"The Drucker Difference" book to be released on October 25

Oct. 5, 2009 - PRLog -- The book's release is part of the Drucker Centennial, which marks the 100th birthday of Peter Drucker, the father of modern management. The global celebration, which is being put on by the Drucker School and the Drucker Institute, will be crowned by a week of special events at Claremont Graduate University in November 2009.

“There are more than 1,000 business schools in America, but only one that is named for and anchored by the teachings of a great thinker, management guru, and social philosopher,” said Ira Jackson, Dean and Professor of Management at Claremont Graduate University. “This book, written by all of us on the Drucker School faculty, reflects our unique values-oriented approach to management as a liberal art, and conveys the essence of what we call The Drucker Difference.”

The book, which was co-authored by 16 Drucker faculty members, is the result of a spontaneous conversation that came out of a typical Drucker School faculty meeting in spring 2007, where a group of professors unanimously decided to develop a much-needed groundbreaking academic course together – one that builds upon and honors the intellectual foundations that Peter Drucker had laid out in his teachings – a truly transdisciplinary approach to management in the business world as we know it.

And so, an entirely new academic class titled the “Drucker Difference” was born —a 14-week course co-taught by Drucker faculty and visiting professors, who each teach one class per week based on Drucker’s philosophy and writings, extending these ideas through each professor’s own work. The course embodies Drucker’s living legacy, and The Drucker Difference book captures the essence of this course.

“This book is an excellent way to understand how Drucker’s ideas apply to today’s dilemmas,” wrote Charles Handy, author and philosopher, in the Foreword to the book. Handy sees Drucker’s philosophy as “deeply rooted in his humanistic theory of management – a view of organizations as if people mattered.”

Led by Drucker Professor Craig L. Pearce and his colleagues, Professor Joseph Maciariello and Drucker Associate Dean Hideki Yamawaki, the book’s 16 chapters are written from the perspective of each author’s teachings while holding true to the core foundation of Drucker’s wisdom. Each chapter covers an aspect of Drucker’s teachings – from Government, Business and Civil Society, to Economic Environment, Innovation and Industry Dynamics – reassessing and interpreting each through the lens of today’s ever-changing, turbulent business environment.

“By linking each professor’s work to the overall Drucker body of knowledge, each class builds upon and then extends this body of knowledge, thus creating a living Drucker philosophy,” said Professor Maciariello. “In the process, students are taught that individuals can develop both their character and their capacities as organizations to pursue their broader missions.”

The authors of this comprehensive work aspire to carry the Drucker message forward through their class lectures, writings, consulting and various civic engagements. Drucker’s perspective that people have value and the role of management is to provide a context in which people can flourish remains at the heart of the “Drucker Difference” academic course – which is now a graduate requirement for all MBA, EMBA and transdisciplinary students – and is also demonstrated in the living piece of work that is The Drucker Difference: What the World’s Greatest Management Thinker Means to Today’s Business Leaders.

"We are honored to be a part of the continuing Drucker legacy," says McGraw-Hill Vice President and Business Group Publisher Gary M. Krebs. "Drucker's teachings and wisdom have more relevance than ever in our current business climate. No doubt the course and the book will be staples that will educate and inspire for at least another century."

About the Contributors

   * Craig L. Pearce is Professor of Management at The Drucker School of Management. His research on shared leadership has been featured in The Wall Street Journal. Pearce’s most recent book is Shared Leadership, and his forthcoming book is Share the Lead.

   * Joseph A. Maciariello is the Horton Professor of Management at The Drucker School of Management. He coauthored The Daily Drucker and The Effective Executive in Action with Peter F. Drucker and recently carried on Drucker’s legacy by revising two existing Drucker books: Management and Management Cases.

   * Hideki Yamawaki is Professor of Management and Associate Dean at The Drucker School of Management. His most recent book is Japanese Exports and Foreign Direct Investment: Imperfect Competition in International Markets.

   * Murat Binay holds a Ph.D. in finance and an MBA from the University of Texas at Austin. His areas of expertise include, institutional investing, initial public offerings, payout policy, performance evaluation, and corporate governance. He has taught courses on corporate finance, financial strategy, investments, financial institutions, and derivatives.

   * Jenny Darroch’s research and teaching focuses on marketing strategies that generate growth. She recently co-edited a special issue of the Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science: A Tribute to Peter Drucker and is author of the forthcoming, Marketing Through Turbulent Times.

   Other contributors include Drucker professors Cornelis A. “Kees” de Kluyver, Richard Ellsworth, Jeremy Hunter, Ira A. Jackson (Drucker Dean), Jean Lipman-Blumen, Roberto Pedace, Jay Prag, Vijay Sathe, and James Wallace.
      Karen Linkletter (Cal State Fullerton professor), J. Scott Scherer (principal at CoreWorks Consulting), Richard Smith (UC Irvine professor), and Sarah Smith Orr (executive director of the Kravis Leadership Institute) also contributed.

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About Peter Drucker
Born in Vienna on November 19, 1909, Peter Drucker had a profound impact on how people around the world organize themselves in the realms of business, government and civil society.

Drucker’s 39 books, along with his countless scholarly and popular articles, predicted many of the major developments of the late 20th century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing and innovation; and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning.

About the Drucker School of Management

Part of the world-renowned Claremont Colleges and located in the foothills of the beautiful San Gabriel mountains 35 miles from downtown Los Angeles, the Drucker School is more than just a traditional “B” school; it is also an “M” (management) and an “L” (leadership) school.