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I'm writing this note from Hong Kong, the fourth Chinese City I've visited in the last four days. What a wonderful, whirlwind few days this has been!
Less than two weeks ago, McGraw-Hill published The Drucker Difference, an anthology of essays from Drucker School faculty based on the unique gateway course that we require of all our entering Drucker School students. For information on the The Drucker Difference, click here.
The next day, the World Business Forum opened in New York City, branded this year into a Drucker Centennial event. Speakers ranged from T. Boone Pickens to Gary Hamel, Jeffrey Sachs and Paul Krugman. I had the opportunity to address the 5,000 attendees from the stage at Radio City Music Hall and to reintroduce Peter Drucker and the relevance of his principles and practices, before introducing our keynote speaker, former President Bill Clinton. We also used this venue to launch the Drucker Institute's new product, Drucker Unpacked, which allows any organization to access Drucker's insights and methods to improve performance.
Immediately upon my return from the World Business Forum, the Drucker School celebrated its first ever State of the School. This event, attended by students, alumni, university-wide staff and friends from the community allowed our stakeholders a transparent look into what has transpired over the past year and also a window into some of our many plans for the future. Our celebration of the Drucker School culminated with the unveiling of a new street sign and address for the Drucker School, 100 Drucker Way. To commemorate this milestone, Doris Drucker joined CGU Provost Yi Feng, Claremont Mayor Corey Calaycay, CGU Trustee Marshall Taylor and me in unveiling a new street sign and address for the Drucker School: 100 Drucker Way.
Last week, A.G. Lafley, the Chairman of Procter & Gamble and one of our Drucker Centennial Chairs, convened 30 corporate and NGO CEOs at the Drucker Institute, along with some of the world's leading academic experts on leadership, to explore the changing role of the CEO in the 21st Century, informed by Peter Drucker's insights and perspective and a recent article that A.G. wrote in the Harvard Business Review, which cited Peter no fewer than 18 times (click here for more details.) Participants included the CEOs of Intuit, Costco, Macy's, Wegman's, Teach for America, plus Professors Jeffrey Pfeffer of Stanford, Rosabeth Moss Kanter of HBS, Warren Bennis of USC, David Cooperrider of Case Western, Dean Roger Martin of the Rotman School in Toronto, and Vijay Sathe and Jean Lipman-Blumen of the Drucker School.
Speaking of the Harvard Business Review: this month's special edition is devoted to the Drucker Centennial and is entitled: "What would Peter say? " Learn how his wisdom can help you navigate turbulent times.
Following the CEO Forum, I flew through the night to a very special Drucker Centennial celebration at the University of Nanjing, where our alumnus, Shuming Zhao, has been the pioneering dean of the business school which has emerged as a major source of innovative management education in China over the past 31 years. Imagine my delight in arriving at a major forum attended by more than 400 scholars and students and devoted exclusively to learning from the father of modern management: Peter F. Drucker! Dean Zhao also devoted a meeting later in the day of 200 EMBA alumni from the Business School at the University of Nanjing to Peter Drucker's legacy, and I had the privilege to address this group and relate to them how much Peter respected executive management students, how much he learned from them, and how thrilled he would be to witness their devotion to lifelong learning -- and the monthly book club they have established, which includes rereading many of Peter's classics.
While I was in Nanjing, our Drucker Centennial Co-Chair, Minglo Shao, and his talented team from the Peter F. Drucker Academy in China, were kicking off the first of five Drucker Centennial events throughout China , beginning in Beijing and Jinan. I caught up with them in Nanchang, then Shanghai and now Hong Kong. Throughout, the crowds have been large, the audiences attentive, the speakers informative and thoughtful, and the energy and enthusiasm for Peter's principles and practices quite palpable. The commitment to Peter Drucker here in China is deep and profound -- and clearly growing. Yesterday's keynote speeches and panel discussions conveyed respect for Peter's historic contributions to our understanding of management and the role of innovation and the knowledge worker in sustaining a healthy economy. They also built upon Peter's insights to shed light on the ethical dimensions of the recent "financial tsunami," the importance of creativity and intellectual curiosity in propelling Hong Kong's future, and the need for leaders in the future who share Peter's belief in effective management, ethical leadership and social responsibility.
As I return to Claremont, an enthusiastic team of students, alumni and staff are gearing up for what promises to be a memorable Drucker Week, from November 2-8, to which you are all invited. Sign up here. Activities range from a Japanese Art Exhibit to a concluding Sunday brunch hosted by Doris Drucker -- with a fabulous lineup of speakers in between, including Stephen Covey, Ken Blanchard, Charles Handy, Warren Bennis, Frances Hesselbein, and Jim Collins, among many others -- in both Claremont and in downtown Los Angeles.
Additional Drucker Centennial events will take place in Vienna, Austria where Doris, Rick Wartzman (Executive Director of the Drucker Institute), Prof. Joseph Maciariello and I will join a pantheon of European academic and business leaders in honoring Peter in the city where he was born 100 years ago November 19, 1909. Our friends in South America are transforming their business expos in São Paulo, Brazil, Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mexico City and Milan, Italy, into Drucker Centennial events as well, making our celebration truly global in scope, and involving literally tens of thousands of people.
In all this, there is a growing sense of community and shared commitment across geographies and cultures. The common denominator, the singular language, the unifying method and message, is found in Peter Drucker's values and teachings. Everywhere I go, from board rooms to community groups, from governors' offices to classrooms, the challenges we face as a global community call out for a Drucker-like approach to problem solving, effectiveness and performance, ethical and humble leadership, and social responsibility.
I feel as though we at Drucker are like an athlete competing above our weight class. We're a tiny institution relative to so many of the massive and financially muscular business schools across America and around the world. Indeed, we may be the smallest of the 1,000 business schools in the United States. But, like the little engine that could, we're helping to lead the way to and climb the steep curve of learning and knowledge that we need for the future. We're doing what Jim Collins says we must: asking the big questions, summoning the courage to seek both truth and wisdom, to take on conventional thinking and offering up creative new ideas and approaches and solutions to some of society's most intractable problems.
I'm so proud of all our partners and our tiny little band of passionate and super smart students, faculty and staff here at the Drucker School and the Drucker Institute who are sustaining Peter's legacy and revitalizing his message and bringing those insights to new audiences in new ways. It's clear from the reception around the world that Drucker is resonating now as perhaps never before. At the latest count, there are now 28 Societies in 16 countries on five continents.
Peter challenged us to be good stewards, to leave the world a better place than we found it. Thank you for helping us be good stewards of his legacy. As he would remind us, the best way to predict the future is to create it. Thank you for joining us as we attempt to create the future, together, today, in a Drucker-like way.
All the best,
Ira A. Jackson
Dean and Professor of Management
Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito
Graduate School of Management
Claremont Graduate University
Archived massages from the dean
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