Peter F. Drucker on Business and Society

Peter F. Drucker (1909–2005) is one of the best-known and most widely influential thinkers on the subject of management theory and practice, and his writings contributed to the philosophical and practical foundations of the modern corporation.

Often described as “the father of modern management theory,” Drucker explored how people are organized across the business, government, and nonprofit sectors of society; he predicted many of the major business developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization, the rise of Japan to economic world power, the critical importance of marketing, and the emergence of the information society with its implicit necessity of lifelong learning. In 1959, Drucker coined the term “knowledge worker” and in his later life considered knowledge-worker productivity to be the next frontier of management.

Peter Drucker died on November 11, 2005, in Claremont, California. He had four children and six grandchildren.