An Apologist for Productivity and Scientific Managment

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	• Post-Capitalist Society Peter F. Drucker Collins Business, 1994 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 17 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

An Apologist for Productivity and Scientific Managment

I don't know whether we will become a post-capitalist society, as Drucker dreams it. Some make the argument that America may become a third world country because he don't produce goods as much as we used to. A service economy has a lower profit margin that one based on manufacturing. Most of the jobs being produced right now are low wage service jobs. Some once high paying technical jobs can be outsourced overseas to cheaper labor because of the miracle of the internet. A lot of the people from developing countries are moving into the developed ones and the trend seems to be increasing. We may be witnessing the merging of developing and developed countries.

Drucker makes an interesting point that the "rural slums" of the past were far worse off than the "satanic mills" of the industrial era. There was more money to be had in industry, even though the working conditions were bad. I generally got the impression while reading that the lot of the common people has improved as time has gone on and there is no use in pining for the old days. But with improved conditions comes rising expectations, so I guess that's why there is so much depression, nihilism, and malaise in prosperous countries these days.

The positive review of Frederick Taylor was surprising. Years ago, I read what Noam Chomsky said about him and figured he would be in the lowest part of hell along with B.F. Skinner for their supposed lack of compassion in trying to turn people into mere tools. Drucker states that Taylor actually wanted to make the worker more productive so that he could make more money and he also referred to the owners as hogs, proving his egalitarian sentiments. Taylor also helped us win World War II with his work principles. It is also interesting that wars can often help a nation become more productive and innovative because of necessity, which gets us out of our complacency. --I don't know what to believe now regarding Taylor. Is reading a way of informing yourself or is it just misinforming? I'll be wary of all intellectuals from now on.

If Mexico and America are so culturally different from one another why is it desirable to have the two merge into a North American Union? Drucker's answer is that Mexico needs to do so for economic reasons. Regionalism will also somehow strengthen the economy of that merged region. In Mexico's case, they really have a lot of wealth and resources in that country, but it is not shared with the poor. It has a much stronger plutocratic element than America and also has a lot of billionaires. Mexico sends its poor that they won't take of to America. I've also read that people can get by in Mexico, but they can make more money in America. It's a problem if someone comes to the country for solely economic reasons and without the general approval of the people of the host nation, especially when no limit has been defined. Merging with Mexico will surely lower American wages. Even if regionalism is an economic success, is economics more important than culture?

The European Union has been attempted, but from what I've read, it is unpopular with the people and many voted against it. I don't really consider it ethical to establish such a Union against their will, in this case. I can't help but think that regionalism will only benefit people who are already rich.

I am relieved to see that Drucker thinks that the Megastate is a bad idea.
Drucker's description of the Megastate is particularly disturbing when he states that the government thinks that your money and property is just something that they have allowed you to have. Having a permanent war time economy under the Megastate has put the government in debt with all its expenditures on defense. The money could be given back to the people or spent on other priorities.

Drucker reveals his opinions about how government should be run. Drucker associates high productivity with equality of income; equality can't be achieved by taxes and wealth redistribution. He likes that idea that a government should not try to spend its way out of a recession. Doing nothing will get a country out of a recession faster. Drucker believes that the government should pay for healthcare, but it should not manage healthcare institutions. This leads to delayed treatment and higher costs. Drucker believes that we should spend about 2 percent of GNP on the military, not 5 percent that we presently spend. This makes us uncompetitive economically.

Drucker's goals for schools are highly idealistic and seems to be overly confident that nearly everyone has the ability to be a knowledge worker. I don't think it will be possible for schools to give all students high literacy, eventually students' native ability will determine how far they go in achieving this literacy. Drucker defines high literacy as something beyond reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also encompasses knowledge of science, technology, and foreign languages. As things are now, schools will be lucky to do well just to provide basic literacy. But in reality, it is ultimately up to the students to achieve literacy, not schools, which are just "guides". Drucker wrongly places the responsibility for student achievement on the schools, rather than the students. Schools can only offer the learning; the student has to then accept it. Schools and teachers can only be partially responsible; achievement is really the responsibility of the student, which will highly correspond with his ability. Drucker states that high school dropouts have the ability to become knowledge workers. I'm highly skeptical of this statement.

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Prophetic

I have been in the information technology business for over 25 years and The Post-Capitalist Society is the most valuable source I have had in understanding the role of information in society and particularly in business. I still find executives without a clear understanding of the role of information in business. I would love to see Peter Drucker's updated version.

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The Post Capitalist Society

Reading this book was a review of what Peter would speak about in his classes in the early 1990's until he died. Professor Drucker had tremendous perception of what was happening in the world. He often said, "I will not tell you anything you don't know but I will tell you things you do not perceive". He accomplishes this in this book. Peter is not a visionary, he writes about things that are currently happening. He does not provide the answers for todays issues but rather clarifies the questions. He does not look at the world's issues as left or right but as a manager would who is faced with addressing them.

Everyone in the world, especially society's leaders, should read and re-read this book.

I have asked my grandkids to read this so that they will have a better understanding of the world they are growing up in.

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Post-Capitalist Society

On April 15, 2006 the Collegiate Forum at Georgetown University held a talk on the future of labor policy in the United States and how to redistribute opportunity. Peter F. Drucker's book was cited by the discussion leader numerous times and I subsequently read it. Jonathan Fantini Porter, President of the Collegiate Forum at Georgetown University, lead the discussion and argued that the Bill Clinton Initiative and similar opportunity distribution policies, similar to the ones argued by the author, are the means to achieving a strong labor force in the United States.

Peter F. Drucker is a superb source for economic policies.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

Business guru Peter Drucker provides an incisive analysis of the major world transformation taking place, from the Age of Capitalism to the Knowledge Society, and examines the radical affects it will have on society, politics, and business now and in the coming years. This searching and incisive analysis of the major world transformation now taking place shows how it will affect society,economics, business, and politics and explains how we are movingfrom a society based on capital, land, and labor to a society whoseprimary source is knowIedge and whose key structure is theorganization.

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