The Practice of Management
Author: Peter F. Drucker, 1954
Book preface written by Drucker+ team.
Off the Shelf highlights the books of Peter F. Drucker. This week, we look at Drucker's fifth book, “The Practice of Management,” first published in 1954.
In the book, Drucker argues that management is a distinct and important discipline with its own principles and practices. Management is about improving a company’s bottom line, of course, but it’s also guided by “the belief that economic change can be made into the most powerful engine for human betterment and social justice,” he writes.
Despite its importance for business and for society as a whole, Drucker says that management is widely misunderstood. Management isn’t simply a profession or a phenomenon to be studied: it’s a complex practice that must prioritize economic performance while balancing near-term results with long-term viability.
Indeed, one of Drucker’s insights in the book is what he calls the “time dimension” of management. Because management is fundamentally about taking action, managers must live in both the present and future simultaneously, delivering results today while building an enterprise’s capabilities for tomorrow.
As always, Drucker is prescient in his thinking as he considers the coming wave of automation in manufacturing. Though in the future more work will be done by machines, Drucker believes that automation would make managers even more important and require an expansion of their scope. And fhe consequences for getting the transition to automation are significant. “There can be little doubt,” he writes, “that the industrial country that first understands automation and first applies it systematically will likely lead in productivity and wealth.”
It’s a prediction that resonates today as organizations — and nations — navigate the transformative potential of artificial intelligence.
“Management is guided by... the belief that economic change can be made into the most powerful engine for human betterment and social justice”
Official Book Synopsis on Amazon
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.
