As President of the Peter Drucker Society Europe I would like to introduce myself with this short bio. While I will be the main author I will also invite distinguished guest authors to contribute. The blog will cover key management subjects mainly related to the Drucker Forum.

When we discuss management as a key issue for society these days the word has a mostly negative connotation – we tend to talk about management in terms of the damages that short-termism, off-shoring, greed and bad management (in particular in the financial services sector) are inflicting on society.

 
A round table last week at the European Business Summit (EBS) organised by the EFMD took a different approach.

 
The theme “Management Skills for Growth” pointed to a great opportunity. Opening statements came from Adrian Wooldridge (Management Editor, The Economist), Alexander von Gabain (Chair of the European Institute for Innovation and Technology – EIT) and Santiago Iniguez (President of IE Business School and President of IE University). You can access the Live Tweets from the session via the Drucker Forum Twitter @GDruckerForum and via the hashtag #ebs2012.

 
The discussion focused on how to increase innovation as an aid to moving Europe back to growth. Alexander von Gabain made the point that most Europeans seem to believe that top-class research will per se lead to innovation. Rather, he emphasised the managerial and entrepreneurial capacity that is essential to transform research results into value.
There was a strong feeling in the meeting that European policy makers had a blind spot in this field. While it may be right to pump billions into R&D, they do not seem to realise that without a proper focus on building management and entrepreneurial capacity in our societies we will not get the best return from these huge investments.

 
Management capacity is the “missing link” in policy makers’ perception of how to achieve innovation and growth. According to Adrian Wooldridge, management sciences must be recognised as an essential field of research while Santiago Iniguez showed how business schools are in the process of reinventing themselves to become key players in the “knowledge triangle” (business, education and research).

 
A Call to Action resulting from the EBS round table addresses key issues such as the inclusions of management education in scientific and engineering studies, supporting entrepreneurial mindsets and values from school-level onwards, and providing community research funding for important fields such as design thinking, open innovation and organisational sociology.

 
With Capitalism 2.0 we have chosen a theme essential to the future of our society. A changing capitalism must be powered by evolving management practices – let us call those Management 2.0. An increased recognition of the importance of good and effective management practice, not just within a single organisation but for all society, will lead to a new synergy between public, semi-public and the private sectors in the field of management, innovation and entrepreneurship.

 
I will keep you posted in future blog entries about the next developments in the European level discussion.

Your comments will be highly appreciated.
Richard Straub
President Peter Drucker Society Europe

@rstraub46