Book Brief: Managing in the Next Society

Managing in the Next Society
By Peter F. Drucker
Truman Talley Books/St. Martin's Press, July 2002
352 pages, $24.95

Given his track record, it is always a good idea to pay attention to what Peter Drucker is thinking. Two themes dominate this collection of pieces, all of them previously published in business and public affairs magazines in the U.S and the U.K: What does a declining number of young workers mean to the future health of corporations? And what is the long-term effect of the decline of manufacturing? These "social changes," Drucker writes, "may be more important for the success or failure of an organization and its executives than economic events." Drucker has been wrestling with these issues for a while; it might be a good idea if you started.