Management Cases, Revised Edition

258 Pages·2009·1.13 MB·English

by  Peter F. Drucker

Management
Cases
Peter F. Drucker

Contents
Preface vii
Foreword by Warren G. Bennis ix
Part I Management’s New Realities 1
Case Number 1 Yuhan-Kimberly’s New Paradigm:
Respect for Human Dignity 3
Part II Business Performance 9
Case Number 2 What Is OUR Business? 11
Case Number 3 What Is a Growth Company? 15
Case Number 4 Success in the Small Multinational 17
Case Number 5 Health Care as a Business 20
Part III Performance in Ser vice Institutions 23
Case Number 6 The University Art Museum:
Defining Purpose and Mission 25
Case Number 7 Rural Development Institute:
Should It Tackle the Problem of
the Landless Poor in India? 34
iv Contents
Case Number 8 The Future of Mt. Hillyer College 53
Case Number 9 The Water Museum 56
Case Number 10 Should the Water Utility Operate a Museum? 60
Case Number 11 Meeting the Growing Needs of
the Social Sector 64
Case Number 12 The Dilemma of Aliesha State College:
Competence versus Need 68
Case Number 13 What Are “Results” in the Hospital? 71
Case Number 14 Cost Control in the Hospital 74
Part IV Productive Work and Achieving Worker 79
Case Number 15 Work Simplification and
the Marketing Executive 81
Case Number 16 The Army Ser vice Forces 83
Case Number 17 How Does One Analyze and
Organize Knowledge Work? 89
Case Number 18 Can One Learn to Manage Subordinates? 93
Case Number 19 How to Staff the Dead-end Job? 96
Case Number 20 The New Training Director in the Hospital 99
Case Number 21 Are You One of “Us” or One of “Them”? 102
Case Number 22 Midwest Metals and the Labor Union 105
Case Number 23 Safety at Kajak Airbase 108
Part V Social Impacts and Social Responsibilities 111
Case Number 24 Corporate Image to Brand Image:
Yuhan-Kimberly 113
Contents v
Case Number 25 The Peerless Starch Company of
Blair, Indiana 116
Part VI The Manager’s Work and Jobs 123
Case Number 26 Alfred Sloan’s Management Style 125
Case Number 27 Performance Development System at
Lincoln Electric for Ser vice and
Knowledge Workers 128
Case Number 28 Internal and External Goal Alignment at
Texas Instruments 134
Case Number 29 Can You Manage Your Boss? 138
Case Number 30 Ross Abernathy and
the Frontier National Bank 142
Case Number 31 The Failed Promotion 147
Part VII Managerial Skills 155
Case Number 32 Lyndon Johnson’s Decision 157
Case Number 33 The New Export Manager 161
Case Number 34 The Insane Junior High School Principal 163
Case Number 35 The Structure of a Business Decision 167
Case Number 36 The Corporate Control Panel 170
Part VIII Innovation and Entrepreneurship 173
Case Number 37 Research Strategy and Business Objectives 175
Case Number 38 Who Is the Brightest Hamster
in the Laboratory? 179
vi Contents
Case Number 39 Andy Grove of Intel:
Entrepreneur Turned Executive 183
Case Number 40 The Chardack-Greatbatch
Implantable Pacemaker 188
Part IX Managerial Organization 191
Case Number 41 The Invincible Life Assurance Company 193
Case Number 42 The Failed Acquisition 200
Case Number 43 Banco Mercantil: Organization Structure 203
Case Number 44 The Universal Electronics Company 210
Case Number 45 Research Coordination in
the Pharmaceutical Industry 215
Case Number 46 The Aftermath of Tyranny 218
Case Number 47 What Is the Contribution of Bigness? 220
Part X New Demands on the Individual 225
Case Number 48 The Function of the Chief Executive 227
Case Number 49 Drucker’s Ideas for School Reform 230
Case Number 50 What Do You Want to
Be Remembered For? 240
About the Authors
Credits
Cover
Copyright
About the Publisher
Preface
The fifty cases in this book all deal with specific situations, specific
problems, specific decisions—every one of them typical and fairly
common in business and public ser vice organizations. They are all
management situations, management problems, and management de-
cisions—and that means that they deal with what people have to face,
what p eople have to resolve, and what p eople have to decide. They are
thus typical of the kind of situation, problem, and decision everyone
in management commonly faces—the kind of situations, problems,
and decisions today’s executives and students are likely to face tomor-
row. They should thus be approached by students and instructors as
cases that ask, How should one handle this?
The cases are organized into ten groups following the organization
of the text Management: Revised Edition. They are:
I Management’s New Realities
II Business Performance
III Performance in Ser vice Institutions
IV Productive Work and Achieving Worker
V Social Impacts and Social Responsibilities
VI The Manager’s Work and Jobs
VII Managerial Skills
viii Preface
VIII Innovation and Entrepreneurship
IX Managerial Organization
X New Demands on the Individual
Each case has one primary focus. Each is also concerned—as is
every managerial situation, managerial problem, and managerial deci-
sion—with both the organization and the whole person. Each can be
read, discussed, and used for one main point and purpose; and each
can be read, discussed, and used to gain insight into the complexity of
institutions and of human behavior in institutions.
The cases all deal with real people in real situations and can be
used in discussion groups as well as for a topic for a paper. Most im-
portant, the cases can be used to help readers convert the information
and examples in the text into the real knowledge that one gains when
the discipline of management is put into practice.
Peter F. Drucker
Foreword
Rigor and Relevance
The truth is that nobody can replace Peter. He was one of a kind.
That’s what makes a genius, that unique quality, the sui generis, the
kind of mastery that comes once in a while and makes us feel really
blessed. The beauty, for those of us who are trying to follow in his
footsteps, is that, as Isaac Newton once said, “We dwarfs have the
good fortune of being able to stand on the shoulders of giants which
allows us to see further.”
My relationship with Peter goes way back. I was first introduced to
him by my main mentor, Douglas McGregor. He brought us together
when I had just got out of my PhD program at MIT, and we became
friends. In fact, when I first moved out to Southern California in 1980,
Peter and his wife, Doris, were settled in Claremont. Shortly after I ar-
rived in California, Peter called and invited me to have dinner. I spent
the afternoon by the pool and had dinner with the Druckers.
My relationship with Peter was always interesting because I felt I
was his brother. I felt he was my older brother by about two decades
or so . . . and I kept seeking his approval, which I never felt I got fully.
It was always so wonderful because, though he would try to do it po-
litely, he was so straightforward. He would simply say, “Uhmm . . .
but, Warren . . . you have it wrong.” Peter always kept me on edge.