ECONOMICS REPORT - Peter Drucker, 1909-2005: A Thinker for B

ECONOMICS¹ REPORT - Peter Drucker, 1909-2005: A Thinker for Business Leaders
By Mario Ritter

Broadcast: Friday, November 25, 2005

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Peter Drucker was a voice for change and new ways of thinking about social and business relations. He died in Claremont, California, on November eleventh at the age of ninety-five.

 
Peter Drucker
Peter Drucker was born in Austria in nineteen-oh-nine. In the late nineteen twenties, he worked as a reporter in Frankfurt, Germany. He also studied international law.

He fled Germany as Adolf Hitler came to power in nineteen thirty-three. Peter Drucker spent four years in Britain as an adviser² to investment³ banks. He then came to the United States.

Mister⁴ Drucker used his knowledge of international law to advise American businesses. He developed this advice into books on businesses methods and management.

In the middle of the nineteen forties, Peter Drucker argued that the desire for profit was central to business efforts. He also warned that rising wages were harming American business.

Mister Drucker was later invited to study General Motors. He wrote about his experiences in the book "The Concept⁵ of the Corporation⁶." In it, he said that workers at all levels should take part in decision-making, not just top managers.

Critics of Peter Drucker have said that he often included only information that supported his arguments. But even his critics praised his clear reasoning and simple writing. He was called a management guru.

Peter Drucker changed his thinking as times changed. In nineteen ninety-three, he warned that seeking too much profit helped a business' competitors. That was almost fifty years after he had argued the importance of profits.

Mister Drucker taught at the Claremont Graduate School of Management for more than thirty years. He also advised companies. And he wrote for the Wall Street Journal⁷ opinion page for twenty years, until nineteen ninety-five. He commented on many economic and management issues.

Peter Drucker may be most famous not for answering questions but for asking them. He once said that business people must ask themselves not "what do we want to sell?" but "what do people want to buy?"

Mister Drucker used terms like "knowledge workers" and "management goals." Many of his ideas have grown to be highly⁸ valued in business training and politics.

This VOA Special English Economics Report was written by Mario Ritter.  I'm Steve Ember.

1 economics   

n.经济学，经济情况

参考例句：

• He is studying economics,which subject is very important.他正在学习经济学，该学科是很重要的。
• One can't separate politics from economics.不能把政治与经济割裂开来。

2 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

3 investment   

n.投资，投资额；(时间、精力等的)投入

参考例句：

• It took two years before I recouped my investment.我用了两年时间才收回投资。
• The success of the project pivots on investment from abroad.这个工程的成功主要依靠外来投资。

4 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

5 concept   

n.概念，观念，思想

参考例句：

• A small baby has no concept of right and wrong.婴儿没有是非概念。
• He was asked to define his concept of cool.他被要求说明自己关于“酷”的定义。

6 corporation   

n.公司，企业&n.社团，团体

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation. 这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• The inflation did the corporation up. 通货膨胀使这个公司破产了。

7 journal   

n.日志，日记；议事录；日记帐；杂志，定期刊物

参考例句：

• He kept a journal during his visit to Japan.他在访问日本期间坚持记日记。
• He got a job as editor of a trade journal.他找到了一份当商业杂志编辑的工作。

8 highly   

adv.高度地，极，非常；非常赞许地

参考例句：

• It is highly important to provide for the future.预先做好准备非常重要。
• The teacher speaks very highly of the boy's behaviour.老师称赞这个男孩的表现。