Managing for ResultsManaging for Results is Peter Drucker's forgotten masterpiece. Here's a quote from the introduction that describes what it is about. [The book] "deals with the economic tasks that any business has to discharge for economic performance and economic results. It attempts to organize these tasks so that executives can perform them systematically, purposefully, with understanding and with reasonable probability of accomplishment." This is Peter Drucker at his best. He offers us a lucid analysis of what to do to increase your business' long term profitability and competitive advantage. Though the language and examples are sometimes dated, the lessons are timeless. The book is divided into three sections. Part One is "Understanding the Business." You'll learn how to analyze a business in a way that lets you understand what we now call its "business model:" how the business makes money. Part Two, "Focus on Opportunity," begins with these words: "Analysis of the entire business and its basic economics always shows it to be in worse disrepair than anyone expected." Drucker then offers three questions to ask as the first step in making your business effective and offers the principle of building on strength as the key to success. The balance of Part Two discusses "Finding Business Potential" and "Making the Future Today." If you've read Drucker's Innovation and Entrepreneurship, you'll see precursors here in a more simplified form. Part Three lays out "A Program for Performance." The first chapter in the section lays out the key decisions. The chapter on "Business Strategies" suggests four questions that any strategic plan should answer. "To turn an entrepreneurial program into performance requires effective management." That's what's covered in the chapter on "Building Economic Performance into a Business." Clearly many entrepreneurs of the Internet Bubble era did not read this chapter about turning good ideas into money. This book should sit within arm's reach, right next to another Drucker classic: The Effective Executive. Read and re-read that book to get better at your personal work. Read and re-read Managing for Results to make your company a success. To see what other folks thought of this book, or to purchase it from Amazon, click here.
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