Concept of the Corporation

Peter Drucker

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781560006251
• eBook ISBN: 9781351526982
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Organisational Behaviour
• Index: Business

Concept of the Corporation was the first study ever of the constitution, structure, and internal dynamics of a major business enterprise. Basing his work on a two-year analysis of the company done during the closing years of World War II, Drucker looks at the General Motors managerial organization from within. He tries to understand what makes the company work so effectively, what its core principles are, and how they contribute to its successes. The themes this volume addresses go far beyond the business corporation, into a consideration of the dynamics of the so-called corporate state itself.

When the book initially appeared, General Motors managers rejected it as unfairly critical and antibusiness. Yet, the GM concept of the corporation and its principles of organization later became models for organizations worldwide. Not only businesses, but also government agencies, research laboratories, hospitals, and universities have found in Concept of the Corporation a basis for effective organization and management.

Because it offers a fundamental theory of corporate goals, this book is a valuable resource for business professionals and organization analysts. It will also be of interest to students and professionals in economics, public administration, and political science. Professional and technical readers who admire Peter Drucker's work will want to be certain this volume is in their personal library. At a time when everything from the size to the structure of corporations is being questioned, this classic should prove a valuable guide.

Index

Abundance, real, 245

Accessories divisions, General Motors, 41-2, 194-5;

electrical, 186-7;

Michigan, 185;

organization, 118-9;

promotion in, 125-7;

suggestions plan, 194-5

Advancement, 142-9;

education and, 146-8;

foremen, 164-9;

workers, 178-81

Aircraft division, General Motors, 116-7;

plants, 42

Allison engine division, General Motors, 42

Ambition, 241-5

American Management Assoc., 163n.

— Teachers’ Union, 171

Anarchism, 253

Annual wage, 202-4

Aptitude tests, 181-2

Armaments production, 270-1; see also War production

Army parochialism, 90

Arnold, Thurman, 221, 223

Assembly-line system, 153-9;

influence of war production, 183-91

Automobile accessories divisions, see Accessories divisions

— dealer, see Dealer, automobile

— industry: dealer relations, 227;

pioneer in mass production, 11;

representative industry, 176

— properties, General Motors, 41

— sales, 99-102

— Workers Union, 53, 96, 207

Bankruptcy laws, 21, 215

Barnard, Chester I., 12, 32n.

Base pricing, 65-7, 165

Bell Telephone Co., 11-2

Berle, —, 4n.

Beveridge plan, 278

—, Sir William, 216, 265

Bienstock, Gregory, 123n., 204n.-205n.

Big Business: defined, 4n.;

full-employment policy, 273-80;

maximum usefulness, 221;

monotony in, 153-9;

period of activity, 222;

place in society, 5;

social effects of, 210;

specialization in...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction to the Transaction Edition Preface To The 1983 Edition
• Preface to the Original Edition
• I. Capitalism in One Country
• II. The Corporation As Human Effort
• III. The Corporation As A Social Institution
• IV. Economic Policy In An Industrial Society
• Epilogue (1983)
• Index