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A frustrated quest for community

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Abstract

Most people knew Peter Drucker as the practical sage who gave how-to advice on stubborn problems in the real world. But few knew the other Drucker, an idealistic thinker who tried to solve one of the biggest puzzles of modern humanity. Drucker engaged in a lifelong quest to discover the key for integrating community into the business world, and the word, “community,” was the single term that Drucker struggled most to fathom throughout his career. In the end he abandoned even markets as the solution for community and acknowledged defeat. Yet his final failure to connect community to business is instructive for it tells us not only about Peter Drucker, but about our current business/social dilemma.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The Wharton School, Jon M. Huntsman Hall, Room 644, 3730 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, PA, 19104-6340, USA

    Thomas Donaldson

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  1. Thomas Donaldson
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Correspondence to Thomas Donaldson.

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For “A Tribute to Peter Drucker”

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Donaldson, T. A frustrated quest for community. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 37, 44–46 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0100-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-008-0100-6

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