The book is an examination of General Motors' operations, delving into how large corporations impact society on a broad level.

[1] In writing and researching the book, Drucker was given access to General Motors resources, paid a full salary, accompanied CEO Alfred P. Sloan to meetings, and was given free run of the company.

But Drucker was interested in the human interactions within a company, and more specifically on how power structures, political environments, information flows, decision making and managerial autonomy contributed to success.

[2] Their reaction was so strong against his view of the work, that it would lead to Alfred Sloan later treating his memoir, My Years with General Motors, largely as the organization's rebuttal to Drucker's criticisms, and as a curricular counterbalance to his book's seminal influence in the field of management education[2] (which was blossoming as a field of postgraduate study at the time).

By then, Drucker had helped the Japanese, who embraced his intentions and the hybrid organization form, leap in front of many American companies.