What Peter Drucker Would Be Reading

Recent selections from around the web that, we think, would have caught Peter Drucker’s eye:

1.   Saving Capitalism With a New Fordism:  The Great Recession has discredited neoliberalism, argues Michael Lind in the Policy Network Observatory.  The combination of “conservative optimism about deregulated markets” and “progressive support for education and the safety net” proved unsustainable as a foundation for equitable, steady growth. Now, writes Lind,  “In the advanced economies, the transition has to be from post-Fordism to a new Fordism in the service sector, so that their workers can afford the services they provide.”

2.   Why Don’t More Shoppers Worry When Big Data’s Watching?: Retailers are tracking our movements, even when we’re in their bricks-and-mortar stores. Shoppers don’t like that, reports Sheri Roder in Ad Age, but most have become resigned to it, especially because they like to take advantage of store loyalty programs. Notes Roder, “Even among those who feel that it is invasive, nearly six in 10 said that they haven’t changed any of their shopping behaviors to resist being followed.”

3.  Will Microsoft’s Reorganization Pay Off?: Microsoft is in sore need of a reorganization, with feuding divisions and lots of duplicative efforts, and CEO Steve Ballmer wants to make the organization more streamlined and cohesive. But an article in Knowledge@Wharton questions whether that will be enough to help Microsoft regain its edge. “For the reorganization to pay dividends, Microsoft needs to build market share in smartphones, tablets and gaming and reduce its dependence on the PC market,” the article asserts. “What is unclear is how the reorganization helps achieve that goal.”

4.  Dx Comment of the Week: Last week, when we asked whether technology was making us wiser, reader Maverick18 had this to say:

“Smart” and “wise” are too different things. What distinguishes mankind is the continuous development of technology from the wheel to space travel. As technology has been developed, it has added to mankind’s knowledge base. Hence, the process is that knowledge and technology progress together. That says nothing about wisdom. The history of the world demonstrates that man can grow smarter without growing wiser.