Peter Drucker
With this research project, I’m not too sure what avenues I want to explore. The concept of post-capitalism has so many different variations that it would be impossible to fit it all into one talk. One person I know I want to mention however is Peter Drucker, who is highly influential in modern-day business. He’s often referred to as the father of modern management, pushing the idea that management should stand by itself in an organisation, separate from other functions. He believed that managers should be held accountable to both shareholders and society.
He predicted many things which came to fruition, such as the rise of Japan as an economic power, privatisation, and the emergence of an information-based society. This final prediction is notable, as information has been a large driver in economic growth, mainly due to the rapid advancement in technology. The current high-paying jobs tend to be for people who possess a high level of knowledge. Now you may think this is obvious, but in prior societies, this wasn’t the case. Go back far enough, and it’s the strongest of society that is sought after.
Drucker wrote many books, but the one I’m most interested in is “Post Capitalist Society”. He talks about the rise in technology, and how this is affecting the economy and the workplace. He believes that our current capitalist system is becoming outdated with these economic changes and an information-based society. Drucker claims we are moving towards a "knowledge society”, where capital is no longer the primary driver for economic growth, knowledge will be. This will require a complete change to education and management. In the book, he theorises that perhaps in this new society, current political ideologies (capitalism, socialism etc.) are no longer relevant, and we need to come up with something else.
Drucker noticed capitalism’s failures to address people’s needs and aspirations, as well as the planet’s. Capitalism has tunnel vision, with its main aim of raising shareholder value. Concentrating on the short-term, not long-term innovations and sustainability. He believes this view has made the public distrustful of businesses, and if they opened up their view to the future, people would be more accepting. They need to broaden their horizons and think about the wider public, rather than shareholders. Short-term profits don’t help anything but shares. At the head of these corporations are humans, surely they should aim to contribute to society in a meaningful way? He goes on to state that governments should get involved, regulate businesses and create policies that encourage investment into innovations, community, and the world.
Much of what he says in “Post Capitalist Society” is already starting to happen, with businesses focusing more on sustainability, and governments getting more involved with how businesses function. There’s still much to do however as environmental concerns and inequality still being large issues in our society. We all need to work together to save this planet and life as we know it. He estimated this change to post-capitalism would be complete by 2010-2020, and that wasn’t correct, so maybe his vision won’t become a reality.