unimagined futures

Developing a work approach that is adequate to the challenges ahead
a world moving toward new and different futureS

Concept of the Corporation

by Peter Drucker

Introduction, prefaces, and epilogue (link)

Introduction To The Transaction Edition
Preface To The 1983 Edition
Preface To The Original Edition (1946)
Capitalism In One Country
- Capitalism in one country
- The profit motive
- Big business
- The large corporation as autonomous
- Its function in society
- Can the two be harmonized?
- Idealism and pragmatism, both leading to totalitarianism
The Corporation As Human Effort
- Organization for Production
  - Experience in the war
  - The problem of leadership
  - Recruiting and training
  - Specialists and "generalists"
  - Policy and initiative
  - A yardstick of efficiency
- Decentralization
  - General Motors' policies
  - Line and staff
  - An essay in federalism
  - Central and divisional management
  - Service staffs
  - Bonuses
  - The "Sloan meetings"
  - Freedom and order
  - Base pricing
  - Competition in the market
- How Well Does It Work?
  - The conversion to war production
  - Reconversion to peacetime work
  - Isolation of the top executives
  - Customer relations
  - Dealer relations
  - Community relations
  - General public relations
- The Small Business Partner
  - New-car sales and the used-car market
  - The dealer's franchise
  - Loans to dealers
- Decentralization as a Model?
  - Decentralization for other industries
  - The Fisher Body Division
  - Chevrolet
  - The competitive market check
  - The production of leaders
The Corporation As A Social Institution
- The American Beliefs
  - Equal opportunity
  - Uniqueness of the individual
  - "Middleclass" society
  - Are opportunities shrinking?
  - Emphasis on education
  - Dignity and status in industrial society
  - Assembly-line "monotony"
  - The failure of paternalism
  - Can the unions do it?
- The Foreman: The Industrial Middle Class
  - The foreman
  - His opportunities
  - The "forgotten man"
  - The drive to unionize foremen
- The Worker
  - The worker's industrial citizenship
  - Training
  - The plant community
  - Lessons of the war
  - Flexibility of mass production
  - The worker's pride and interest
  - Inventiveness
  - "Social gadgeteering"
  - Suggestion plans
  - Plant services
  - The wage issue
  - The strike against General Motors
  - Profits, pricing, and wages
  - The annual wage
  - Collectivism not the answer
  - Worker's participation in management
Economic Policy In An Industrial Society
- The "Curse of Bigness"
  - Society's stake in corporation policy
  - Monopoly
  - The old theories
  - Supply and demand
  - Efforts to regulate
  - The "curse of bigness"
  - Economics and technological necessity
  - General Motors service staffs
  - Policy-making and long-term interests
  - Social stability
- Production for "Use" or for "Profit"?
  - Risks
  - Expansion
  - Capital requirements
  - The profit motive
  - "Creative instincts"
  - The lust for power
  - The market theory
  - Price
  - Economic wants
  - "Economic planning"
  - Social needs
  - The market as yardstick
  - Individual wants
  - The socialist counterargument
  - Self-interest
- Is Full Employment Possible?
  - Depressions
  - The business cycle
  - Public works programs
  - The challenge to business leaders
  - The calendar year strait jacket
  - Cyclical taxes
  - Reserves for employment funds
  - Unemployment insurance
  - Union wage policies
  - Capital for new ventures
  - Economic policy for a free-enterprise society
  - The threat of total war
Epilogue (1983)

Flash forward to the management revolution

See My Years with General Motors (Alfred Sloan)

Click the button below to make a donation through PayPal. Just a few dollars helps with the books, software, web site hosting, and the time devoted to enhancing the work approach blue print and action menu available on this site. See the text site map for a view of the site's unique scope and resources. Also see links to external resources on my del.icio.us page

See conceptual resource book list for a categoried list of book outlines and conceptual resources for a usage methodology.

Assistance available.