[2] Drucker's books and articles, both scholarly and popular, explored how humans are organized across the business, government, and nonprofit sectors of society.

His writings have predicted many of the major developments of the late twentieth century, including privatization and decentralization; the rise of Japan to economic world power; the decisive importance of marketing; and the emergence of the information society with its necessity of lifelong learning.

[4] In 1959, Drucker coined the term "knowledge worker", and later in his life considered knowledge-worker productivity to be the next frontier of management.

[6] His mother Caroline Bondi had studied medicine and his father Adolf Drucker was a lawyer and high-level civil servant.

[8] He grew up in a home where intellectuals, high government officials, and scientists would meet to discuss new ideas.

[10] After graduating from Döbling Gymnasium in 1927,[10] Drucker found few opportunities for employment in post-World War I Vienna, so he moved to Hamburg, Germany, first working as an apprentice at an established cotton trading company, then as a journalist, writing for Der Österreichische Volkswirt (The Austrian Economist).

Drucker was fired in 1941 after refusing to sign a faculty manifesto that he said "viciously and falsely attacked the liberal president of Brooklyn College, Harry Gideonse," who had supported the UK against Nazi Germany in the Battle of Britain.

"[28] As a young writer, Drucker wrote two pieces – one on the conservative German philosopher Friedrich Julius Stahl and another called "The Jewish Question in Germany" – that were burned and banned by the Nazis.

In the introduction he refers to "The Jewish Question in Germany" saying "An early excerpt [of this book] was published as a pamphlet by an Austrian Catholic and Anti-Nazi in ...

[29] Drucker's career as a business thinker took off in 1942, when his initial writings on politics and society won him access to the internal workings of General Motors (GM), one of the largest companies in the world at that time.

In 1943 Brown invited him in to conduct what might be called a "political audit": a two-year social-scientific analysis of the corporation.

Rather than simply glorify the phenomenon as the epitome of human progress, Drucker analyzed it, and explained how it challenged the common thinking about how organizations should be run.

By that time large corporations had developed the basic manufacturing efficiencies and managerial hierarchies of mass production.

Executives thought they knew how to run companies, and Drucker took it upon himself to poke holes in their beliefs, lest organizations become stale.

Drucker developed an extensive consulting business built around his personal relationship with top management.

Over time he offered his management advice to nonprofits like the American Red Cross and the Salvation Army.

He is the co-author of a book on Japanese painting, and made eight series of educational films on management topics.

He also penned a regular column in the Wall Street Journal for 10 years and contributed frequently to the Harvard Business Review, The Atlantic Monthly, and The Economist.

[57][needs update] Others maintain that one of Drucker's core concepts, "management by objectives," is flawed and has never really been proven to work effectively.

Critic Dale Krueger said that the system is difficult to implement and that companies often wind up overemphasizing control, as opposed to fostering creativity, to meet their goals.

[72] Drucker was posthumously honored when he was inducted into the Outsourcing Hall of Fame in recognition of his outstanding contributions in the field.