Table of Contents
Father of modern management
Passage
A. It’s been said that Peter Drucker invented the discipline of management Before he wrote his first book on the topic, he knew of only two companies in the world with management development programs. Ten years after the book’s publication, 3,000 companies were teaching the subject. Widely considered as the father of “modem management,” he wrote 39 books and countless scholarly and popular articles exploring how humans are organized in all sectors of society—business, government and the nonprofit world. His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to a world economic power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning.
B. Drucker has said that writing is die foundation of everything he does. In 1937, he published his first book, which was written in Europe. The End of Economic Man: A Study of the New Totalitarianism examined the spiritual and social origins of fascism. In 1940, before the United States entered World War n, he wrote The Future of Industrial Man, in which he presented his social vision for the postwar world. In 1943, General Motors asked Drucker to study its management practices. Drucker accepted and spent 18 months researching and writing the 1945 book. Concept of the Corporation.
C. The concepts Drucker introduced in the 1940s and 1950s have endured. In 1954, Drucker wrote his first book that taught people how to manage. Tided The Practice of Management, it introduced the concept of “management by objectives”. Management by objectives require managers to establish goals for theft subordinates and devise means of measuring results. Workers are then left alone to perform as they will and measure theft performance. Drucker wrote, “It is not possible to be effective unless one first decides what one wants to accomplish. He went on to explain that every worker must be given the tools “to appraise himself, rather than be appraised and controlled from the outside. Management by objectives has become an accepted business concept and is probably Drucker’s most important contribution. Drucker issued challenges to junior, middle and senior management: ‘The very term “middle management” is becoming meaningless [as some] will have to learn how to work with people over whom they have no direct line control, to work transnationally, and to create, maintain, and run systems-none of which are traditionally middle management tasks. “It is top management that faces the challenge of setting directions for the enterprise, of managing the fundamentals.
D. Drucker interviewed executives and workers, visited plants, and attended board meetings. While the book focused on General Motors, Drucker went on to discuss the industrial corporation as a social institution and economic policy in the postwar era. He introduced previously unknown concepts such as cooperation between labor and management, decentralization of management, and viewing workers as resources rather than costs. Drucker saw people as a resource, and considered that they would be more able to satisfy customers if they had more involvement in then jobs and gained some satisfaction from doing them. Drucker claimed that an industrial society allows people to realize their dreams of personal achievement and equal opportunity-the need to manage business by balancing a variety of needs and goals, rather than subordinating an institution to a single value. This concept of management by objectives forms the keynote of his 1954 landmark The Practice of Management. He referred to decentralization as ‘a system of local self government, in which central management tells division managers what to do, but not how to do it. The young executives are given the freedom to make decisions — and mistakes — and learn from the experience. Top leaders at General Motors disliked the book and discouraged their executives from reading it. Many other American executives criticized Concept for its challenge to management authority.
E. Drucker wasn’t immune to criticism. The Wall Street Journal researched several of his lectures in 1987 and reported that he was sometimes loose with facts. Drucker was off the mark, for example, when he told an audience that English was the official language for all employees at Japan’s Mitsui trading company. And he was known for his prescience. Given the recent involvement of the US government with financial companies, he was probably correct in his forecast when he anticipated, for instance, that the nation’s financial center would shift from New York to Washington, others maintain that one of Drucker’s core concepts-“management by objectives” -is flawed and has never really been proven to work effectively. Specifically, critics say that the system is difficult to implement, and that companies often wind up overemphasizing control, as opposed to fostering creativity, to meet their goals. Drucker didn’t shy away from controversy, either.
F. Throughout his career, Drucker expanded his position that management was “a liberal art ” and he infused his management advice with interdisciplinary lessons including history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, culture and religion. He also strongly believed that all institutions, including those in the private sector, had a responsibility for the whole society. “The fact is,” Drucker wrote in 1973, “that in modem society there is no other leadership group but managers. If the managers of our major institutions, especially in business, do not take responsibility for the common good, no one else can or will.” In his books, lectures and interviews, the emergence of knowledge workers is only one of the demographic changes Drucker warns businesses to prepare for. Others include a decreasing birth rate in developed countries, a shift in population from rural to urban centers, shifts in distribution of disposable income and global competitiveness. Drucker believes these changes will have a tremendous impact on business. Drucker held a profound skepticism of macroeconomic theory and contended that economists of all schools fail to explain significant aspects of modem economies. Business “gums” have come and gone during the last 50 years, but Drucker’s message continues to inspire managers. During the 1990s, Drucker wrote about social, political and economic changes of the” postcapitalist” era, which he says are as profound as those of the industrial revolution. In Managing for the Future: The 1990s and Beyond (1992), Drucker discussed the emergence of the “knowledge worker” — whose resources include specialized learning or competency rather than land, labor or other forms of capital.
Questions
Questions 14-19
Reading Passage 2 has 6 paragraphs A-F. Choose die correct heading for paragraphs A-F from the list of headings below. Write the correct number: i-x, in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet
List of Headings
i. Introducing new management concepts to postwar era
ii. Ideas that stood the test of time
iii. Early publications
iv. Shifting the focus of management in modem manufactures
v. Thinker and scholar with world-wide popularity
vi. Drucker’s concepts are flawed
vii. The changing role of employees in management
viii. Find fault with Drucker
ix. Iconic view of “management by objectives”
————————————————————————-
14. Paragraph A
15. Paragraph B
16. Paragraph C
17. Paragraph D
18. Paragraph E
19. Paragraph F
Questions 20-23
Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2? In boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE if the statement is true
FALSE if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN if the information is not given in the passage 2
20. Drucker believed the employees should enjoy the same status as the employers in a company
21. middle management tasks will change since companies become more complicated and run business globally
22. Drucker strongly support that economists of schools have resources to explain the problems of modem economies at least in a macroeconomics scope
23. Drucker’s ideas proposed half a century ago are out of date in modem days
Questions 24-25
Choose TWO letters from A-E.
Write your answers in boxes 24 and 25 on your answer sheet. Which TWO of the following are true of Drucker’s views?
A. Managers should be responsible for the common good of the whole society.
B. Young executives should be given chances to start from low level jobs
C. More emphasis should be laid on fostering the development of the union.
D. Management should facilitate workers with tools of self-appraisal instead of controlling them from the outside.
E. management should go beyond an isolate discipline as to incorporate ideas with many subjects
Questions 26-27
Choose TWO letters from A-E.
Write your answers in boxes 26 and 27 on your answer sheet.
Which TWO of the following are mentioned in the passage as criticisms to Drucker and his views?
A. He did not show enough respect to Japanese employees when he said English was the official language for all employees at Japan’s Mitsui trading company.
B. His lectures are too broad and lack of being precise and accurate about the facts.
C. His concepts helped corporate executives but not average workers. D. His ideas are sometimes impractical and result in opposite outcomes.
E. He was overstating the case for knowledge workers when warning businesses to get prepared.
Answers
Below are the answers, key words, synonyms and full explanations for the IELTS Reading passage Father of Modern Management (Passage 2, Questions 14–27). Note: this is IELTS Quảng Trị’s own version of the passage (about Peter Drucker’s 39 books, The End of Economic Man, Concept of the Corporation and The Practice of Management); the questions were solved from this exact text.
Questions 14–19: Matching Headings
i. Introducing new management concepts to postwar era ii. Ideas that stood the test of time iii. Early publications iv. Shifting the focus of management in modern manufactures v. Thinker and scholar with world-wide popularity vi. Drucker’s concepts are flawed vii. The changing role of employees in management viii. Find fault with Drucker ix. Iconic view of “management by objectives”
14. Paragraph A
Answer: v
Key words: “Widely considered as the father of ‘modern management’ … His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century”
Explanation: Paragraph A introduces Drucker’s global standing and far-reaching influence → v (Thinker and scholar with world-wide popularity).
15. Paragraph B
Answer: iii
Key words: “In 1937, he published his first book … In 1940 … The Future of Industrial Man … In 1943 … Concept of the Corporation”
Explanation: Paragraph B lists his earliest books in order → iii (Early publications).
16. Paragraph C
Answer: ix
Key words: “it introduced the concept of ‘management by objectives’ … is probably Drucker’s most important contribution”
Explanation: Paragraph C is built around the landmark idea of management by objectives → ix (Iconic view of “management by objectives”).
17. Paragraph D
Answer: i
Key words: “He introduced previously unknown concepts such as cooperation between labor and management, decentralization of management … economic policy in the postwar era”
Explanation: Paragraph D presents brand-new management ideas set in the postwar period → i (Introducing new management concepts to postwar era).
18. Paragraph E
Answer: viii
Key words: “The Wall Street Journal … reported that he was sometimes loose with facts … critics say that the system … is difficult to implement”
Explanation: Paragraph E collects the criticisms levelled at Drucker → viii (Find fault with Drucker).
19. Paragraph F
Answer: ii
Key words: “Business ‘gurus’ have come and gone during the last 50 years, but Drucker’s message continues to inspire managers”
Explanation: Paragraph F stresses that Drucker’s ideas have lasted and still inspire → ii (Ideas that stood the test of time).
Questions 20–23: True / False / Not Given
20. Drucker believed the employees should enjoy the same status as the employers in a company.
Answer: NOT GIVEN
Key words: The passage discusses treating workers as resources and giving them involvement, but never compares their “status” with employers’.
Explanation: No statement about equal status between employees and employers appears in the text → NOT GIVEN.
21. Middle-management tasks will change since companies become more complicated and run business globally.
Answer: TRUE
Key words: “The very term ‘middle management’ is becoming meaningless [as some] will have to learn how to work with people over whom they have no direct line control, to work transnationally”
Synonyms: run business globally = work transnationally
Explanation: Paragraph C says middle managers must take on new, cross-border tasks → TRUE.
22. Drucker strongly supported that economists of all schools have the resources to explain the problems of modern economies, at least in a macroeconomic scope.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: “Drucker held a profound skepticism of macroeconomic theory and contended that economists of all schools fail to explain significant aspects of modern economies”
Explanation: Drucker said economists FAIL to explain modern economies — the opposite of the statement → FALSE.
23. Drucker’s ideas proposed half a century ago are out of date in modern days.
Answer: FALSE
Key words: “Drucker’s message continues to inspire managers”
Explanation: The passage says his message still inspires, so his ideas are not out of date → FALSE.
Questions 24–25: Choose TWO letters (A–E) — which TWO are true of Drucker’s views?
A. Managers should be responsible for the common good of the whole society. B. Young executives should start from low-level jobs. C. More emphasis on developing the union. D. Management should facilitate workers with tools of self-appraisal instead of controlling them from the outside. E. Management should go beyond an isolated discipline to incorporate ideas from many subjects.
Answer: A and E
Key words (A): “If the managers of our major institutions … do not take responsibility for the common good, no one else can or will.”
Key words (E): “management was ‘a liberal art’ and he infused his management advice with interdisciplinary lessons including history, sociology, psychology, philosophy, culture and religion”
Explanation: A matches Drucker’s call for managers to serve the common good (Para F); E matches his view of management as a liberal art drawing on many disciplines (Para F). Note: option D is also textually supported (“give the worker tools to appraise himself, rather than be appraised and controlled from the outside,” Para C), so D is an equally defensible third answer — this is an ambiguity in the original question. B and C are not stated.
Questions 26–27: Choose TWO letters (A–E) — which TWO are mentioned as criticisms of Drucker?
A. Disrespect to Japanese employees over the Mitsui “English” claim. B. His lectures are too broad and lack precision/accuracy about the facts. C. His concepts helped executives but not average workers. D. His ideas are sometimes impractical and result in opposite outcomes. E. He overstated the case for knowledge workers.
Answer: B and D
Key words (B): “The Wall Street Journal researched several of his lectures in 1987 and reported that he was sometimes loose with facts”
Key words (D): “critics say that the system is difficult to implement, and that companies often wind up overemphasizing control, as opposed to fostering creativity”
Explanation: B matches the “loose with facts” criticism; D matches the criticism that management-by-objectives is hard to implement and backfires (control instead of creativity). A misframes the Mitsui point (it was a factual error, not a “respect” issue); C and E are not raised as criticisms.
Answer Key (Quick Reference)
| Q | Answer | Q | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | v | 21 | TRUE |
| 15 | iii | 22 | FALSE |
| 16 | ix | 23 | FALSE |
| 17 | i | 24 | A |
| 18 | viii | 25 | E |
| 19 | ii | 26 | B |
| 20 | NOT GIVEN | 27 | D |
