Foreword

Citation

Straub, R. (2009), "Foreword", Journal of Management History, Vol. 15 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmh.2009.15815daa.001

Foreword

Article Type: Foreword From: Journal of Management History, Volume 15, Issue 4

I am extremely grateful to Emerald Group Publishing for presenting their special issue of the Journal of Management History at the occasion of the 1st Global Peter F. Drucker Forum in Vienna, the centennial event dedicated to “The Father of modern management”.

One might ask though – is Drucker now history? Are we putting him into the category of “has been”? Was he someone generating mere academic interest but not really relevant for today’s and tomorrow’s practice?

I will argue that the contrary is true. Drucker saw management as well as an art and a science that integrates perspectives from the social and behavioural sciences, from philosophy and the humanities, from history and technology and from religion and mathematics. History was a living and integral element in all Peter Drucker wrote. Without knowing history we don’t understand the present and cannot shape the future. With the current special issue we get an idea of the breadth and depth of Peter Drucker’s contribution to management thinking and how much we can still benefit from it. Shaken by an unprecedented crisis we need to go back to the roots and to think deeper and wider about management. Short-term optimization is no longer the undisputed mantra. Like no other management thinker, Peter Drucker has given us food for thought and food for action in almost all-important fields of management. As someone who saw management first and foremost as a human enterprise, he reminds us of the fundamental responsibilities of this vital role in modern societies.

Peter Drucker is often considered as a management writer like many others and thus providing methods and tools to the “profession of management”. Looking deeper however, one realizes that his thinking brings to bear deep insights into the wider social context in which management operates and is grounded in a value based world view.

I encourage practitioners to take time out and to read some or all of the articles in this edition of the journal. You will discover Peter Drucker’s European roots – after all he was a child of the Austro-Hungarian Empire at a time when Vienna was trans-disciplinary melting pot in the best sense of the word. You will be reminded of the unbelievable breadth of his thinking – there is no important management subject that he has not touched and where he has not left his mark. Philip Kotler, the Father of Marketing, calls him the Grandfather of Marketing. New books about Knowledge Work take Peter Drucker as the primary reference and source. When the profession of management is being discussed with its inherent responsibility for society and the common good, Peter Drucker stands out as the one who has already “been there”.

Doris Drucker, his widow, mentioned to me in a recent conversation that Peter thought that a year after his death he will be forgotten. While he was extremely good in recognizing emerging developments he fortunately seems to be wrong here. We need his integrity, his rigor and profoundness more than ever. With Peter Drucker we have someone on whose shoulders we can stand to envision the future of management for the twenty-first century. In this sense, the Journal of Management History marks a starting point – as does the Global Peter F. Drucker Forum, Vienna, 2009. The Peter Drucker Society of Austria will act as the European platform and the focal point for this endeavour.

Richard StraubPresident of the Peter Drucker Society of Austria, Austria