the late management guru,Peter Drucker, and the Leader to Leader Institute. It makesincredible sense, it is easy to use, and lays the foundation forstrategic planning." -Irv Katz, president and CEO, NationalHuman Services Assembly "A must-read for social entrepreneurs who are seeking todramatically grow their organization's impact without losing sightof the heart of their mission."-Iris Y. Chen, president andCEO, "I Ha've A Dream" Foundation "High-performing organizations and individuals know thatself-assessment through Drucker's The Five Most Important Questionsis the starting point for defining today and making tomorrow."-Lee H. Igel, assistant professor, New York University, andpresident, Peter F. Drucker Society of New York City "This nuts-and-bolts guide has become my compass for urgingleaders and managers to ask the right questions, to look beyondwhat they thought they knew, and to focus on being relevanttomorrow rather than resting on yesterday's achievements."-Lieutenant Commander Carla J. Grantham [U.S. Coast Guard,retired], Congressional Liaison for Diversity Recruitment andTalent Management, U.S. Coast Guard
Managers Not MBAs by
The trouble with ""management"" education, says author Henry Mintzberg, is that it is business education, and leaves a distorted impression of management. In Managers Not MBAs, he offers a new definition of management as a blend of craft (experience), art (insight), and science (analysis). An education that overemphasizes science encourages a style of managing the author calls ""calculating,"" or if the graduates believe themselves to be artists, the related style ""heroic."" According to the book, neither heroes nor technocrats in positions of influence are useful - what's really needed are balanced, dedicated people who practice a style that can be called ""engaging."" Such people believe their purpose is to leave behind stronger organizations, not just higher share prices. Managers Not MBAs explains in detail how to cultivate such managers, and how they can transform the business world and, ultimately, society.
Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning by
In this definitive and revealing history, Henry Mintzberg, the iconoclastic former president of the Strategic Management Society, unmasks the press that has mesmerized so many organizations since 1965: strategic planning. One of our most brilliant and original management thinkers, Mintzberg concludes that the term is an oxymoron -- that strategy cannot be planned because planning is about analysis and strategy is about synthesis. That is why, he asserts, the process has failed so often and so dramatically. Mintzberg traces the origins and history of strategic planning through its prominence and subsequent fall. He argues that we must reconceive the process by which strategies are created -- by emphasizing informal learning and personal vision -- and the roles that can be played by planners. Mintzberg proposes new and unusual definitions of planning and strategy, and examines in novel and insightful ways the various models of strategic planning and the evidence of why they failed. Reviewing the so-called "pitfalls" of planning, he shows how the process itself can destroy commitment, narrow a company's vision, discourage change, and breed an atmosphere of politics. In a harsh critique of many sacred cows, he describes three basic fallacies of the process -- that discontinuities can be predicted, that strategists can be detached from the operations of the organization, and that the process of strategy-making itself can be formalized. Mintzberg devotes a substantial section to the new role for planning, plans, and planners, not inside the strategy-making process, but in support of it, providing some of its inputs and sometimes programming its outputs as well as encouraging strategic thinking in general. This book is required reading for anyone in an organization who is influenced by the planning or the strategy-making processes.
Managing by
"This will be an important textbook in classrooms bringing together not only [Mintzberg's] own research and thoughts but also weaving in a century of writings by others. It will also reassure individual managers that what they do is important and not easy, and no doubt provoke some changes in their thinking." --Harry Schacter, Globe and Mail"This is an excellent, must-read book for managers and aspiring managers." --Mary Whaley, BooklistNamed one of Library Journal's Best of 2009 Business Books.From management legend Henry Mintzberg comes the most authoritative and revealing study of the the nature of managing in our time. Through a holistic synthesis of existing data and analysis on managers, and by studying a day in the worklife of 29 managers, Mintzberg presents a complete picture of what modern managers do, how they do it, the challenges of their jobs, and how they can be most effective."Perhaps the world's premier management thinker." --Tom Peters"One of the most original minds in management." --Fast Company