DRUCKER AND MANAGEMENT AS LIBERAL ART

Peter F. Drucker as one of the most influencing man in modern management has found many theories in how management should be in modern era. In this resume, Drucker’s ideas which apply to today’s dilemma will be reviewed .As Drucker said, management is what tradition used to call a liberal art. ‘Liberal’ because it deals with the fundamentals of knowledge, self-knowledge, wisdom, and leadership; and ‘art’ because it deals with practice and application.

Managers draw upon all of the knowledge and insights of the humanities and social sciences on psychology and philosophy, on economics and history, on the physical sciences and ethics. But they have to focus this knowledge on effectiveness and results.

The concept of the liberal arts, and by extension “management as a liberal art,” must therefore involve a foundation in values, virtues, and character formation. Druckers’ most pressing concern was that organizations direct their attention to people; organizations must provide human beings with status, function, and a sense of community and purpose.The primary goals of a liberal arts education in any era was to develop a thinking, virtuous individual, that can agreed-upon societal values, communicate those values to their organizations, and embody those values in their daily behaviors.

Reference : Some of the material taken from Daniel A. Wren (2005)
“The History of Management Thought”, 5th Edition