The Frontiers of Management

Discusses the new economic forces that affect lives and livelihoods, today's changing people and their workplace surroundings, the newest management concepts and practices, and the shape of evolving organizations as they respond to increasing tasks and responsibilities

One of our most esteemed writers on economics and management here gathers 35 essays aimed at instructing America's industrial managers in the problemsand certainly the opportunitiesof our postindustrial society. Drucker may be difficult reading for the novice in this field, but his pieces, arranged in categories such as economics, people, management and the organization, make clear his thesis that today's economic-industrial frontiers are being manned by more-or-less faceless entrepreneurs who are emerging as managers of the big corporations that have gone through such crises as the 1973 oil crunch devised by OPEC and the ensuing inflationary storm, the virtual takeover of the car market by the Japanese, etc. American managers, he shows, have courted disaster by going for "short term" profits, whereas innovation is the ticket for the futureand for workers whose jobs are gone, the need for flexibility is urgent. Drucker shows keen insights into his themes, which range from high-tech innovations, automation, German/Japanese productivity, to the "liberal art" of management, the prophetic "visions" of IBM's Tom Watson, hostile takeovers and much more. Fortune Book Club and Executive Program main selectons; BOMC alternate.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This is a collection of 35 previously published articles and essays, 25 of which have appeared on the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal. The common theme that Drucker uses to bring them together is that the kind of tomorrow we will have depends "on the knowledge, insight, foresight, and competence of the decision makers of today." He divides his articles into four parts: Economics, People, Management, and The Organization. Each part presents Drucker's views on the direction we are or should be going to meet the challenges of the future. As with all of Drucker's books, there is likely to be high demand for this new title. Michael D. Kathman, St. John's Univ. Lib., Collegeville, Minn.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.